The history of this camera dates back to the Soviet Union in the year 1948 when KMZ manufactured a very limited series of prototypes called "FT-1", a small, boxy panoramic camera for 35 mm film. The first public edition was presented years later on the Brussels World Fair in 1958 under the name "FT-2". Off the chronological order, an additional number of cameras labeled "FT-3" with prototype characteristics had already been produced in 1952 and 1953. "FT" stood for "Fotoapparat Tokareva" ("Фотоаппарат Токарева"), meaning Tokarev's camera. Tokarev is said to have come up with the initial design. The film had to be loaded into special cassettes that then would be inserted into the camera. Until 1968 16,662 FT-2 were made and sold also abroad under the names "Spiratone", "Panorama" and "Spaceview". In 1967 it was succeeded by the "Horizont". This camera already shared the basic looks with the present models and had similar technical specs: it had a f2.8/28 mm Industar lens and four shutter speeds, ranging from 1/30 s to 1/250 s. First introduced at Photokina in 1966, the Horizont created a picture using 24×58 mm frames on 35 mm film. It had an OF-28P (28 mm, f/2.8) fixed-focus lens and offers shutter speeds of 1/30 s, 1/60 s, and 1/125 s. Its body is 142 mm wide, 100 mm high, and 67 mm deep, and weighs 910 g (grip not included). After 49,849 units, this model was discontinued in 1973.