It is manufactured by Krasnogorsky Mechanicheskiy Zavod (KMZ) in Krasnogorsk, Russia, better-known for their range of Zenit cameras.

The main characteristic of this camera is its rotating lens that takes in a 120° panorama as the shutter button is pressed.

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.

In 2005 the Lomographic Society International and KMZ partnered to sell the camera together under the name Horizon Perfekt.

Throughout all its history, the basic technical design remained unchanged: when the shutter button is pressed, a drum carrying the lens is rotating from left to right.

Inside the camera through a small slit on the back of the drum, the captured image is projected on the film, which in turn also sits on a curved carrier.