FED-1 Lens questions

gflanslo · Sep 4, 2008

I have a FED-1d manufactured in 1940. I've read online that the lens to film register on the pre-WWII FED's aren't the standard 28.8mm of a Leica or other rangefinders which makes focusing these lenses difficult.

I currently have a 50mm f3.5 Industar-10 which I really enjoy the results I've had so far and wanted to know which other lenses I can use with this body. Can I use any of the cheaper KMZ lenses or should I just keep to the older FED-1 designed lenses? The only alternatives to the 50mm for the older FED-1 is a 100mm and 28mm both of which seem to be fairly expensive for a Russian lens (+$100).

Fanshaw · Sep 6, 2008

gflanslo said:
I have a FED-1d manufactured in 1940. I've read online that the lens to film register on the pre-WWII FED's aren't the standard 28.8mm of a Leica or other rangefinders which makes focusing these lenses difficult.

I currently have a 50mm f3.5 Industar-10 which I really enjoy the results I've had so far and wanted to know which other lenses I can use with this body. Can I use any of the cheaper KMZ lenses or should I just keep to the older FED-1 designed lenses? The only alternatives to the 50mm for the older FED-1 is a 100mm and 28mm both of which seem to be fairly expensive for a Russian lens (+$100).

You need to bear in mind that all these cameras were made to a low standard of precision due to the crudity of the machine tools used. Hence the factory relied on post manufacture manual adjustment of lens and camera body to produce a satisfactory product. If you change the lens then it is unlikely that the new combination will work properly without re-shimming. Also the pre-war Fed lenses with a minimum aperture of f/18 had a slightly different thread to the lenses on later Feds and Zorkis. You may find that the later lenses with the usual f/16 minimum aperture won't screw on properly.

FED-1 Lens questions

gflanslo

Fanshaw

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