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FED 1 collector information
The following types are nomenclature used by collectors since no FED 1 or Fedka camera was actually marked in this way. Brief descriptions are included to help with identification.
1a 1934–1935 SN 31- 6000 (some sights have been done on early style, read 1a, cameras up to number 6500.
1b 1935–1937 SN 6000 – 55000 – Some with the NKVD engraving "Peoples Commissariat of Internal Affairs", which was the new name for Stalin's secret police.
1c 1937–1939 SN 55000 – 125000 – In 1937 a triangular cam-follower replaced the circular Leica-type cam follower and the speed dial was modified slightly to resemble the Leica II.
S 1938–1941 – Identical to 1c except that 2000 cameras were produced with a faster 1/1000" shutter speed.
V (B) 1938 – Identical to 1c except with a faster 1/1000" second shutter speed and a slow-speed dial.
1d 1939–1941 (August) SN 125000 – 180000 – Identifiable by the centre retaining screw being off-centre and not concealed by the lens-mount flange. In addition, in 1939 Ukraine.
1d 1942–1945 SN 174000 – 178000 – Around 4000 cameras manufactured in Berdsk from parts evacuated from the FED Ukraine factory before it was overrun by the Nazis.
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1e SN 174000 – 180000 – Manufactured in Berdsk in Siberia in the first few months of 1946 after hostilities ended, using parts made before the war.
T Engraved "Red Flag" in honour of new masters produced around SN 200000 and was fitted with a coated 50 mm f/3.5 Industar 10 lens
1f 1949–1953 SN 201800 – 400000 – New cursive-script Fed logo, flatter shutter button, coated lens engraved with what were then called the international f stops, f/4, f/5.6 and so on rather than the earlier f/4.5, f/6.3.
1949–1950 TSVVS – Two major circulating theories is that the cameras has either been manufactured at Moscow's Almaz factory or it had been ordered for manufacture by the Soviets from East Germany (possibly Zeiss, but it is also not confirmed). This camera is probably the most mysterious in nature out of all Soviet cameras. An old belief that this camera was made by FED factory is disputed by the fact that the body is wholly made out of brass and it is different dimensions physically than the FED-1 cameras. (see forum discussions at USSRPhoto.com for more detailed arguments about it between various Soviet camera experts).
1g 1953–1955 SN 400000 – 800000 – Shutter speeds changed to 25th, 50th,100th instead of old Leica 20th, 30th, 40th, 60th.
FED 1 lens type information
All pre war FED lenses had non standardized flange to film distances. Most of them require a shorter flange distance than Leica (28.8mm) and hence they can't be used on Leica screwmount camera bodies. On Leica bodies they will not focus to infinity and the rangefinder will not be accurate, resulting in unsharp images. This may be the reason for the sometimes poor reputation of FED lenses. However, properly adapted to a modern digital mirrorless camera body, that allows for accurate focusing, these lenses show an amazing image quality (provided the lenses elements are still unscratched and clean).
100 mm f/6.3 FED tele lens: Consists of 4 elements in two groups and was released in 1938 and produced until 1941. Official model designation: FED-36. A very sharp little lens that can be used wide open. Stopping down increases the tendency towards internal reflections, since the aperture blades are quite shiny.
100 mm f/5.9 1937–1938 FED prototype lens, best used at f/6.3 or smaller aperture.
50 mm f/3.5 collapsible FED lens: Consists of 4 elements in three groups like the Zeiss Tessar 50 mm f/3.5 (the Leitz Elmar has the aperture located behind the first element, the Zeiss Tessar has it behind the second element). The official model designation before the war was FED-10. There are actually no FED-10 lenses engraved with an "Industar-10" designation. The designation "Industar" was first used on the succeeding model, the Industar-22. The FED-10 was manufactured 1934–1946(?) and fitted to most FED 1a, 1b, 1c and 1d. Pre war lenses feature the old-style aperture scale f/3.5, 4.5, 6.3, 9, 12.5, 18 and a 50 M/M. Post war lenses feature the new-style aperture scale f/3.5, 5.6, 8, 11, 16 and a 50 MM engraving. Most post war lenses were coated except for some very early ones.
50 mm f/2 fast FED lens: Consists of 6 elements in 4 groups like the Leitz Summar, but the unlike the Summar it features five elements with flat surfaces, while the elements of the Summar have only curved surfaces. Official model designation: unknown. Production period 1938–1941. The optical performance is slightly weaker than that of the Leitz Summar, as it shows slight chromatic aberrations in the far corners of the image,
50 mm f/3.5 macro lens. A number of variants with different engravings exist, but they were all not rangefinder coupled. The official model designation was FED-19. They are based on the FED-10 design and were intended for reproduction work. Correct focussing was achieved by measuring the distance from the subject to an engraved ring on the lens barrel. These lenses feature two scales: One with the magnification ratio (M) ranging from ∞ (= 1:∞) to 2 (= 1:2). Above each magnification value one finds the corresponding distance, measured from the engraved ring to the subject. Infinity has obviously no corresponding distance value and so the distance scale starts with 105(cm) for magnification 1:20 and ends with 15(cm) for magnification 1:2.
28 mm f/4.5 FED wide angle lens: Released in 1938 and produced until 1941. The official model designation was FED-35. The optical design was rather complex, featuring 6 elements in 4 groups and it was faster than its contemporary competitors, the Leitz Hektor 28 mm f/6.3 and the Zeiss Tessar 28 mm f/4.5. The FED-35 shows severy vignetting wide open and a quite low contrast. Stopping down to f/6.3 and below boosts the image quality to a very respectable quality.
From Wikipedia’s article on FED (camera), shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3