George9
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I'm wanting a collapsible 50mm for my Fed2 to make it nicely pocketable.
Are their any significant differences between the Industar 22 and the FED version?
Are their any significant differences between the Industar 22 and the FED version?
wolves3012
Veteran
There's no practical difference in optical quality. The FED lens is a little shorter, physically, when extended. Avoid an early uncoated FED lens unless you know it's been checked and adjusted for a later camera. Personally I find that only the FED lenses will "park" properly on FEDs whilst only the Industars "park" on Zorkis. By this I mean that the infinity lock doesn't end up across the VF/RF windows. I may be unlucky here, I've seen others use Industars on a FED 2 and they do vary a bit.
julio1fer
Well-known
FWIW, I use a collapsible Industar-50, and am very happy with it.
L
lkgroup
Guest
I use a Fed-10 on my Fed 2 camera and have found it to be very sharp.
Leo
Leo
xayraa33
rangefinder user and fancier
I use an Industar -22 and that lens is as good as my Elmar 50mm f3.5
pauls52
Established
I am no expert on the photographic qualities of the collapsible 50s, although I do know that the Industar 50 is reputed to have the highest resolution (see Industar 22-50 thread). In practical terms, people seem to find little if any difference between them. The most important thing to watch for is coating or the lack of it on FED lenses. All the other collapsibles f/3.5s are all coated.
All pre-war and early FEDs are uncoated. Coatings were applied from about 1951. Two ways to tell - uncoated lenses have a very clear almost white appearancce and at the same time, the f/ stop range changed from the old range including f/6.3 to the the modern range including f/5.6. From sometime in 1954, lens serial numbers began appearing on the front face of the lens mounting flange.
There is one other thing to be aware of. With the introduction of the FED2, FED introduced a new infinity lock. Earlier FEDs and all other collapsibles have a plunger that has to be depressed. Looked at side on, this does not foul the body because the lens mount flange on the body is thick enough. FED2s have a thinner flange and I am guessing (I no longer have my FED 2 to test this) it is possible to mark the body if the plunger is pressed too far and then the lever rotated. Many if not most people seem to cope OK with the plunger type but if you have a choice for a FED2 or you are collecting, then the newer type is the one to go for.
The newer type is held in place by a spring clip rather than a plunger. In photos, they look very similar and hard to tell apart unless you have looked at photos of both types. The FED 2 type seems to have a slightly wider lever bit that sticks out that the knob sits on (is that too technical?) and the lever has a shiny metal cover instead of plain alloy (not just cosmetics - it is the spring clip). Also the profile of the knob is more Industar (22, 50) like than traditional FED. There seem to be a lot around and one of my FED 1gs came with one instead of the correct earlier item.
At the end of the day, it is hard to go wrong. Even the uncoated lenses can give good results with care, although they do flare more and are more suited to B&W than colour. Some believe they provide a (nostalgic?) quality missing in more modern glass.
Happy shooting!
All pre-war and early FEDs are uncoated. Coatings were applied from about 1951. Two ways to tell - uncoated lenses have a very clear almost white appearancce and at the same time, the f/ stop range changed from the old range including f/6.3 to the the modern range including f/5.6. From sometime in 1954, lens serial numbers began appearing on the front face of the lens mounting flange.
There is one other thing to be aware of. With the introduction of the FED2, FED introduced a new infinity lock. Earlier FEDs and all other collapsibles have a plunger that has to be depressed. Looked at side on, this does not foul the body because the lens mount flange on the body is thick enough. FED2s have a thinner flange and I am guessing (I no longer have my FED 2 to test this) it is possible to mark the body if the plunger is pressed too far and then the lever rotated. Many if not most people seem to cope OK with the plunger type but if you have a choice for a FED2 or you are collecting, then the newer type is the one to go for.
The newer type is held in place by a spring clip rather than a plunger. In photos, they look very similar and hard to tell apart unless you have looked at photos of both types. The FED 2 type seems to have a slightly wider lever bit that sticks out that the knob sits on (is that too technical?) and the lever has a shiny metal cover instead of plain alloy (not just cosmetics - it is the spring clip). Also the profile of the knob is more Industar (22, 50) like than traditional FED. There seem to be a lot around and one of my FED 1gs came with one instead of the correct earlier item.
At the end of the day, it is hard to go wrong. Even the uncoated lenses can give good results with care, although they do flare more and are more suited to B&W than colour. Some believe they provide a (nostalgic?) quality missing in more modern glass.
Happy shooting!
George9
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Thanks everyone.
I guess I'll just try to find a nice clean example of either.
I guess I'll just try to find a nice clean example of either.
pauls52
Established
Slaps forehead as remembers the biggest gottcha. Pre-war FEDs (like the earliest Leicas) didn't adhere to a standard lens mount flange to film plane distance (well they did have a large +/- range but not an exact single figure). Therefore each lens had to be matched to its camera body - you do not want one of these. For collectors only unless you are an optical tech. If I remember rightly, there are also some minor thread issues. Leica used a mix of metric and imperial in its thread mount and FED didn't pick up on this.
I understand that both these issues were fixed in all post-war FED lenses. How do you tell a pre-war FED lens from a post-war uncoated one? Dunno. Somebody else might ...
I understand that both these issues were fixed in all post-war FED lenses. How do you tell a pre-war FED lens from a post-war uncoated one? Dunno. Somebody else might ...