coping with I-50 on Fed?

[eli griggs]

Late this afternoon I took delivery of a beautiful Industar 50 collapsible from David Price from the photo.net; trouble is, it can't lock in the infinity position on most of my FED bodies :bang: , although the 3 type a seems to be a perfect fit.

I looked around and read on an earlier post that this is a common problem, but I did not see anything about how to deal effectively with this issue.

Other than buying a Zorki can I use this lens with these cameras and by what methods can I gain/tweak the full range of motion/focus?

Cheers

 

[je2a3]

You'll have to get this type of Fed/I-10 with a wider tab [friction lock as opposed to spring] issued with early Fed 2a or b. The I-10 from the Fed 1 will also not fit because it has a similar spring loaded button just like the I-22/50. Surprisingly the Leitz Elmar 50/3.5 works in a Fed 2.

 

[allthumbs]

If it's the same problem I had, the bottom of the focusing tab/locking button on the lens is prevented from fully descending and un/latching because there is not enough clearance between it and the camera body under the locking tab. That bummed me out because I bought the body with the intention of pairing it with the I-50 as a pocketable go-anywhere shooter. So...

*** Warning! Meatball cosmetic surgery ahead. Sensitive Fed-2/I-50 lovers and collector-types should NOT read the following paragraph! ***

The vulcanite covering is soft and easy to gouge, so that's what I did. And I used no tools, merely the focusing tab button of the lens and many repetitions to eventually wear down a groove exactly where I needed it. (I think I locked the lens and then screwed it in, rather than just put pressure on the tab of a mounted lens.) So now my Fed2 has a 5-10 degree arc of progressive discoloration where I abraded the covering, on a "slope" until it is probably right down to the bare metal immediately under the locking tab. I just did this recently, and I think I should probably apply synth oil or paint to protect the exposed surface. There are probably more elegant ways to do this if one knows what one is doing, but I'm all thumbs with this kind of stuff, and I was frustrated and in a hurry, and it worked for me...like the time I fixed a shutter curtain leak with a Sharpie (but that's another story).

*** End of warning ***

For your sake I hope you find a better solution, but if you're willing to deface your camera a little, this will work. It helped that my camera was fairly ugly to start with. Good luck.

 

[DaveP]

You must have a collapsible made for a Zorki. The Zorki mounting flanges are thicker so the bottom of the button clears the body, the lenses made for Feds have a thin plunger fastener that doesnt rub.........

 

[allthumbs]

DaveP, I can only speak for mine, but yes, I can confirm it did come as a standard lens on a Zorki 6. I never use it anymore on the Z6, though. It doesn't make sense to me to slow down a very quick shooter with a slow-to-use lens for a slight savings in bulk. The Zorki seems happier with a J8 or J12, which aren't large lenses anyway. But the collapsible on a Fed makes a nifty little package, IMO, and a fiddly lens on a fiddly camera is OK w/ me, if that makes any sense.

 

[lkgroup]

I once had one of those lenses and it wouldn't swing on the camera I wanted to use it on, so I Unscrewed the infinity look and stored it. I than could put it back on later when I sold the lens. It had a screw on the back to unscrew it, becareful of a spring that might get away. I don't have the lens anymore so I can describe it any better. Check yours maybe it can be removed.

leo

 

[eli griggs]

Thanks guys, I guess I will have to keep it for the FED 3a only for the time-being. I'm sure that I will want to collect a few Zorkies somewhere down the road. I will just consider this as being a bit ahead of myself.

Cheers

 

[RML]

Like you, I found that my collapsible doesn't lock on my FED-2. Bummer, really. I got me a Zorki where it fits. It also fits nicely on the R-D1, the M2 and the Bessas L and R. Plenty of choice. 🙂