Does this FED have a standard thread pitch?

lrochfort

Well-known
Local time
2:33 PM
Joined
Feb 21, 2011
Messages
239
[FONT=MS Trebuchet, Arial, Helvetica]Hi all,

It's my understanding that early FEDs have non-standard thread pitch, and that lenses were matched to the camera.

Do people think that this is the case for the camera below? I'm thinking of buying it and would like to use my Jupiter 12 on it.

[/FONT][FONT=MS Trebuchet, Arial, Helvetica]https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fed-1-Ty...=item41fb397d55:g:tDcAAOSwq4xcbS-0:rk:26:pf:0
[/FONT]


[FONT=MS Trebuchet, Arial, Helvetica]Cheers,[/FONT]
[FONT=MS Trebuchet, Arial, Helvetica]Laurence.[/FONT]
[FONT=MS Trebuchet, Arial, Helvetica][/FONT]
 
It looks to be an F type from 1949 to 1953 and these are suppose to have a standard pitch, but with these you never know until you get it in your hands and test it out.
 
Did you try asking the seller? Reading the description in the ad, it sounds like they'd be knowledgeable about this.

From the looks of the camera, it looks like all the early Fed and Zorki cameras I've owned, and they had your usual M30 lens mounts.
 
M39 x 1 surely?


Most people think the early ones were better made and that's the thread in the instruction manuals. Given that it's 70 years old there'll be a bit of wear and that may well have affected the thread...


Regards, David
 
It's my recollection (and I may be wrong) that pre-war FEDs were non-standard and that post-war they were standardised. Certainly I have a non-standardised 1939 FED and a 1953 (ish) standardised one. You are probably OK to use the J-12 on it but you won't really be sure until you try. As David points out, it's some 70 years old. In that time, all manner of things might have been changed on that body. It could have been adjusted to standard (if it wasn't) or vice-versa! If the J12 refuses to thread properly (possible) it's a good indication that problems are likely.
 
When the lens was matched to the camera the camera (FED or Leica) had a hole in the back and a hole in the back plate. The hole was used to look at the image on a screen and make the adjustments. Then the hole as fitted with a plug

You often see them on Leicas because Leitz made them that way from the beginning in 1925 to 1931. FED only made them that way for a very short time and so they are very rare and expensive. In all the years I've been collecting, I've seen just one for sale and the price was a huge shock...

FWIW, FED started production in 1935 and by 1936 had abandoned the individual matching but they had a stock of pressure plates with holes in them and used them up regardless.

Regards, David
 
Back
Top Bottom