FED 50 Collapsible LTM Lens.

[SCOTFORTHLAD]

I have one of the above lenses,with the serial number 151422.Is it possible to identify the year of manufacture from this.I had assumed that the first two numbers generally represented the year,but it seems that some other method was used for this lens.If anyone could clarify,I would be keen to know the appropriate year.

Thanks,
Brian.

 

[FrankS]

My Fed collapsible lens is #283xxx, and my Fed2 camera is A076xxx, so I don't think the Fed folks followed that numbering method.

 

[reagan]

Brian, I don't know of any place to trace FED serial #s. Possilby Oleg at OKVintageCamera.com or Yuriy at DVDTechCameras.com or others here might be able to shed some light. I'd be interested in knowing as well.

 

[Jocko]

Ol' Man Princelle (cue for a song) has a Fed I-10 No.156837 on a FED 2a No 022922.

Now, the camera body can be accurately dated to 1955, when the model was introduced, so assuming it has the original lens [sound of bitter, sarcastic laughter from a 1000 FSU RF users], we could reasonably suggest that Brian's is 1953-4-ish?

Oh listen! I can hear the ice breaking beneath my feet!

Glug. Glug. Glug!

 

[SCOTFORTHLAD]

Just checked my Fed 2 and it's serial number is 1179453,while my Fed 4 carries 334539.As you say Frank nothing too logical in the numbering sequences,which is a pity for someone as nosey as me.Thanks all for the ideas/opinions.Perhaps someone out there can crack the codes.

Brian.

 

[Jocko]

Just had another look at Princelle - now I realise what follows is pretty tenuous (to put it mildly) but indulge me!

Princelle states that Fed 1 No 565077 and lens 8476 left the factory in February 1955. One assumes he has the original documents. Let's suppose that cameras left the factory in more or less the order in which they were produced, with lenses to match [ a very big suppose indeed, given the logic of the Soviet economy]. We know that around 140,000 Fed 1s were made that year, before production changed to Fed 2s in the final months.

So, logically, the last Fed 1s would have had lenses with numbers approaching 150,000. This would suggest that Brian's lens was originally on a camera - either a Fed 1 or 2 - issued by the factory in late 1955/early '56. Lenses for the Fed 2 apparently had a slight modification to the infinity lock, so this might narrow the gap yet further. At some point in 1956 the lenses changed to I-26s, so that sets a cut-off date.

There are some giant "ifs" and "maybes" here, but, revising my earlier guesstimate, it's plausible (I'd claim no more) that the lens dates from 1955.

 

[John Robertson]

Depends which factory they came from. Mine is Lutkarino factory, the one with the triangle and a circle and a little "c" inside it. Its number is 66011965, and its inspection certificate is dated 1966. They made them there until 1970!

 

[Jocko]

But John, Lutkarino was a satellite factory for KMZ, so your lens would surely be an Industar 50, a lens never originally fitted to the Fed. As Brian says his lens is a Fed collapsible, it has to be an Industar-10.

 

[John Robertson]

I bow to your superior knowledge in this Jocko, the camera which I bought new in Leningrad on a school trip many years ago was fitted with an Industar 2.8 lens which I dropped. I bought the Industar 50 a few years later in Moskow as a replacement. they could not offer me a 2.8 one and offered this instead. It works perfectly. Its true the Feds body number gives no clue to its date!! I attach two photos, one of the camera (recently recovered), and one of a fairly well known Fed owner!! Better known for his paintwork than his photos 😎))

 

[Nickfed]

Just had another look at Princelle - now I realise what follows is pretty tenuous (to put it mildly) but indulge me!

There are some giant "ifs" and "maybes" here, but, revising my earlier guesstimate, it's plausible (I'd claim no more) that the lens dates from 1955.

There sure are. I think FEDs lens numbering is tenuous in its logic and haphazard to boot. Some numbers are on the back, some on the front, and the squence can be anything - not to mention lenses finding their way into other cameras over the years. Mine is 525641. The lens is 5048, on the back and, of course, there is nothing to suggest it is not original!

 

[John Robertson]

Some info on body numbers here!

http://www.geocities.com/fzorkis/fed2_1.html

 

[pvdhaar]

So, where do you guys find the lens number? The only thing I can figure out is that on the back of the lens mount there's 9 7 52, which I assume could stand for July 9th '52. Can't find anything else..

 

[Jocko]

I bow to your superior knowledge in this Jocko

John, my knowledge is superior to nuffin! I just enjoy trying to puzzle things out, and - as I hope I made obvious - my suggestion is absolutely no more than that - just fun and a "possibility".

This morning I finally got back to my cameras, having been away; my own FED 1 proves Nickfed's point and blows my theory from the water - No 453411 with lens 8433. Even apart from the unknown number system, we have to remember the inefficiency of Soviet distribution; lenses and cameras might have been made years apart.

Does anyone know what happened to Picasso's FED? I'm always surprised that one of our faker friends hasn't emerged with it. Could be a nice little sideline for the man who sells the Brooklyn Bridge 😀

I have a terrible vision of an e-bay Fed 2, painted to resemble "Guernica"....

 

[pvdhaar]

I've just been mulling this over...

It can't be that all the FEDs here have serial numbers into the 500.000 and that lenses only have four digit numbers.. The FED1 I just got has SN 413971 while the collapsible FED lens has 9 7 52

I'm guessing the lenses have no numbers, only a production date stamped. Makes sense?

 

[Jocko]

I'm guessing the lenses have no numbers, only a production date stamped. Makes sense?

Absolutely perfect sense - but I fear we're in a world with different logic! My lens is undoubtedly postwar, so the 8433 number doesn't fit.

Given that most serials seem to be just 4 digits, I wonder if they were generally numbered in a series from 1 to 9,999 - a process which then started again. Perhaps the original passports have a batch number too? It's very odd.

 

[pvdhaar]

Absolutely perfect sense - but I fear we're in a world with different logic! My lens is undoubtedly postwar, so the 8433 number doesn't fit.

How's the 8433 engraved on yours?

On mine the spacing between the numbers isn't equal. The first number is spaced quite a bit apart from the rest, while the second is also somewhat removed from the last two which are very close together.. Could be a fluke though..

 

[Jocko]

How's the 8433 engraved on yours?

On mine the spacing between the numbers isn't equal. The first number is spaced quite a bit apart from the rest, while the second is also somewhat removed from the last two which are very close together.. Could be a fluke though..

On mine the 8 forms a pair with the 4, although the former has been stamped twice and would not have been quite so close at the first strike. The two 3s are separate from the first group and each other. Oddly, the 8 and 4 are much more distinct - the dies for the 3s look very worn (although both are quite certainly 3s - the first is not a splattered 5 - I wish it were!).

There's also traces of a purple "ink" stamp, which looks as if it was originally similar to marks I've seen on other FSU gear - possibly some sort of quality control (please, no-one laugh).

Hmmmmm.

Cheers, Ian