Fsu collapsible 50 mm. lenses.

[SCOTFORTHLAD]

This question may have come up before,but perhaps you more experienced fsu users could increase my knowledge.
I have a Fed 50 collapsible,which I have been unable to try out until my camera adjusted.I notice with interest and admiration postings on the site,mainly taken with the Industar 22,and I was wondering what performance differences there may be,if any, between this lens,my Fed 50,and the other collapsible,the Industar 50.
My impression is that the I22 was the earlier lens,and that the other two may be updated versions of the same optical construction?

Thanks,
Brian.

 

[reagan]

Brian ~

Here's a link that might give you some info on the I.22/I.50. It compares them to the Elmar. Can't speak to the FED.50, but I'm sure others can. As for the Industars, I've got a couple of expamples of both and am totally satisfied with both in sharpness/contrast, etc. One of my I.22s has a slightly different look to it, "smoother" maybe, not too noticable all the time, but occasionally. Anyway, these two collabsibles have become my favorite choice linked with my Zorki.1s or Leica.III.

Good luck!

 

[peter_n]

My impression is that the I22 was the earlier lens,and that the other two may be updated versions of the same optical construction?

Thanks,
Brian.

Brian that is my understanding too. I also have a FED I-22 but unfortunately I don't have other I-22s or I-50s to compare it to. I do however have a coated (1949) Leitz Elmar 50/3.5 and I can tell you that the assertion at the end of the article on the Fedka site linked to above is correct. There is virtually no difference between my $19 FED Industar-22 and my $140 Elmar. The I-22 has slightly more contrast and is infinitesimally less sharp. That's it, and you need an 8x loupe to see the sharpness difference. The Industar-22 is a great little lens!

 

[pvdhaar]

RFF-member darkavenger is currently setting up a data base of FSU lenses: http://www.carthago-ltd.com/rldb/tab.php

As you can see from this short list already, there are various versions of the FED-50. Some have f16 others f18 min. aperture, and the coatings (if present) appear to differ as well.

Personal experience with the FED-50 (snr. 9752) is that it is a lens with good performance, although interestingly there is a bit of a metallic zing to the pictures (on colour film). Especially at f11-f16, it's like the photos are taken with a digital, like in the first attached picture.. Wide open it is at its best, almost dream like rendition with smooth out of focus areas.. see the second pic.

Of course, the FED-50 is no match for modern lenses, but it certainly has its own character.

 

[darkkavenger]

I've had very nice results with a collapsible Industar-22, mounted on a Zorki-S.

This photo of two dear friends was taken handheld on an automatic stairway at night, with Ilford HP5+ ... it wasn't stable and I was quite drunk!

 

[Jocko]

Forgive my ignorance, but by "FED 50" do we mean the I-10, the standard FED elmar-copy 50mm collapsible lens? If so I can only say that Peter has described it perfectly. I don't have an Industar-22, but I believe that they are essentially identical to (postwar) I-10s. The earliest 22s were simply made from FED I-10 parts by KMZ.

The I-50 does indeed have a new optical formula, although whether that makes much difference in the end is quite another matter😀 They are all lovely lenses with a kind, old-fashioned feel. I love my FED!

Ian

 

[lubitel]

Max,

I dont believe you were drunk making that shot! That's unbelieveable, what are you going to say next, that it was taken at 1/15th maybe?

really a nice, sharp shot!

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

Max, I dont believe you were drunk making that shot! That's unbelieveable, what are you going to say next, that it was taken at 1/15th maybe?

I agree! Perhaps it offset the camera shake? Nice. Bewy nice.

 

[ZorkiKat]

It would be hard to see the differences between the I-10 (never marked as such, but the lenses did say "FED 50mm"), I-22, and I-50. Even between the collapsible and rigid types, if the collapsible hasn't "sagged" yet. The I-50 was an improvement over the I-22, but again, the differences couldn't be seen. Any one less would just be as good as any other. They also seemed to be as good as the later I-26M. The best of the lot is the I-61 L/D.

The I-10/FED-50 is the oldest of the lot. It appeared with the first FED cameras. The I-22 was its 'replacement', appearing with the FED-Zorki and Zorki cameras.
The I-50 was the last of the collapsibles, though it continued to be made well until the last Zorki (the 4K) was made.

The I-22/50 were found with Zorki, but FED always had the "FED-50" lens. If they changed the optical formula, FED never indicated this, since their collapsibles were marked only with "FED 50MM" on their ID rings.

An uncoated FED 50mm can shoot really mean. The lack of coating is no reason for concern at all. The only reason for concern is its non-compatibility with later FED, Zorki, and any other Leica /Leica-type SM 39 cameras. It had mount and lens working distance issues.

Even the immediate postwar, coated versions of the FED 50mm can also be found with these issues. However, later ones no longer had these issues.

I have a soft spot for the later FED 50mm lenses. They are physically smaller than the I-22 or I-50. I like the Elmar-like aperture setting lever. The purple coated ones shoot very well- even for colour. They also tend to 'draw' things differently - with significantly different optical characteristics (charming at that!) which the I-22 or I-50 do not seem to do.

Jay

 

[darkkavenger]

lubitel & gabrielma: I don't remember the speed/aperture, but I remember the other photos we took on our way home, and the time we spent to sober up!

 

[dll927]

The four collapsible versions I have are all on Zorkis, and are either I-22 or I-50. The FED version was probably mostly a change of name, since all of them were copies of Leica lenses. The story goes that, as time went on, they dropped the collapsible version for 'solid' version - because they were less expensive to produce.

 

[SCOTFORTHLAD]

Cheers to everyone for the responses and information,as ever RFF and the FSU team has come.
As for Max's great pic.,it must have been the Heineken which made the difference.

Thanks again, 😉
Brian.