Is the late model Fed 1 the best?

[KameraKev]

Hi all;

I have been contemplating purchasing a late model Fed 1 from 1954, to get that "real" Leica feel. Has anyone here had any experience with a Fed of this vintage versus, say a Leica lllf?

thanks,
Kevin

 

[xayraa33]

A Fed 1 (g) is good because will should not have any problems with back focus and lens registation issues, as is the case with the earlier Fed 1's so you can use most of the FSU lenses and a few others.
As far as a Fed having a Leica feel?
that is debatable, but I have seen and inspected a few Fed 1's that were well set up and CLA'd by a competent tech, that came close to the Leica feel, but the majority do not, esp. when you buy them from that auction site.

 

[KameraKev]

That's what I thought, they are just so pretty to look at though...

 

[Jocko]

Kev, I have a IIIf and 2 FED 1gs. The FEDs are pretty and IMHO are a quite different tactile experience from the Leica. Both are cameras with a distinct personality - the Leica has a matchless purity and precision, the FED a robust, warm simplicity. Properly set up, both are joys.

All the best, Ian

 

[Sylvaticus]

Sorry, but why compare the FED1g with a Leica IIIf? Didn't they mimic, and maybe simplify, the Leica II?

 

[ZorkiKat]

Late FED-1 are good user cameras. Many of the cameras above the SN 450XXX range I found have Leica-compatible lens registers, as well as lens mounts which thread correctly, in the sense that the lens will mount with its focus tab somewhere at the 7 to 9 o'clock positions and the distance/DOF scales readable from the top.

However, their overall feel (not really Leica, but not too far from what an early Leica would feel in the hands) is not as good as the pre-war versions. This may give an impression that the later FED-1 are inferior. Some play in the mechanism may be observed; however, the looseness is often in the direction which is not critical to the camera's function. For instance where there is up/down play, the parts need only to be "tight" left/right.

Jay