? re. fed 50/3.5

back alley

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my elmar clone arrived today and the first thing i did was try to screw it on to my canon p. it was very tight but it eventually got on. focused fine.

then i put a marumi 50 mm ltm>m adapter on it but it would not screw all the way on and it didn't focus on the m3.

tried a leitz adapter with the same result.

is it me or the lens?

need some assistance please.

joe
 
Is the infinity stop getting in the way? I had to unscrew the one on a I-22 I used to have before it would fully screw onto an M-adaptor.

William
 
I your FED lens coated? If it is not, I suspect it could be one of those prewar Russian lenses that uses metric thread as opposed to imperial threads used on original LTM.
 
took another look, it's coated and actually in pretty nice shape for a $20. lens.
it will not screw all the way with the leitz adapter.
it does screw all the way with the marumi adapter but the infinty stop blocks the adapter from attaching/turning all the way.

the infinity stop has no screw head to remove it.

joe
 
Hi Joe,

To remove the infinity lock you have to grip the flat bottom part with pliers [best if it has some tubing over the jaws to prevent marring] and then turn the the spring loaded button on top CCW. If it is too tight you need another pair of long nose pliers with heat shrink tubing. But usually a good grip would do it.

The infinity lock does get in the way of some M-adapters.

Joseph
 
thanks joseph.

i doubt that i'll keep this lens.
shortly after i 'won' it, i bought the real thing, an elmar 50/2.8 collapsible and i'm just waiting on it now.
 
hey joe ~ I had trouble with a couple of lenses going on my Leica.III. The solution for me was cleaning, trying, cleaning some more, screwing it on a little further, cleaning more, working the lens back and forth, moooooore cleaning, a tad of lube and shazaam. All is well now. (I refuse to force anything concerning cameras. If it doesn't turn smoothly, it doesn't get turned.)

I had to get the toothbrush down in there and just scrub both lens and lens flange, which I removed from the camera first. All the threads, on both lens and camera, looked clean to me, but once I started cleaning, things started improving so I just kept on scrubbing & cleaning until it all came together.

"...prewar Russian lenses that uses metric thread..."
Okay, this is new to me... I'm learning every day (and forgetting every nite). :( What lenses were these and which cameras were they made for?
 
back alley said:
thanks joseph.
i doubt that i'll keep this lens.
shortly after i 'won' it, i bought the real thing, an elmar 50/2.8 collapsible and i'm just waiting on it now.


If you decide to unload I'm interested, please let me know. I just CLA'd a Fed 1g which came with a pre-war uncoated I-10 which has imperial threads but the infinity lock mounts at 1 o'clock. Your Fed 50/3.5 will be a nice match .


Joseph
 
je2a3 said:
If you decide to unload I'm interested, please let me know. I just CLA'd a Fed 1g which came with a pre-war uncoated I-10 which has imperial threads but the infinity lock mounts at 1 o'clock. Your Fed 50/3.5 will be a nice match .


Joseph


will do.
i just need to think on it a bit.

joe
 
CVBLZ4 said:
Okay, this is new to me... I'm learning every day (and forgetting every nite). :( What lenses were these and which cameras were they made for?

Uncoated pre-war and early post-war I-10/Fed 50/3.5 that have the old aperture scale, funky entry points and as mentioned some even had metric threads. Worse of all a few were "matched" to the body which did not adhere to the 28.8mm standard lens registration. I have a late 30's Fed 1c "Kombinat"which measured 28.5mm but after CLAing the camera it took nice pictures, so I was lucky that the lens was original to the body or else I would not know where to start.

Joseph
 
je2a3 said:
Uncoated pre-war and early post-war I-10/Fed 50/3.5 that have the old aperture scale, funky entry points and as mentioned some even had metric threads. Worse of all a few were "matched" to the body which did not adhere to the 28.8mm standard lens registration. I have a late 30's Fed 1c "Kombinat"which measured 28.5mm but after CLAing the camera it took nice pictures, so I was lucky that the lens was original to the body or else I would not know where to start.

Joseph

I think you have the answer to the problem je2a3. Even some of the post war coated FED 50mm had the non standard thread and/or a non standard lens-to-film distance. It's much safer to go with the Zorki Industar models which were, to the best of my knowledge, all standard thread and LTF distance. Any lens with the old fstops would certainly be very suspect. If you didn't buy the lens on a camera there also is a chance it was a later coated lens modified to fit the old FED pre war standard.
 
i'm guessing the threads are ok. it turns easily on the newest adapter (marumi), does not like the older leitz adapter and turns but needs a little muscle, on the canon p body.
 
guys, you think M39 is not a metric thread? then what does the M stand for? (sure, M = metric)

IMHO it's just the pitch of the thread and maybe also the start of the thread that might vary.
 
Spyderman said:
guys, you think M39 is not a metric thread? then what does the M stand for? (sure, M = metric) IMHO it's just the pitch of the thread and maybe also the start of the thread that might vary.

From what I've read, the thread pitch is imperial on a true Leica. Fed didn't get this right until the late 30s. Actually even pre-war and immediate postwar Canon lenses had metric thread pitch and their engineers didn't realize this until the outbreak of the Korean war when photo journalists came to Tokyo with their Leicas.

Joseph
 
Spyderman said:
"guys, you think M39 is not a metric thread?"
I believe 39mm to be a metric hole, into which is machined 26 threads per INCH, if I'm not mistaken. And for sure, double-check me on that. ( I'm a total airhead at remembering numbers... like... my own phone number, for instance. ? :confused: ?)
 
CVBLZ4 said:
I believe 39mm to be a metric hole, into which is machined 26 threads per INCH, if I'm not mistaken. And for sure, double-check me on that. ( I'm a total airhead at remembering numbers... like... my own phone number, for instance. ? :confused: ?)

Reagan, your explanation on the true LTM thread pitch is what I was trying to say in so many words....thanks!

Joseph
 
je2a3 said:
Reagan, your explanation on the true LTM thread pitch is what I was trying to say in so many words....thanks!
You know me... always got to add my dos centavos. Interesting stuff, you shared there. Thanks.

P.S. ~ great avatar there. it gives me GAS.
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