Aidas Pikiotas on his valuable website sovietcams.com states that at around serial number 5890 (his number PE0155) the fully-rotating Fed 50mm f3.5 lens was replaced by regular FED lens with 2 bolts on the meter scale. Can anyone confirm that? Aidas also says that he can account for only 150 examples of the Fed 1 in collections even though about 6,000 were made - is that figure generally accepted?
I think that the changing at # 5890 is probably too early. I would put it at around 6500/7000, as for me. But it's difficult to know exactly as we don't know how the factory worked in these years. I have seen some early 1b-s with a "one turn" lens (and I own one).
Anyway, a good lens for a 1a should be in the same scale as the body. And for the different lenses, the very early "half turn" have two big stops (one turn have one big stop). Then we find the two thin stops. I don't speak of other differences: the curvature of the external lens, or the grooves on the front screws.
As for the 150 samples of Fed 1a... Many of the 1a were lost or destroyed during the war. Or are always in cupboards! So, the real number can vary. Others were repaired and appear now as 1b-s with a 1a serial number... There are some 50 sampples in the wiki, but each of us has several other 1a-s in his data, for sure.
Fed 1(a) change to non fully rotating lens
Posted - Sep 09 2015 : 3:29:19 PM
