Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1996/09/05
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]> I absolutely guarantee you, however, that there is a thriving cottage > Russian industry producing inventive Leica "Replicas" even while you are > reading this. If anything one wants a few, with the warning that > workmanship is suspect and that there will be no returns, I can supply > them. For the last 10 years I have been collecting and reconditioning Russian Leica copies which I buy overseas. In numerous occasions I have dissassembled Zorki and FED cameras to the level of changing curtains or lubricating the curtain drums. Regarding the workmanship I can say that it is very good in almost all cases and this may be due to the fact theat these cameras have a very simple construction essentially the same with pre IIIC screwmount Leicas. The basic tune up that is needed in most cases is a. Complete lubrication (Quality of lubricants is low and they get sticky over time) b. Speed readjustment (Almost no Russian camera has correct timing!) c. Rangefinder adjustment and collimation. Russian cameras have more adjustments for the rangefinder compared to screwmount Leicas!!! Therefore both close and far focussing can be adjusted very accuratelly. However the speed adjustment may be problematic and this is the price that is paid because of the simplicity of the construction. NO Russian copy has a brake for the closing curtain. This results in uneven travelling speed for the two curtains which can be up to 1 stop i.e. the curtain travels at a slower speed when it starts moving and accelerates at the end of the frame. This is true of the early Leicas (pre IIIC) and it was corrected in the later ones (after and including the IIIC) which also included ball bearings in their curtain and film advance drums along with a BRAKE (of elliptical shape) for the opening curtain which serves two purposes: regulate and ensure uniform speed of the curtains during their travel and avoiding bouncing of the opening curtain at the end of its travel (this may be possible due to the delicate curtain drums with ball bearings!). The curtain speed deviation in a IIIC or a IIIF may be as low as 1/4 of a stop. As a summary Russian cameras are interesting and with a good tuneup can be VERY reliable and they can last. However in terms of exposure uniformity they may not satisfy a number of users. Nevertheless, personally they give me great satisfaction when I use them for shooting BW film which is more forgiving to exposure errors. > > Imagine an inventive engineer working in a small shop, free to make new > "Lika" designs to fit his imagination. He makes small quantities, > sends them to the US for dollars, and goes on to invent more. At > anyone time some of the versions may be unavailable, but in there place > are more variations no one has ever seen. > > The Likas seems to be based upon the Fed IIIA copy. Versions which I > have seen are: > The top plates are engraved "Leica" etc, the lenses engraved "Elmar" > etc. > > > Stephen Gandy > -- Ioannis Lambadaris Associate Professor Dept. of Systems & Computer Engineering Carleton University Phone: +1 613 520-2600(ext. 1974(o), 1951(lab)) 1125 Colonel By Drive Fax: +1 613 520-5727 Ottawa, Ontario K1S 5B6 Email: ioannis@sce.carleton.ca CANADA Web: http://www.sce.carleton.ca/faculty/lambadaris.html I'm all for this -- the continual re-offering of the tantalizing pleasure of ownership which can only be released in sporadic ecstasies of acquisition, forms the very basis of our consumerist system--- and I would have to be some kind of pinko socialist not to be all for it!!