Fake Leica based on FED 1d

Thanks Vlad for letting me join the forum. Hopefully all goes well - first time posting.

My friend Alin restored a fake Leica nr 147407 for me and it seemed nice to compare it to a FED 1d 147599 (1939-1941), also in my collection. The fake Leica has worse chrome than the FED 1d, no text on the bottom plate, and a flash sync. What we also observed is an elongated hole under the top cover which is strange. Anyone have an explanation?
PS 1 The last picture was made while film testing the fake Leica with a Jupiter lens and the new curtains.
PS 2 The fake Leica was purchased by my father in The Netherlands around 1985

I'll try to post some more oddities of FSU cameras in my collection later on as time allows.

Hello "pkrpkr",

Welcome!
No problem about the strange hole. It's for the rod which connects the fast and slow speed mechanism and frees the slow speed spring. A series of Fed B with slow speeds was foreseen, but it seems that only 40 of them was effectively made. I don't count the fakes!
It's the same as on the Leica III-s. Of course here you don't have the slow speed dial, nor the second spring.

These Leica fakes are interesting. I own too several of them and I am not alone! Normally, your two cameras should be identical, if all is original. As for the chrome, the cover of the fake was partially scraped; that probably explains the difference.

Amitiйs. Jacques.

Thank you Jacques!
And thanks to your previous pictures I found the accompanying Summar.
Amicalement,
Peter

Hello Peter,

Yes, this 1937 Summar will be fine on your Leica fake.
Your thread gave me the idea to look for two close cameras in my collection. I found these two ones:





The lens is a fake Summar (but a "genuine" Fed 2/50mm), and it wears the same serial number as the body: 128698... The Fed serial number at the reverse (28597) is correct for the this range. That means that the body and the lens should have been together since the beginning.

A photo more of this Leica fake (in fact a Fed S):



These two cameras have very close scratched dates inside (24/V for the s/n 128213; 27/V for the Leica fake). Three days' distance...
If you are interested in all that, please have a look at Ulrich's thread (if not already done!), just under this one.

Amitiйs. Jacques.

Interesting - you guys caused me to rip the fake Leica apart again.
Just kidding. Actually I was interested in any internal markings and only found an indent which may be a marking or just an accidental indent. I was also curious about the working of the flash synchronisation which is a simple spring that is pushed away by the second curtain latch when the camera is fired. It works but the consequence of this solution i that the flash also goes off when the film is advanced.

You don't necessarily have to dismount the camera for the internal date: in most of cases, it can be seen from the outside.
About the covers, I am almost sure that the markings depend on their date of making: it's not accidental. I had made a research on the Fed 1e I own and they all had the same cipher. That should be checked.
And I agree with you concerning the flash connection...
But surely other colleagues can answer these questions better than me.

Thanks for your helpful comments Jacques!
Amicalement,
Peter

I have just checked in my photos about the cipher inside the cover. The fact is that I have only kept two of them:
- a "Б" on my 1e s/n 183613,
- a "В" on my Fed Arsenal.
No more. Stupid of me.

Amitiйs. Jacques.

Jacques and Peter,

a few years ago I got this FED S which has been converted into a Leica. The engraving on the top looks amazingly real, in contrast to the engraving on the lens. And note the timing wheel, it's from a FED Zorki or a Zorki 1A.









Ulrich


http://fotos.cconin.de

Beautiful. Your cameras are always like new, Ulrich
The body is a 1c S, by some details. The converted lens could be an early 2/50mm too, with a Fed s/n in the 20/23xxx range, if original?

Amitiйs. Jacques.

Jacques,

as you know, I always take them apart and make them pretty and ready to run :-) The lens has the serial number 29215.

Ulrich

http://fotos.cconin.de

Very nice Ulrich!