Help me to identify this Leica

 

 

 

It looks like a Russian replica, not an original Leica....but then I'm not an expert.

Yes, SCL is right. It has the resemblance of a Standard, but the whole thing looks like it's a Russian replica. A real Standard would have three screws along the back edge of the top plate. And that's just to begin with. The brass elbow plate on the front is purely superficial.

What specific features make you conclude this is a fake? Some early Leica I cameras only had a single screw in that position and shared other features with this one that would be unusual on a fake, including the 'hockey stick', the straight top edge of the lens mount and the focus adjustment plug on the back, e.g.:

 

Leica A

for ID see (among others a Google™ will reveal)

 

FED vs Zorki

Leica copies - Wikipedia

for ID see (among others a Google™ will reveal)

 

FED vs Zorki

Leica copies - Wikipedia

 

Yes, I know about the general features of fakes, but what specifically about this camera? Many fakes have their finish stripped down to the brass to give that 'Luxus' look, but real Leicas also occasionally turn up like this. I haven't seem a fake before with that style of lens mounting plate ('chopped off' at the top) or the plug on the back, both features of real early Leicas. Fakes are usually based on a FED-1 or Zorki-1 and have circular interchangeable mounts. Somebody has added what looks like a flash sync on the front, which is pretty common on genuine Leicas but an odd thing for a hypothetical faker who has bothered about details like the rear plug to leave undisguised. Better photos would help.

Fake Leica I cameras in general are rather uncommon, and those I've seen attempt to copy the later variant, which is closer to the FED/Zorki:

 

tom-hoglund

A Zorki Camera, Leica standard copy, chrome, serial no. 57096, with Industar-22 f/3.5 50mm lens,

leicafake

 

We had a previous thread about a camera that in the end looked authentic - this also links to a method of detecting fakes by looking at the film transport gearing:

 

Fake or real Leica?

How to tell a fake Leica from a real one.