Help Identifying My Leica

Recently picked up this Leica and am confused by the 5 digit serial number? If you could give me any information it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!!!

 

 

 

 

There should be no need for confusion about Leica's serial numbers, Leica have 'perfection' in their meticulous numbering.

 

There are many (web based) lists and cross references which detail Leica Serial Numbers. There are also Leica Production Manuals. The one I use (and it has always proven reputable), mentions this as:

 

Leica I, built in the latter part of 1928, a batch of 6800 units.

 

WW

There should be no need for confusion about Leica's serial numbers, Leica have 'perfection' in their meticulous numbering.

 

There are many (web based) lists and cross references which detail Leica Serial Numbers. There are also Leica Production Manuals. The one I use (and it has always proven reputable), mentions this as:

 

Leica I, built in the latter part of 1928, a batch of 6800 units.

 

WW

 

Do you know what model it is? I should have stated that I looked up the year and batch information. When I search that year the cameras do not look like mine.

There should be no need for confusion about Leica's serial numbers, Leica have 'perfection' in their meticulous numbering.

 

There are many (web based) lists and cross references which detail Leica Serial Numbers. There are also Leica Production Manuals. The one I use (and it has always proven reputable), mentions this as:

 

Leica I, built in the latter part of 1928, a batch of 6800 units.

 

WW

 

Also do you think this one is a fake?

This looks like a Russian camera with new engraving. It's not a Leica camera. Look through the Rangefinder- the Russian cameras use a yellow filter built into the optics, Leica required use of an external filter for the RF spot. I'm guessing your camera has the yellow tint.

 

The lens is the give away, it has the aperture ring of an I-22.

This looks like a Russian camera with new engraving. It's not a Leica camera. Look through the Rangefinder- the Russian cameras use a yellow filter built into the optics, Leica required use of an external filter for the RF spot. I'm guessing your camera has the yellow tint.

 

The lens is the give away, it has the aperture ring of an I-22.

Thank you for sharing your knowledge!!!

Check the cam follower. Is it round or wedge shaped. Thats usually the give away. And the viewfinder. It should not come to top of the top plate. There are more forensic indicia - cut or stamped gears.

Check the cam follower. Is it round or wedge shaped. Thats usually the give away. And the viewfinder. It should not come to top of the top plate. There are more forensic indicia - cut or stamped gears.

The threaded release button is a dead giveaway - no Leica had this.

Also do you think this one is a fake?

 

Ah, different question!

 

I didn't understand that was what you were actually concerned about. I understand now, that's a simple error on my part as I tend to read meaning of words literally and I simply read the serial number from the second photo and I referred to that only.

 

Your answers are as above: having now had a good look at the camera, I concur that it's fake.

 

WW

It's a Zorki 1 (D), made in the Soviet Union around 1953-55. Originally chrome, it has been re-painted in black with fake Leica engravings and the 'wood-grain' cover added. The lens is a collapsible Industar, also re-finished with fake engravings. Hope you didn't pay too much! Edited November 24, 2019 by Richard Williams

SEE

 

Russian Fake Leicas

 

Somebody over there had a wonderful sense of humor.

Edited November 24, 2019 by JDMvW

At least this fake hasn't been NAZI-fied, like they often are.

 

A properly serviced Zorki is still fun to shoot and Tessar design of the lens is rock-solid too.

Unfortunately sometimes the cameras and lenses get messed up when they rebuild them to look like Leicas

Did Leitz really make lenses with f/9, 12.5, and 18?

 

Presumably there were some before the current popular values became

standard, though they are interesting numbers.

Yes they did, the pre-war Elmars certainly had the deviated f-stop sequence. It was after the war that they changed to the 'standard' sequence of f-stop numbers.

 

That actually brings up an interesting point as the Industar-22, which this lens is, only goes up to f/16 originally.

Does this mean the newly engraved numbers on this lens don't match with the actual aperture size properly?

Or is the difference small enough to not cause exposure problems?

OK, it was just so strange to see those numbers.

 

And yes, I don't normally see prewar Elmars.

Yes they did, the pre-war Elmars certainly had the deviated f-stop sequence. It was after the war that they changed to the 'standard' sequence of f-stop numbers.

 

That actually brings up an interesting point as the Industar-22, which this lens is, only goes up to f/16 originally.

Does this mean the newly engraved numbers on this lens don't match with the actual aperture size properly?

Or is the difference small enough to not cause exposure problems?

 

I expect the fakers didn't pay any attention at all to matching up with the real aperture, they just copied the engraved sequence from an Elmar. But the fraction of a stop difference wouldn't make much difference in real use world use, at least with negative film. And who knows how far out from spec the shutter speeds are on a camera like this?

Some aperture adjustments have detents, to make it easy to select specific values, though the mechanics is continuous. Others have no detent, making it more obvious that it is continuous. In the latter case especially, but even in the former, the knob may go past the numbers on either end. The US (Uniform System) aperture scale, with whole power of two stops, was used for some years, before the current powers of sqrt(2) system became popular. That makes it less obvious why Elmar has the numbers that it does.

And who knows how far out from spec the shutter speeds are on a camera like this?

 

I'm told the forgers overtension the springs to make the shutters sound snappy. That seems to mesh with the fact that all of the 'Leica-fied" Zorkis and FEDs I've owned so far had bad shutters (often breaking on the first roll I'd put through). While the unmodified ones are all still running fine.

A folding 50/1.8 Elmar ??