I was taking a look at my FED 3b Russian camera copy and was trying to figure out which Leica camera was the Soviet factory attempting to copy. It certainly doesn't look like anything from the Leica IIIf or IIIg era and the flat top plate with an advance lever rather than a knob advance makes me think that the FED 3b is a copy of the Leica M3 with Leica thread mount. Strange! :)

Of course, to be honest I like old school street shooting (whenever I'm not using my Nikon 8008s or Nikon F or Leica P and S cameras) but I find the loading of Leica screw mount cameras to be a little too difficult for my taste. I like the slide off loading a lot better although I would think that it could be prone to light leaks if one isn't too careful.

I do enjoy the softer images which the older Leitz lenses produce. I need a good handbook for keeping me up on the stuff definitely :)

Alfie

-- Albert Wang (albert.wang@ibx.com), November 02, 2001

Answers

hi alfie:

i think after the fed 1 / zorki 1 series, the russians kind of went their own way in evolving the leica concept. certainly their slow speed system is original and has some advantages over the ltm leicas. if the fed 3b was a copy of anything it was the leica m3, but the mechanical basis of the feds and zorkis was based on the screwmount leicas right to the end.

the place i have to watch for light leaks in my fed 3 is around the shutter curtains from the front, not around the back door.

one last thing: if you file a little V at the open end of each of the film slots in the takeup spool, it becomes very much like the leica m- series 'quick loading' system!

have fun -

rick :)=

-- Rick Oleson (rick_oleson@yahoo.com), November 02, 2001.

I must agree... of course the FED became a lot more updated and more modern up to the unwieldly FED 5C which sucks because of its weight. Seriously any rangefinder with 2 lbs. to its metal housing is a big problem. Of course the Bessa looks like a cheap imitation to me personally. The FED 5C looks like a box square so for me the FED 3a or FED 3b is a reasonable compromise at least :)...

The cool thing is that the Russian were making screw mount Leica- compatible cameras until the mid 1990's which is rather nice before Voigtlander started to produce their Bessa series. I can't complain to be honest :)

I'm just hoping that the Leica screw mount camera copies can get cheaper and better! :)

-- Albert Wang (albert.wang@ibx.com), November 02, 2001.

I recently received a Canon-P and found it to be a real quality screw mount alternative. It is a screw mount version of an M2, with parallex adjusted bright framelines for 35,50 and 100mm. The image is full size with one of the few weaknesses being the 35mm frame lines go right to the edge making it impossible to use if you need to wear glasses. Otherwise it is made almost as well as an M and loads easier and has a very easy to use rewind crank.It has the size,weight and feel of the M2. I love my IIIc but as a user there is no comparison. For around $250-300 it is a good LTM option.

-- Gerry Widen (gwiden@alliancepartners.org), November 02, 2001.