Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1996/03/29

[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]

To: leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
Subject: Re: Russian Leica M
From: Marc James Small <msmall@roanoke.infi.net>
Date: Fri, 29 Mar 1996 18:19:30 -0500
Cc: Edi Weitz <weitz@math.uni-hannover.de>

At 10:00 PM 3/29/96 +0100, Edi Weitz wrote:

>A camera dealer told me that these copies were built using original German
>equipment that was brought to the U.S.S.R. after World War II. The cameras
>that are sold now are not older than five years (according to him) although
>they seem to use some kind of "stone-washing" to make the leather case look
>old. 

Well, not quite so.  The Soviets pillaged the Zeiss Jena and Zeiss Ikon
Dresden plants right after the War:  the US occupied Jena first and cleaned
out the high-tech stuff, which went to Oberkochen, but the Russians objected
when we boxed up the lens production machinery for transfer West.  We then
transferred Jena to the Soviets, who simply took the flatcars we'd loaded
and headed them east to Krasnagorsk.  The Prewar Zeiss Jena Contax
rangefinder lens line is still available new from Krasnagorsk, though now in
Leica thread-mount and coated.  Dresden was occupied from the start by the
Soviets, who transferred the Contax RF assembly line to the Arsenal Plant in
Kiev.

However, Wetzlar was occupied by the US Army -- the founder of my local
camera store was the unit photographer, and I have spoken extensively to
Emil Keller, the US manager of Leica, and Colonel Nelson, who was in overall
charge of the Allied Optical Reparations effort.  Nothing Leica was ever in
Russian hands.

Simply put, the camera man got the story wrong.  The fake Leicas are FED's,
from the Ukraine:  these are manufactured from straight Soviet equipment
which never saw the west bank of the Elbe.

Best,

Marc
msmall@roanoke.infi.net  FAX:  +540/343-7315
Cha robh bas fir gun ghras fir!