FILM STARS
Landmark cameras are pricey – so why not cut the cost with a classic copy? John Wade looks at the options available
Mention landmark camera names such as Rolleiflex, Leica, Hasselblad, Contax, Super Ikonta and the like, and a wistful look comes over the faces of some photographers who hold places in their hearts for marques like these. What must it have been like to shoot with such cameras when their popularity was at its peak? Well of course you still can. The cameras are still available. The problem is that they have become collector’s items, meaning second-hand prices have rocketed to levels often far in excess of what they cost new. But if you crave the classic experience without the pain of the classic price tag, there is another way.
At the time when many of these cameras were at the top of their games, rival manufacturers began making their own versions. Some were merely inspired by the originals, others were little more than blatant copies. They too are still around, and at far more reasonable prices. So why not cut the cost with a classic copycat?
Leica versus Fed
The original Leica, which popularised the use of 35mm film when it was introduced in 1925, was a fairly basic camera. The Leica II that followed built a coupled rangefinder into a top plate housing, establishing the shape and style of Leica cameras for many years more. That was in 1932 and strangely Leitz didn’t register its patents in Russia, leaving the market open for the Russians to copy the German classics, starting with the first Fed in 1934.
Put an early Fed side by side with a Leica II and you will be hardpressed to tell the difference cosmetically. Shape, size and controls are identical, only the engravings on the top plate and lens are different. Both load from the base (a difficult manoeuvre if you are not used to it); both focal plane shutters are speeded 1/20-1/500sec; both lenses are retractable and marked in the older f-stop style of 3.5, 4.5, 6.3, 9, 12.5, 18. Both have difficult-to-use squinty little viewfinders with coincident-image rangefinders in separate windows. The Fed lens, which is a copy of the Leitz Elmar, is known for its quality, and because it employs the Leitz L39 screw mount you can buy a cheap Fed body and mount it with more prestigious Leica lenses.
You won’t get that hot-knife-through-butter smoothness of operation naturally expected of a Leica, but look at the difference in price.
Today’s prices Leica II: £350-450 Fed 1: £35-45
Leica versus Aires
In 1954, Leica went through a complete revamp with the introduction of the M3, reckoned by some to be the most beautiful camera ever made. While many manufacturers copied th
