It is common knowledge that
the Leica has been copied more often than any other camera and many of these
copies are relatively well known. Some of
the rather rare and little known copies are the ones made in China.
Between 1958 and 1963 the
Chinese state owned the ‘Shanghai Camera Company’. They started out by producing copies of the
Leica III rangefinder, called the Shanghai 58.
In 1964 the Shanghai Camera Company changed its name to the Seagull
company and made cameras for the mass market.
Shanghai 58
Leica III
A much more rare copy is what appears to be a follow up model, the little known Shanghai 582.
The camera was made for less
than two years, from 1958 to 1959, at the beginning of the Cultural Revolution
when the Chinese government decided to do everything better than the Russians,
the Americans and the Germans. The seven
digit serial number was quite misleading since very few of the cameras were
made, most of them for government use.
It really wasn’t a bad
copy. It showed an extraordinary amount
of hand work. The f/3.5 collapsible lens
was of acceptable quality, and the cloth focal plane shutter still worked
smoothly and was reasonably accurate, even years later.
The pictures of the camera
were obtained from a member of the Leica Historical Society of America (LHSA)
who had the good fortune to see and inspect the camera and to photograph it on
a trip to China.
Another interesting fact, as
far as I know, is that the Chinese are the only country that also copied much
later models of Leica cameras, namely the Leica M5, which was called "Red
Flag."
Red Flag
Leica M5
Interesting, to say the
least. But I think I will stick with my
Wetzlar and Solms made Leica equipment.
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Cumberland: Island of Conflict and Change by Jeff Kauck
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Santiago Grijalva Fernández wrote:
ReplyDeleteuna delicia de los grandes imitadores del mundo.(A delight of the great imitators of the world).