any FSU Leica copy camera that ....

R

Ruvy

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1. is parallax corrected
2. has frame lines for wide-long lenses
3. has clear, bright and contrasty RF

automated preferred but not a must have.
 
The Soviets tried to make one with such features in the 1950s. The "Kometa". But only one or two were made.
 
The Leningrad has:

- Frame Lines
- A bright Finder
- (possibly parallax correction)
- A M39 mount

Its a spring driven automatic. But might not be the one you're looking for.
 
I like the Zorki 3. It is less common than the other FSU cameras, and is one of the best looking ones. It has a large, integrated viewfinder/rangefinder, takes all the L-mount lenses, and can be loaded fairly easily. There are usually a few listed on eBay at any time, try to find one with a good (not rotted or full of holes) shutter.
 
Valkir1987 said:
The Leningrad has:

- Frame Lines
- A bright Finder
- (possibly parallax correction)
- A M39 mount

Its a spring driven automatic. But might not be the one you're looking for.
Click to expand...

Bright, but not bright-line (engraved black lines), no parallax correction, no film-measuring wind on via the sprockets (uneven frame spacing), and a zinc-alloy chassis that is reputedly (I never had a problem) prone to cracking. Also incredibly noisy, and if you want cheap amusement, (1) set the self timer (2) place the camera on a hard, flat surface (3) actuate the timer (4) watch it jump as it goes off.

Cheers,

R.
 
Last edited:
It's written DRUG (without "o")


So, why some "Droug" is a legitimate phonetic transliteration - remains a mistery to me..


Have nice day Roger, I give up
sign0076.gif
 
Rob Fox said:
It's written DRUG (without "o")


So, why some "Droug" is a legitimate phonetic transliteration - remains a mistery to me..


Have nice day Roger, I give up
sign0076.gif
Click to expand...


I think it's derived from the French transliteration: "ou" for the long "oo" sound. Like Ulyanov is Oulyanoff in French literature.

ДРУГ transliterated in latin is DRUG which English speakers may read as 'drug', which in turn may spawn some undesireable contexts. Spelling it as DROOG may take that context out, but that manner of spelling doesn't quite look as good as DROUG.
 
Roger Hicks said:
But isn't it fixed lens?
Click to expand...

No, it's not. I posted a writeup about the Drug here a few years ago, after I got mine.

For a slightly more sober note on the same camera: only last week I exchanged a few e-mails with Oleg Khalyavin (of OK Vintage Camera fame) on Drug cameras. He says that while the design of the camera is good, the materials they were assigned for building it are quite bad, so that in use the camera eventually goes out of tolerance. There are also some rare spare parts, such as the chain driving the wind mechanism, which is why he isn't repairing them anymore. His closing statement on the camera is that for a collector's shelf it's very nice, but not for everyday use.
 
rxmd said:
No, it's not. I posted a writeup about the Drug here a few years ago, after I got mine.
.....
Click to expand...

Philipp, is it true that the Друг is the only Soviet Leica which used a roller tip on the rangefinder arm? Someone told me, I don't remember if it was Alex of Alex Photo or Yuri (Fedka), that.

I've been looking for online photos of the Друг which show the lens mount throat, without lens, to see if this was so.
 
ZorkiKat said:
Philipp, is it true that the Друг is the only Soviet Leica which used a roller tip on the rangefinder arm? Someone told me, I don't remember if it was Alex of Alex Photo or Yuri (Fedka), that.
Click to expand...

I think it's the only one, certainly among those that saw production. (I don't know about oddball prototypes like the Drug-2.)

attachment.php


Go ahead to use my photo if you want, I think it's visible well enough ;)
 
Rob Fox said:
It's written DRUG (without "o")


So, why some "Droug" is a legitimate phonetic transliteration - remains a mistery to me..


Have nice day Roger, I give up
sign0076.gif
Click to expand...
Dear Rob,

The clue lies in the word PHONETIC.

I can read the Cyrillic too. And as everyone has pointed out, it is pronounced Droog.

rxmd: thanks for the clarification and further information; pity about the reliability problem. The only book I have that mentions the Droog as any length is Foto Lubitely, Minsk, 1964. The print is small, and my Rssian is bad enough that I pretty much have to spell out every word. Hence my ignorance.

Cheers,

R.
 
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