(0) Preface
Confession: I like my Soviet Leica clones! There, I’ve said it! You may start throwing eggs and rotten tomatoes at me right here and now - or you may defer until you have read this piece with a little tongue-in-cheek Since this forum teems with true LTM experts (no irony here, I appreciate the knowledgeable and helpful members of this subforum), most of you may rightfully decide not to bother with these propaedeutic musings. No offence taken. Fig. 1: ca. 1955 FED-1(G), ca. 1951 KMZ Zorki-1b, 1932 Leica II(D), 1953 Leica IIIf(RD), harmoniously side by side.
Although this whole post is is a bit off topic, I take the liberty to post in LUF, because even the Leica company museum in Wetzlar proudly exhibits an astonishing array of Leica clones, understandably, in order to underpin the desireability of the original.