View Full Version : any clue on the make of this one?
buzzardkid
09-29-2007, 07:21
Hello all,
just purchased a camera on EvilBay, from the looks of it I'm pretty sure it's basically a Zorki 1C, but top and lens cap markings are unknown to me, even after a week of scanning the internet.
I have no clue as to what lens is mounted, what serial number is on the top, etc. (seller has been asked all this, I'm currently waiting for a response).
Link is here (http://cgi.ebay.nl/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=190156195363&ssPageName=STRK:MEWN:IT&ih=009#ebayphotohosting). If anyone could tell me more about the origin of this marking, I'm most obliged!
Sorry, but I can't find a link in your post.
Rob.
Rob: It's the word "here" ...
http://cgi.ebay.nl/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=190156195363&ssPageName=STRK:MEWN:IT&ih=009#ebayphotohosting
buzzardkid
09-29-2007, 07:44
Sorry, but I can't find a link in your post.
Rob.
But it IS here (http://cgi.ebay.nl/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=190156195363&ssPageName=STRK:MEWN:IT&ih=009#ebayphotohosting), I swear! :D
Thanks for the pointer, the pic's dont help too much do they. Sorry I can't help, but would be interested to know if you find out.
erikhaugsby
09-29-2007, 08:32
Take a look here (http://www.photoethnography.com/ClassicCameras/index-frameset.html?Shanghai58.html~mainFrame).
You have yourself a poor copy of a very rare camera. The body is a Zorki, while it's made out to be a Shanghai 58 (a Chinese Leica copy.) Notice the windows--a real Shanghai only has 2 windows, while Zorkis have the typical 3.
edit again: But if your camera's serial number is between 58000 and 5801xxx, you do have yourself an extremely scarce Shanghai 58-I. $8000 should be easy to come by.
By the logo it should be a Shanghai, a Chinese Leica copy. The only Shanghai models I know are the Shanghai 58-I (which is basically a Leica III clone with slow speeds and quite rare, link (http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/iannorris/leica_copies/leica_copies_s/shanghai581.htm)) and the Shanghai 58-II which has viewfinder and rangefinder combined (link (http://www.photoethnography.com/ClassicCameras/index-frameset.html?Shanghai58.html~mainFrame)). Your camera looks like a Shanghai 58-I, except it has no slow speeds. I don't know if such a model was ever produced by the Shanghai factory (Zhang would be the person to ask, he is the RFF expert on Chinese cameras).
Given that Shanghai 58-Is are rare and quite expensive, I wouldn't rule out the possibility of a fake, based on a Zorki with old-style release button and an engraved Shanghai logo, sort of a fake of a copy.
Philipp
buzzardkid
09-29-2007, 09:37
Right!
I just knew i'd seen it somewhere before, but could not find anything in the last few days.
Meantime, I did not want to ask the seller either, for fear of tipping anyone off. Seems that strategy worked, only one other EvilBayer threw in a bid.
Personally I do not believe it to be a real Shanghai, as the layout of the screws in the bottom part (when bottom cover is off) are so similar to those of the Zorki 1C.
Will continue to scout the net for more info on this item this evening, thanks all!
buzzardkid
09-29-2007, 09:43
Again,
just another question I forgot to ask just now:
the Zorki 1C has a different shutter release button ('cup'like), while the button on the camera I bought, on an original Leica and the Shanghai models all are the same.
Can a Zorki 1C shutter button be replaced with a Leica-style button, or do these not match?
I'm trying to get a fix on the possibility of having bought a rare Shanghai after all here :eek:
I just got a PM from Zhang who says that if it doesn't have a slow speed dial, it's 100% a fake. So it's a clone of a Leica, made up to be another, rare clone of a Leica. It's a weird world we live in ;)
Some older Zorkies and FEDs had Leica-style shutter buttons as well.
Philipp
Philipp,
Still, such clones of clones may be uncommon and scarce.
Congratulations.
wolves3012
09-29-2007, 15:38
My money says it's a FED 1 from about 1938 ish or earlier, or maybe a *very* early Zorki, not a 1c. That's assuming it is indeed a fake Shanghai, which I'm not knowledgeable enough to state. The smooth chrome shutter release is found on the FEDs of this age and there's no accent stripe. The pictures are a bit rough to say more...
zhang xk
09-30-2007, 06:51
Hi,
Although a Chinese cameras 'expert', I don't have this rare Shanghai 581, so I 'borrowed' an image from Haiou, a Chinese camera collector. :o You can compare it with your camera. It has 4 screws in a different accessary shoe, a slow speed dial, a diopter lever, etc. There are also rare version of Shanghai 581s with no strap lugs. It should be easy to tell the difference.
Cheers,
Zhang
buzzardkid
10-03-2007, 08:34
... It should be easy to tell the difference.
Cheers,
Zhang
And so it is. Would have been nice to have caught a real Shanghai, but it's also nice to have a copy of one, especially when it is actually as well constructed as the ad says.
Somehow the seller managed to have it packed and sent before he returned from a trip, so my questions about the inscriptions and the lens remain unanswered for the moment. The camera should arrive in about a five to seven days, I will post more detailed shots of it then, if anyone likes to see them!?
zhang xk
10-04-2007, 16:47
And so it is. Would have been nice to have caught a real Shanghai, but it's also nice to have a copy of one, especially when it is actually as well constructed as the ad says.
Somehow the seller managed to have it packed and sent before he returned from a trip, so my questions about the inscriptions and the lens remain unanswered for the moment. The camera should arrive in about a five to seven days, I will post more detailed shots of it then, if anyone likes to see them!?
Hi,
I just saw the camera. I couldn't open the link a few days ago. What is your questions about the inscriptions? Like I said before , it is a fake from either a Zorki 1a or a Fed 1. It just occurred to me, that if someone put a Shanghai 582 type a,b's case and its lens into that camera, it would be very hard to tell. Then the value jumps from about $500 to $3,000.:D A similar faked Dalai was sold a few years ago, and I think Bob Shell bought it. Only one Dalai is known to have survived, and it is displayed in Beijing Camera factory's museum.
Cheers,
Zhang
vBulletin® v3.6.8, Copyright ©2000-2013, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.