It’s a tribute to Leica that the brand influenced so many other manufacturers. When the first cameras were produced, Leitz failed to register patents in Russia or China, thus the Russians began making Leica copies in the 1930s.
With the end of World War II in 1945, governments of countries where German patents had been registered made those patents available free of charge.
Consequently, post-war, camera manufacturers began making their own versions of Leica cameras in countries that included America, China, England, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Russia.
It’s impossible to list all the cameras that copied, or were inspired by, the Leica. So here are just a few notable examples...
Leica copies
Fed 1/Zorki 1
The Russian Fed 1, made by a company of the same name in Ukraine,…