View Full Version : Is This A Leica?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=300168985274&indexURL=0&photoDisplayType=2#ebayphotohosting
24 bidders say it is. I say it looks like a Zorki? Stu
And I say you're absolutely right, Stu. :)
rogue_designer
11-12-2007, 12:47
engraving doesn't look right to me.. but I'm no expert.
But it was dear old departed Grand Dads favorite camera that he used for 50 years! Ah, all the family Christmases that camera has seen!:D
Yes, and I'm Santa Claus! :D
Well this is a case where the losers won.;)
smiling gecko
11-12-2007, 13:21
...don't know.
pssssst antti: soooo, you're santa claus. :)
...i am the walrus. :p
breathe, relax, and enjoy!!
kenneth
NEVER FORGET BESLAN
www.neverforgetbeslan.org
www.neverforgetbeslan.com
neverforgetbeslan@gmail.com (thanks again mike g in jerusalem!!)
I see a lot of these cameras on eBay, usually advertised and sold as "Leica Copy." I have no objection to them when sold in this way as they are being honestly advertised and they can still attract a price of about $100. But I see a few (but too many) sales posts of this sort - Usually something like - Found this in my dead grandpappy's estate, I know nothing about cameras, seems to work but I am no expert etc etc. Every time I see such words my hackles rise and I become alert for a fraud. Which this one obviously it. It is easy for an experienced user / collector to tell with a single glance in 99 percent of cases. This is one of those cases.
I have been caught once or twice usually when I ignore my intuition - and not with Leica fakes, I know them too well. The last time was with a Pentax Spotmatic which had a particular lens I wanted so I bid on it despite misgivings (eg partial description of the"I know nothing about cameras" type and low (but generally OK) feedback score) . I put my internal warning signals aside because I wanted this lens. But the camera was marginally described as "Appears to be working" etc and some slight corrosion was mentioned. When I got it the slight corrosion turns out to have been because the camera looked as if it had been dunked in a bath of water. Hmmmm even a $20 bargain is not a bargain wen the whole thing is a crock. SO I learned a lesson. Greed may be good if you are Gordon Gekko. Greed is not smart if the other fellow is Gordon Gekkos cousin twice removed ;^)
Peter, that camera looks TOO good. I must admit that if I was shopping for my first Leica, and didn't bother to do the research, I could have been one of the bidders. I really do feel bad for the "winner" however. Stu
wolves3012
11-12-2007, 13:54
Methinks it's a Zorki 1, probably an early one. The lack of trims says it's early, unless of course it's been re-housed in a FED shell (wouldn't be surprised at that). Rounded top also suggests early. The lens is an Industar 22. Aren't Elmars engraved f=50mm not F=50mm?
Hopefully, any Leica collector would spot it from half a mile as being fake. The top engraving looks too neat and recent compared to the rest of the camera's condition. Interesting that it reads "Leica DBP" rather than the correct "Leica D.R.P." and the GMBH is IIRC a too-recent German "limited company" designation that replaced "DRP". I claim no expertise but the remainder of the engraving isn't capitalised on my Leica either! FAKE! FAKE! FAKE!
I'm willing to bet he won't publish it if someone sends him a message either...
LeicaTom
11-12-2007, 15:32
Why that`s the ULTRA RARE DBP Deutsches Bundespost (German Mail) version of the Leica!!!!!
Ok and I`m Ernst Leitz`s 5th nephew twice removed..........
RUSSIAN FAKE!
Run....don`t walk away from this one
Tom
Some poor sucker is gonna find a Fed instead of a Leica when the package arrives..
Doesn't the serial # say it's a IIIg too? :)
xayraa33
11-12-2007, 16:49
a lot of money for a Zorki 1.
notice the viewfinder's metal top ridge extends to the top plate edge, typical of a FSU Leica II copy.
Vince Lupo
11-14-2007, 13:59
At first when I saw it, and didn't see the slow speed dial or strap lugs, I though that it was a chrome II (were there chrome II's?). But then I saw the top plate that said DBP / GMBH, and thought hold on that's not right, maybe it's a IIc, but then the eyepieces were wrong. Then the serial number put it in the 1950's, so the whole thing is kinda messed up. The lens cap doesn't even look quite right. Of course the big giveaway is the whole 'I don't know anything about this stuff' stance....that absolves you of everything, doesn't it.
Maybe it's a IIIg converted to a II....
bob cole
11-14-2007, 14:54
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=300168985274&indexURL=0&photoDisplayType=2#ebayphotohosting
24 bidders say it is. I say it looks like a Zorki? Stu
---------------------------
It's a pretty good copy but it's a Russian fake...
Looking at the top plate of this one as well as a real IIIG [see below, from Jim Lager's Illustrated History] the lettering on the fake is an extremely close copy but the real IIIG typicaly has four screws on the flash holder while this copy has three...The case is definitedly Russian...As mentioned, the lens cap is not Leica and the eyepieces are not Leica... The lens, supposedly an Elmar, should
have a serial number but this one does not...
From the Ebay pictures, the camera looks like a Leica to the novice but anyone who really knows a Leica knows -- even from the pictures -- that this is --as has been said over and over again -- is a fake Leica.
The buyer has a legitimate claim to get his money back...Ignorance is no excuse, even on Ebay...
Gabriel M.A.
11-14-2007, 15:31
That's a blatant copy, but a nice try, nonetheless. The lettering is machined like if it were at some start-up machine shop in, well some "Red" country ;) The lens is sooo not an Elmar; it's a redone Industar.
wolves3012
11-15-2007, 13:15
---------------------------
It's a pretty good copy but it's a Russian fake...
Looking at the top plate of this one as well as a real IIIG [see below, from Jim Lager's Illustrated History] the lettering on the fake is an extremely close copy but the real IIIG typicaly has four screws on the flash holder while this copy has three...The case is definitedly Russian...As mentioned, the lens cap is not Leica and the eyepieces are not Leica... The lens, supposedly an Elmar, should
have a serial number but this one does not...
From the Ebay pictures, the camera looks like a Leica to the novice but anyone who really knows a Leica knows -- even from the pictures -- that this is --as has been said over and over again -- is a fake Leica.
The buyer has a legitimate claim to get his money back...Ignorance is no excuse, even on Ebay...
Aha, so actually I was wrong then and the engraving *could* have read as this? What's the "DBP" bit mean? Was Tom not being sarcastic when he said Deutsche Bundespost??
The finish , even in the photo , is nothing like a leica - and i lurve Leica pretenders !- and that lense cap !
dee
danwilly
11-15-2007, 13:39
they should have put a Nazi eagle emblem on it and done it up right.
Steve B.
11-15-2007, 15:47
Heck, yes, it looks like a fake to me; that's why I bid $10.00 for it! Thought it might be fun to have a genuine counterfeit. But when it got to be more than the worth of an honest Zorki, I quit bidding. The serial number says it's a Swedish black IIIg made in 1960, according to the list at CameraQuest.com. The carrying case has the same styling as my honest Zorki (that I bought for $5 in 1960, on my last day of High School). The top plate lettering sure looks "clunky" to me. The shutter release button and guard look identical to my Zorki, too. I may have to my eat my words, but I've never seen a screw mount Leica with shutter button having a cable release socket, or a tulip shaped guard. No comment about the just plain ugly lens cap!
Regards,
Steve Busch
(My pets: IIIa, IIIc stepper [half race!], IIIf RDST, IIIg and Honest Zorky s/n 270019)
Vince Lupo
11-15-2007, 16:49
Do you think someone should send an email via eBay to the purchaser regarding this discussion of ours???
Paul Michael Dicks
12-08-2007, 06:53
The serial numbers of the black Swedish IIIg ended at 988025
LeicaTom
12-08-2007, 07:18
Was Tom not being sarcastic when he said Deutsche Bundespost??
Ohhh YES, I was just being sarcastic, NOT serious at all.......just making fun at the DBP
Cheers :D
Tom
This is great! Now he sold his poor dead Grandfather's Lou Gehrig autographed baseball! I love it!
http://cgi.ebay.com/Lou-Gehrig-Inscribed-and-Signed-Baseball_W0QQitemZ300177085852QQihZ020QQcategoryZ2 7260QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
LeicaTom
12-08-2007, 07:44
....and I just found a box of Eva Braun`s full fashioned stockings as well as
Leni Riefenstahl`s Hektor f2.5 73mm - at some estate sale here in Florida :eek:
Just kidding, no really I am ;)
Tom
....and I just found a box of Eva Braun`s full fashioned stockings as well as
Leni Riefenstahl`s Hektor f2.5 73mm - at some estate sale here in Florida :eek:
Just kidding, no really I am ;)
Tom
I may put this up on ebay later. It has great sentimental value but with Christmas right around the corner.....
http://mysite.verizon.net/stuems/Leni.jpg
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