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View Full Version : Does this Black M3 look phony to you?

bob338
03-19-2008, 21:18
this looks to me like the serial number is crooked and the wrong font. any chance it's real??

http://cgi.ebay.com/Black-Paint-Leica-M3-SN-993741-Excellent_W0QQitemZ200209248078QQcmdZViewItem?hash =item200209248078
Avotius
03-19-2008, 21:41
Looks fake to me. The font just doesnt look right at all on the serial number. Maybe the result of a messy job painting the numbers in after repainting the body, also the top plate may be one of the blanks that show up every so often that was engraved with a number.
Keith
03-19-2008, 21:58
The pics of the camera have been taken with a really strange light ... the whole thing has an eerie golden glow which doesn't do it justice whatever it may be!
xayraa33
03-19-2008, 22:30
it is hard to tell from the photos, it could be a bad repaint or a phoney black one, serial numbers could be re- stamped to make it fit the known number block for black paint ones.
since it is a gamble, I would avoid this one for now.
HuubL
03-19-2008, 23:09
The number is in a different font than the original Leica font. M3 should be in a larger size than the numbers and the spacing is way off! It even looks as if it is photoshopped in that single picture showing the top. Definitely fake!
nobbylon
03-20-2008, 01:06
fake! the paint even looks like it's been done over chrome hence the weird look to it! wrong font.
edho
03-20-2008, 01:52
Looks fake to me. Besides, a real black paint M3 is in no way at this price.
pvdhaar
03-20-2008, 02:33
According to the seller 'camera seems to have been restored or redone.'.. That gives it away, doesn't it?
wpb
03-20-2008, 06:19
It has to be a re-paint. It has the quick load system added to it and the user even went through the trouble of putting on the decal. It was a camera that was set-up to be used. No way could the original paint stand up to that kind of use without being worn in the "usual" places.
greyhoundman
03-20-2008, 06:27
Normally I don't post in Leica threads.
But the white lettering paint has three different brightnesses.

Below the Lecia it is dim and tinted as old paint gets. The Leica is brighter. The serial number is so bright that it has to be new paint or PS trickery.
spyder2000
03-20-2008, 08:36
I find the lightning bolt on the shutter speed knob and the "B" in red to be interesting. And yes, the s/n font is hinky.
HuubL
03-20-2008, 08:40
I asked the seller if the number was really etched into the top plate. He responded to a possible buyer from Indonesia.... No, won't sell to there
clicker
03-20-2008, 08:45
It's a fake, no doubt about it.
nikonhswebmaster
03-20-2008, 08:50
Not sure what the discussion is about.

The seller says it is a repaint.
The camera is priced too low to be an original.
A genuine M3 with almost perfect black paint would be selling at $5000 plus.

The camera is sold!
bob338
03-20-2008, 09:16
what a shame, someone bought it.
BillBlackwell
03-20-2008, 09:47
what a shame, someone bought it.

... and paid far too much for it! That has to be the worst repaint and fake sr. number engraving job I have ever seen on a Leica M!