A rare Leica?? Please help me :)

[Jaans]

Originally Posted by jschrader

Right, but still, I bet 1000:1 that on any true Luftwaffe-owned Leica it reads "Luftwaffe". And "Luftwaffeneigentum" should be in one word. I am native speaker, trust me rather than google.....

Fakers should not use google translate but rather check what is written on the items they are copying.

Oh yeah, show me the money. I'll put down the $100 in my wallet and see you. A quick visit to the Westlicht Auction site will oh so quickly relieve you of your $100,000, not including their commission. I've got a paypal account that would will be quite healthy after this bet.

After visiting that site are you still tempted to play your hand? I guess the lesson in this is that even when you are 1000% sure of something - the house still may hold the upper hand.

[leicapixie]

Strange as it may seem,having a "swastika" symbol is still illegal in many countries.. using such a camera, if, big "IF", could lead to problems..
personally only fit for the mentally deprived a-brotherhood..

[jschrader]

Originally Posted by jarski

well images of original cameras show "Luftwaffen-Eigentum" was the wording used.

been also wondering is somebody still manufacturing new fakes. or are these same ones that have been circulating around since -90's... often on eBay listings sellers wont even bother to try sell it as authentic, and "Leica copy" is mentioned in title.

Well, on the images I do not see "Eigentum"; maybe I am blind or did someone have better pictures?

I would still like to see a picture with an original Leica written only "Luftwaffen".

By the way I did not say how much I would bet ...

[jschrader]

Originally Posted by Jaans

Oh yeah, show me the money. I'll put down the $100 in my wallet and see you. A quick visit to the Westlicht Auction site will oh so quickly relieve you of your $100,000, not including their commission. I've got a paypal account that would will be quite healthy after this bet.

After visiting that site are you still tempted to play your hand? I guess the lesson in this is that even when you are 1000% sure of something - the house still may hold the upper hand.

Thanks for the idea to check that site. Obviously, Luftwaffe Leicas are marked around the lens with "Luftwaffen-Eigentum". This copy is marked on the top plate by someone not knowing enough german who just took the "Luftwaffen" from the correct markings which - and I still insist - does not make sense without "-Eigentum".

So, this is another hint it must be faked. Although I confess more competent members have found more solid reasons for the same conclusion.

[JohnTF]

Was with a friend who bought a war time marked camera in Brno. It had been defaced, and the thought was that during the post war time, having German war time anything was considered to bring the wrong sort of attention from some in authority in Czech.

However, the scratching seemed stupid, it did not obscure the origin and merely lowered the value, assume it was a "shooter".

Still, it changed hands a few times and at least three people made money on it, perhaps more.

US Customs used to deface certain names, like Pentax, if they saw them coming home with citizens as the names were "owned" in the US by some of the distributors, or so I am told. I have seen Asahi Pentaxes with the screwdriver marks on the name.

Nazi stuff remains creepy to many, myself included, though I found an interesting Mauser, Brno I believe, which had German, US and Israeli proofs and was rechambered to .308 Nato-- history was interesting, and the good guy marks out numbered the bad guy marks.

I do know a dealer who was taken in on one of the fakes on eBay-- it happens, and I have a "Yuri" ;-)

Regards, John

[greyelm]

It's an obvious fake, for all the reasons already stated and could be a shooter for very little money. I have a mixed collection of Leica & FSU LTMs. I don't think I would want one of these on the shelf, not because of the NSDP insignia but because they are fantasy fakes and just aren't interesting enough.

[Bill58]

If any "vintage, valuable" watch or camera comes from the Ukraine, it's a 100% fake.

eBay needs to block all listings from that country, but then if they did, their economy would crater.

[johannielscom]

Someday I'll find me a nice fake like that camera in the first post and will happily send it off for free to any linguist or etymologist that will for once and all put the debate about the correct spelling and etymology of 'Luftwaffeneigentum' to bed with a comprehensive explanation that we all can refer to in the future!

[farlymac]

My Zorki 1D/B was $33 with an I-22 lens, so if the OP wants to have a working camera, it's about the right price. Ditch the lens cap and tape over the eagle, you've got a decent camera. I would suggest operating all the controls looking for stiff or loose feeling, seeing if the rangefinder agrees with the distance marking on the lens, general cleanliness, loose or bumpy leather covering, glue coming out from under the coverings, paint quality.

PF

[johannielscom]

Originally Posted by farlymac

My Zorki 1D/B was $33 with an I-22 lens, so if the OP wants to have a working camera, it's about the right price. Ditch the lens cap and tape over the eagle, you've got a decent camera. I would suggest operating all the controls looking for stiff or loose feeling, seeing if the rangefinder agrees with the distance marking on the lens, general cleanliness, loose or bumpy leather covering, glue coming out from under the coverings, paint quality.

PF

Once I found a FED-S (the rare Komandirski model, with 1/1000th top speed and the 2.0/50mm Summar clone) that had been scheduled to strip and hack into a Leica. It had a grinded-to-brass base plate and the top plate had been re-chromed with the wrong color chrome before the forgers found out it was worth more as a FED-S.

It looked kinda decent and the price certainly was for the condition so I bought it.

The first roll did not have one single picture in focus: turned out the lens had been stripped already too and one element was in backwards Took an overhaul at Fedka in the US to figure that out

Beware of camera's that have obviously been stripped and tinkered...!