Is it fake or not?

[max_maxwell1]

http://img38.imageshack.us/img38/1692/leika3.jpg

 

http://img849.imageshack.us/img849/4643/leika.jpg

 

http://img192.imageshack.us/img192/2/leika2.jpg<div></div>

[leicaglow]

<p>Without a doubt: fake.</p>

[max_maxwell1]

Is it fake or not? Thank you!<div></div>

[robert_hooper1]

<p>Ditto. It is most likely Russian. The eBay market is flooded with these. <strong>Definitely fake</strong>.</p>

[max_maxwell1]

<p>thank you very much</p>

[JDMvW]

<p>Look on the bright side. Flashing one of these at a gathering of Leica enthusiasts will definitely be a thrilling experience for everyone.<br>

The gold finish, the Olympic emblem, and the eagle and swastika are like rattles on a rattlesnake - say "do not touch", except as a gag for a good price. One like this used to go for about US$100 or so.</p>

<p>That's what I paid for my even rarer Leica - rare because it has the three Swedish crowns instead of the more common Nazi markings. Hermann Göring's name is especially common on "presentation" Luftwaffe Leicas.</p><div></div>

[josh_carr]

<p>That Berlin Olympics fake is so OTT, I actually like it. What are the photos like?</p>

[max_maxwell1]

<p>no idea, didn't buy it. looks fake 2me. price was 80 euro</p>

[eric friedemann]

<p>A Russian customer at my friends' camera store gave them a similar faux Leica he brought back from a trip home, except it didn't have the hilarious snakeskin covering. I believe he said he paid the equivalent of $30 U.S. for the piece.</p>

[StuartMoxham]

<p>Fake but could be a good user. I just picked up a FED 3 for a bit of fun. My Zorki C turned out to have a very damaged scratch up lens. I bought the FED for the lens but it is really smooth. Must finish the roll this week...</p>

[max_maxwell1]

<p>http://lenatolstik.livejournal.com/69707.html</p>

<p>more pictures here<br>

it looks not so perfect</p>

[starvy]

<p>Fake or not, it is interesting!</p>

[Gus Lazzari]

<p>Sorry to say, but internally they're crude and lack adjustability.</p>

<p>The speeds<strong> from one click to the next</strong> easily fail Japanese and German tolerance standards. Metal on these is so soft that screws <strong>etc.</strong> just don't hold their form over the years of being serviced. I personally hate to work on cameras that needlessly add more labor to the repair because of the manufacture's low quality choices.</p>

<p>IMHO, the only saving grace is the latitude of film and their bargain pricing...</p>

[eric friedemann]

<p>Observation: If the Russian camera industry, such as it is, spent more time updating itself and less time churning out comically-bad imitations of 70 year-old Nazi cameras, it could at least rival Cosina/Voigtlander. (And yes, I know Hartblei makes a cool tilt/shift lens or two, but for every one of those, I've seen scores of fake, retro Leicas made to varying degrees of historical inaccuracy.) </p>

[anuarpatjane]

Yes it is fake and it would be a crime to glue a leather like that one on a real leica :P

[t_nu_tamm]

<p>Eric, I wouldn't blame russian camera industry for these, it seems to be a part of the teeming "fake nazi souvenir" industry. Bad taste on many levels.</p>

[JDMvW]

<p>Besides Eric, it is providing work and earnings for a lot of people. Don't knock capitalist endeavor meeting a market demand that is not ex-Soviet in origin. If westerners didn't buy these, no one would make them.</p>

<p>Personally I have both the Leica above and a lovely all-black Contax II. Enjoy them enormously.</p>

<p>A little fun now and then is not wasted. Some of these things have got wilder and wilder as they think up new combinations. All Power to the (ex-)Soviets!</p>

[seth_.]

<p>I know the old Russian cameras can be a gamble but some of them are actually decent quality. I've had a few Zorkis and FEDs and they've worked well.<br>

If you can see wear and tear on them, you know they've been used (and often abused), but if they're 50+ years old, they're bound to need some attention anyway.<br>

I overhauled a Zorki 1 that I picked up cheap and it's proven to be a really good user and I didn't see anything flimsy in the mechanism. It's the only post-1950 &35mm camera I own - I got it because I can't fit a TLR in my pocket!<br>

The other plus is I'm kind of averse to branding and also I never felt the need to own a Leica/Hasselblad/Linhof/whatever. I like that the Zorki is an underdog and it fools people until they see it up close.<br>

Don't get me wrong - if you gave me a Leica I wouldn't complain, but I'd secretly be planning to debrand it somehow ;)</p>

[seth_.]

<p>Oh, the Nazis had great style in so many ways and it's easy to see the appeal of the memorabilia, etc. It's a shame they were murdering bastards.</p>

[ken_jeanette1]

<p>The russians should start making commemoratives to their own past leaders/organizations. They could have the KGB gold Stalin commemorative, with Hammer and Sickle. Red Snakeskin would make it a real treat. </p>

[jim_jones3]

<p>Not only is it a crude fake, but the serial number is for a model 6 years before the Olympics, and with a compur rather than focal plane shutter. So much effort to make a silk purse from a hog's ear!</p>

[JDMvW]

<p>jim,<br>

with all respect, I think that there are a few clues to the essential "wrongness" of this puppy long before you get to the serial number! LOL</p>

<p>Although I do have a red cover on a FED-2, I suspect the market for "Stalin presentation models" is perhaps not so great as it was before 1953.</p>

<p>Besides to have even a pretense of "truth" the inscription would have to be in Cyrillic, making the thing more difficult for Westerners (aka, "the market") to understand. :)</p>

[rogerwb]

<p>What really makes these really silly is the fact that none of the military issue cameras had any of this engraving. The only identification was the engraving on the back edge of the top cover with the branch of service ie: Wehrmacht, Luftwaffe, etc. Also, the Luftwaffe cameras were painted grey, with the much vaunted red curtain shutter.<br>

Gus is right. These cameras are serviceable, but anyone who has had one of these and a true Leica apart, will not confuse the innards.<br>

As for commemoration : <a href="http://skinslove.com/index.php/cPath/145_152">http://skinslove.com/index.php/cPath/145_152</a><br>

for your Fed 5 or Zenit. No Stalin, but Lenin is there along with a hammer and sickle on red.</p>

[Richard Williams]

<p>'Observation: If the Russian camera industry, such as it is, spent more time updating itself and less time churning out comically-bad imitations of 70 year-old Nazi cameras, it could at least rival Cosina/Voigtlander.'</p>

<p>I suspect none of these things have been made for several decades, just cosmetically altered (unless someone has tracked down some stocks of old FED and Zorki parts).</p>

[scott_paris4]

<p>Fake.<br>

But cool, all the same.</p>