And another fake Contax on ebay

[Sid836]

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/Zeiss-Ikon-C...250mm-lens-excellent-recent-CLA-/281729161842

A fake Contax III. It does not even pass for a Kiev-III to have some value. At least the lens could be worth of something.

 

[Jean]

Hi,

Top plate is from a Kiev 4... At least the lightmeter is working !

 

[Sid836]

And the back looks fake too. It looks like the front came from a contax (not sure if it is genuine), top came from a Kiev-4 and the back seems to be from a Kiev-III (look at the locks at the bottom). 🙂

 

[180photos]

The lower casting rewind button is not that of a Kiev, so the back must be authentic.

 

[Pherdinand]

"no questions asked about this item".
Did you report it to eBay?
You guys are experts (ok the top plate i could also instantly recognize as non-Zeiss), but there might be plenty of beginners who would get excited with blurry eyes about a good working old Contax... Like i was some years ago.
Someone will get screwed.

Since he makes no single comment on it, i expect if one buys it and complains upon receiving it, he will also be not nice to deal with, post-payment.

 

[Sid836]

Indeed. Let's see how high it can get. All it is worth is its lens, and the parts for someone that repairs cameras.

 

[Pherdinand]

ok i sent a counterfeit/replica report

 

[Pherdinand]

Indeed. Let's see how high it can get. All it is worth is its lens, and the parts for someone that repairs cameras.

that's the wrong approach

 

[Sid836]

I have told him it is a fake. I have also reported this to ebay (first time ever doing this).
I hope he either corrects that listing accordingly or removes it.

 

[Pherdinand]

OK 🙂

If he wasn't pushing so hard that it is "fully original, highly collectible", i would give him the benefit of doubt - maybe he bought it as it is and was fooled himself without ever realizing -
might be even a very nice user camera
but not "fully original, highly collectible"...

 

[sevo]

If he wasn't pushing so hard that it is "fully original, highly collectible", i would give him the benefit of doubt - maybe he bought it as it is and was fooled himself without ever realizing -

The GOST scale is not only differently named, but differently scaled, i.e. it does not even have numbers that correspond to ASA or DIN. It is hardly possible not to notice that there is something wrong when you load a film and attempt to set the meter...

 

[Sid836]

The seller has replied that he had added a statement that it is not an original Contax to the description, but I cannot see it anywhere. For sure he is looking for trouble, he will definitely get his 100% Positive Feedback nailed.

 

[colyn]

The seller has replied that he had added a statement that it is not an original Contax to the description, but I cannot see it anywhere. For sure he is looking for trouble, he will definitely get his 100% Positive Feedback nailed.

You have to scroll to the bottom and look at his added to description..

 

[Sid836]

Yes, it is there. Fair enough, although this should be better reflected in the title and higher in the description.

 

[farlymac]

The seller removed the auction three days ago, and there were no bids, so maybe folks have gotten better at spotting the fakes.

PF

 

[colyn]

My question is did anybody give this seller the benefit of the doubt. He may not have known it was a fake and the fact that he removed it because of an error in the listing tells me he may not have known. I've seen a number of these Contax auctions listed as a Contax but after explaining to them they then either removed the item or changed the working..

Remember these cameras were in fact made with genuine Zeiss machinery and many of the first ones off the line were marked Contax and had genuine Contax parts..

 

[Pioneer]

Remember these cameras were in fact made with genuine Zeiss machinery and many of the first ones off the line were marked Contax and had genuine Contax parts..

Agreed. I have a very early, post-war Contax II that was actually built by Russian technicians. It is a very, very nice camera which works perfectly. It is identified on the front as a Contax, not a Kiev. And, in fact, it was not manufactured in Kiev as it was assembled before the equipment was moved. If I did not already know the provenance of this camera it would be very tough to identify it as anything but an honest, pre-war camera.

This was a lot more obvious to some of us but I would bet a lot of people wouldn't know.

 

[DNG]

deleted do to looking at a wrong auction... ONLY The IIIA had a rewind like this.

 

[David Hughes]

Hi,

Just looked and "This listing was removed by the seller because there was an error in the listing"; just to set the record straight...

Regards, David