Any one ever deal with this seller?

[rbiemer]

I've wnated a BLACK Kiev/fake contax and this seems like an OK price. Fairly decent feedback.
He/she has several of them so I thought i'd share.
The down side is that I am once again registered on the 'bay :bang: 🙄
'Course I have been for about a week so far and I'm only bidding on one item and I may do the BIN on this.
This is way better than most of those "leica" repaints we've talked about recently.
Any thoughts?
Rob

 

[cameramanic]

The feed back is not 100% for this person, it says the item is in the uk but i think you will find
the item is in FSU and the payment is to the USA, I would not trust this Seller.

 

[Fedzilla_Bob]

I have this baby bookmarked as well. I'm not buying though, just wanted to see how much it would sell for. It does look nice.

I often wonder about the quality of reassembly after one of these repaints.

 

[TPPhotog]

Interesting this one was posted as I was watching http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=7527485208&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT all the FED-3s advertised are pictures of the same one 😕

 

[cameramanic]

I just checked the user ID, the seller is in the Ukraine

 

[wlewisiii]

Hmm. I have no experiance with this seller but my $.02 is this -

The shipping is a rip-off. There is no way that would cost L20 to ship to the US. Also, it's a relatively late model Kiev 4A, say 1977 or so, so it will have a maximum shutter of 1/1000 not 1/1250 as claimed in the ad. Finally something doesn't look right to me about that "Sonnar". Though I can't quite say why, I think it's a Jupiter with a new front plate on it.

I'd stay away. If you really want a black one, I'd get a good one inexpensivly from someone like Oleg or even Fedka and get it refinished. It would probably cost less and have a higher chance of actually working afterwards. Or wait till you see one for 1/2 that price.

William

 

[rbiemer]

Interesting this one was posted as I was watching http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=7527485208&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT all the FED-3s advertised are pictures of the same one 😕

I looked at the pix of the "contax" and they are all the same also.
I figured the lens was fake as well. And I like the jupiter on my '67 4a so that wasn't a problem.
I looked at all the feedback and most of the neutral/negative feedback is about condition not as described. His response is pretty vituperitive and he alwsays says the buyer didn't look/read carefully enough.
He's got five or six seperate auctions for the fake contaxes so four or five at least are not actuall pictures of the camera.
THAT'S a deal breaker for me.
Thanks for the help and opinions guys!
Rob

 

[Doug]

I got this one at KievCamera (Mike Fourman), and the film transport was jammed upon receipt. I fiddled with it and got it unjammed, took it to my local repair guy who felt unqualified to work on it, but did say the only accurate speeds were 1/60, 1/125 and 1/250, the others not only off but inconistently off.

I rather suspect it's the crappy Kievs that get the faked-up treatment on the assumption they won't be seriously used, just shelf decor. And they may be right... At least mine was clearly labeled a fake in the auction. Hey, funny thing mine has the same serial number as the one pictured now on eBay! Probably faked in the same shop. I paid $100... here's a snap of it...

 

[rbiemer]

I rather suspect it's the crappy Kievs that get the faked-up treatment on the assumption they won't be seriously used, just shelf decor. And they may be right... At least mine was clearly labeled a fake in the auction. Hey, funny thing mine has the same serial number as the one pictured now on eBay! Probably faked in the same shop. I paid $100... here's a snap of it...

Pretty! I have said before, I think there's a business model here that could work:
Rather than trying to fake BS leicas/contaxes, It would be very cool to simply order what you wanted as long as the function is 100%. Something like Arax (Gevorg Vartanyan) is doing with the Kiev 60 and 88 cameras.
I have decided not to buy any of them from this guy. I also looked at DVD Tech's web site and they have a few black Kievs(III and 4a) and the 4a also has the same serial nimberas yours and the auction ones!
Maybe " A 101" isn't the s/n but a model number? 🙄
Rob

 

[Doug]

Finally something doesn't look right to me about that "Sonnar". Though I can't quite say why, I think it's a Jupiter with a new front plate on it.

William, you're right! The word spacing is wrong, but the real kicker is the focal length marking, "f=5sm". For some reason, the fakers seem to be consistent in this error, using sm instead of cm for centimeter. Probably related to Cyrillic using a "C" character for S sound as in centimeter, while reserving K for the C character with a hard sound as in Contax, these two letters both existing in the two alphabets! Anyway, the "sm" is a dead giveaway that it's a fake...

 

[RJBender]

I was looking at SP's listings too. All the photos were the same for each item and the seller has a habit of leaving retaliatory negative feedback. I bought one from Alex instead for $84. The camera works fine and the photos came out great. The camera didn't have an all chrome self timer lever as depicted in the listing which meant that the camera was made from a later Kiev. Alex said I could return the item but I asked that he send me an all chrome lever instead, which he did. The 50mm sonnar is also a "5sm".
I got a 40.5mm ventilated lens hood on ebay from Heavystar for $15 and replacement leather from Aki-asahi for $14. Six weeks after I got the fake Contax, I got a 1954 Kiev (KNEB) which is more like the real thing.

 

[rbiemer]

I was looking at SP's listings too. All the photos were the same for each item and the seller has a habit of leaving retaliatory negative feedback. I bought one from Alex instead for $84. The camera works fine and the photos came out great. The camera didn't have an all chrome self timer lever as depicted in the listing which meant that the camera was made from a later Kiev. Alex said I could return the item but I asked that he send me an all chrome lever instead, which he did. The 50mm sonnar is also a "5sm".
I got a 40.5mm ventilated lens hood on ebay from Heavystar for $15 and replacement leather from Aki-asahi for $14. Six weeks after I got the fake Contax, I got a 1954 Kiev (KNEB) which is more like the real thing.

Which leather did you get? Shortly after I first asked about this another RFF member sold me a "Contax" III and it's a beauty! Black and my first metered Kiev. All the pictures of these I had seen made the cameras look like the meter cell on top was very big, but in real life the camera is a very nice size! And this meter is good enough for print film. I am saving my nickels for a real Contax but that's going to take a while 😡 Eventually I will probably look for a good Kiev II to go with my 4a and the "new" one.
BTW: welcome to RFF!
Rob

 

[RJBender]

Which leather did you get? Shortly after I first asked about this another RFF member sold me a "Contax" III and it's a beauty! Black and my first metered Kiev. All the pictures of these I had seen made the cameras look like the meter cell on top was very big, but in real life the camera is a very nice size! And this meter is good enough for print film. I am saving my nickels for a real Contax but that's going to take a while 😡 Eventually I will probably look for a good Kiev II to go with my 4a and the "new" one.
BTW: welcome to RFF!
Rob

Hi Rob,
I got the "lizard" kit and they sent me a red leatherette kit with it for free:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Contax-II-III-K...itemZ7528258789QQcategoryZ15234QQcmdZViewItem
I just got a 85mm Jupiter this week and should be getting a 135mm Sonnar tomorrow. I don't have an external finder for either lens, so I may be looking for a universal finder soon.
Thanks. Nice forum here. Some people might know me from the Rollei or Koni Omega lists. I had to unsubscribe from both lists 3-4 years ago as I was spending more time posting than I was taking pictures! 😛

 

[pangkievrange]

I've wnated a BLACK Kiev/fake contax and this seems like an OK price. Fairly decent feedback.
He/she has several of them so I thought i'd share.
The down side is that I am once again registered on the 'bay :bang: 🙄
'Course I have been for about a week so far and I'm only bidding on one item and I may do the BIN on this.
This is way better than most of those "leica" repaints we've talked about recently.
Any thoughts?
Rob

I made several deals with SP314 on p-6 mount lenses and P-6 camera. Her prices were very competitive. I bought vega 120mm (mint), biometar 80mm (mint)with P-6, jupiter 250mm/3.5 (exe+), and mir 65mm (exe), 45mm. The last one has some cleaning marks if viewed under strong light condition. Otherwise, it's "scratch-free" under normal light condition. I think she's very good in Russian/Ukraine sellers. She package the items with lots of foam wraps. The description is always right (forget about image).

pangkievrange

 

[ruben]

OT, I wonder about the logics of Russian fakers.

To fake an original Contax into a fake Kiev makes sense. But why to fake an original Kiev into a fake Contax ?

The only possible reason I can image is the shortage of crappy Contaxes out there.

Cheers,

Ruben

 

[rbiemer]

I made several deals with SP314 on p-6 mount lenses and P-6 camera. Her prices were very competitive. I bought vega 120mm (mint), biometar 80mm (mint)with P-6, jupiter 250mm/3.5 (exe+), and mir 65mm (exe), 45mm. The last one has some cleaning marks if viewed under strong light condition. Otherwise, it's "scratch-free" under normal light condition. I think she's very good in Russian/Ukraine sellers. She package the items with lots of foam wraps. The description is always right (forget about image).

pangkievrange

After I read your post, I went to ebay and she's not selling anything right now!
I will check back.
Thanks for the post, pangkievrange.
Rob

 

[David Doler]

I bought my first FSU FED 3 from 'Asterliks' on eBay. It arrived in about 14 days. The camera is exactly as shown in the photo - including the serial numbers. After doing my homework on how to use this thing, I got down to business and it's been rather interesting to say the least. If this is how the Mir space station worked, I'd say that there was a whole lot of pulling, pushing and twisting going on there. I think you could take a series of fast shots with this bugger, but I don't see how.

That said, it is a tank of a camera. I don't know how accurate the shutter speeds are but the camera is in excellent condition. I'm looking forward to running some HP5+ through it.

I too worry about doing business with the FSU. I've read lots of comments from Russian camera buffs that the eBay comment system is a joke and that you'll get ripped off for sure in one of theses transaction. I read Asterliks feedback carefully and decided that it wasn't a lot of money - about $45.00 all told, and I could risk it. It worked out well. I have another one ordered, a black FED 2 now that I feel better.

I just placed a bid on a Mir RF from Rosso20. His feedback was outstanding. About 99.8% or something like 3 gripes out of 2300 transactions. I can live with those odds. Besides, most of these FSU bricks are dirt cheap. If you want one, you have to take a chance.

 

[rbiemer]

I bought my first FSU FED 3 from 'Asterliks' on eBay. It arrived in about 14 days. The camera is exactly as shown in the photo - including the serial numbers. After doing my homework on how to use this thing, I got down to business and it's been rather interesting to say the least. If this is how the Mir space station worked, I'd say that there was a whole lot of pulling, pushing and twisting going on there. I think you could take a series of fast shots with this bugger, but I don't see how.

That said, it is a tank of a camera. I don't know how accurate the shutter speeds are but the camera is in excellent condition. I'm looking forward to running some HP5+ through it.

I too worry about doing business with the FSU. I've read lots of comments from Russian camera buffs that the eBay comment system is a joke and that you'll get ripped off for sure in one of theses transaction. I read Asterliks feedback carefully and decided that it wasn't a lot of money - about $45.00 all told, and I could risk it. It worked out well. I have another one ordered, a black FED 2 now that I feel better.

I just placed a bid on a Mir RF from Rosso20. His feedback was outstanding. About 99.8% or something like 3 gripes out of 2300 transactions. I can live with those odds. Besides, most of these FSU bricks are dirt cheap. If you want one, you have to take a chance.

David,
I don't worry in general about doing business with FSU sellers--I have successfully bought quite a few cameras and been mostly very happy. That said, this particular auction struck me as a bit dodgy.
Asterliks has some, umm, interesting stuff for sale and I have been tempted.
Search for the "what are they smoking in the Ukraine" thread.
Rob

 

[RJBender]

OT, I wonder about the logics of Russian fakers.

To fake an original Contax into a fake Kiev makes sense. But why to fake an original Kiev into a fake Contax ?

The only possible reason I can image is the shortage of crappy Contaxes out there.

Cheers,

Ruben

Maybe the extra $50 they can get for the camera is worth it to them.
Attached is the fake Contax I got from Alex. The ventilated 40.5mm lens hood is from Heavystar. The "lizard" hide is from Aki-asahi.

R.J.

 

[Skinny McGee]

I would not deal with someone who has 23 neg. in 12 months