I won't get into the argument over whether this sample is fake or not. But they say that duplication is the sincerest form of flattery, and Leicas and Contaxes surely hold the records for that kind of praise. They have been copied by more outfits in more countries than even the Germans ever imagined.
Currently, I have three Kievs. No one tried to tell me they were Contaxes. But remember, the Soviets literally moved the Zeiss factory to Kiev (after some delays), after World War II, and you can find remarks about Kievs all the way from "Contax with a different name" to calling them pretty much junk. In fact, some of the early-production Kievs actually had nameplates that had been ground down and replaced with "Kiev", spelled in Cyrillic, of course. Some repairmen that have worked on both brands say there was very little difference, especially in the early productions of the Kievs. But some feel that the Kievs did lose quality later on.
There are a number of websites about FSU (former Soviet Union) cameras. They can make some interesting reading. These forums have a whole separate section on them.
