Eastern European FSU dealers (Ukraine/Poland/etc) legitimate or not?

E

Ejg1890

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For those wanting to acquire an FSU camera and lens the locations to purchase these are obviously the old Soviet block countries. Most options to acquire a FED, Zorki, Kiev and others are Ukraine, Poland and Kazakhstan among others. However, the immediate question that comes to mind is the legitimacy of the dealers in many of these locations/countries. What experience have people had purchase cameras and lenses from many of these dealers? At a high level what did you order? Did it arrive? How long did it take to arrive? Was it per description (better/worse)? Anyone have any specific dealers to check out or avoid? I have had no experience using dealers from these countries nor have I heard any feedback. Thanks all.
 
Hello Ejg1890, I'm of no direct use, but I am on the ussrphoto.com forum, and they can probably tell you what time of day the smallest screw on any camera was screwed in, I'm sure they'll have some useful info, so I'll ask on there a little later.

Where are you living? The info I get may affect the reliability of delivery etc.
 
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Ejg1890 said:
For those wanting to acquire an FSU camera and lens the locations to purchase these are obviously the old Soviet block countries. Most options to acquire a FED, Zorki, Kiev and others are Ukraine, Poland and Kazakhstan among others. However, the immediate question that comes to mind is the legitimacy of the dealers in many of these locations/countries. What experience have people had purchase cameras and lenses from many of these dealers? At a high level what did you order? Did it arrive? How long did it take to arrive? Was it per description (better/worse)? Anyone have any specific dealers to check out or avoid? I have had no experience using dealers from these countries nor have I heard any feedback. Thanks all.
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I've made quite a few orders from east European sellers. Here's what I was able to recall from my eBay history. I've omitted Russian sellers, since they've been shut out of the market since 2022 or thereabouts.

Ukraine:
salefortrend
valdiscamera2011
ziko0607
grizzly33bear
models_ua
flying_ship_1
ussr_photoworld
yuriyperfect

Estonia:
Russobaltic Store

Latvia:
bort777alex
lv2015.bart (inactive?)

Belarus
biggerby2002

Poland:
okay_shop (inactive?)

IIRC, wartime deliveries from Ukraine -> USA have taken ~18 business days.

Some non-photographic purchases included postage stamps and other small items. I normally buy "as-is" cameras and lenses, with the expectation that I will be performing my own CLA work.
 
I've bought three from Ukrainian dealers since the war started and been happy with all. One took an extra month as he had to hide from the Russians and move his shop but still he came through. If you want to know the names, I will dig them up.

My favorite FSU dealer is Oleg, who does a great CLA on everything he sells.
OKVintageCamera
Slovakia


If you are in the USA, there is a reputable dealer - Fedka,com in NYC. I've bought two or three from them and been quite satisfied.
 
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seany65 said:
Hello Ejg1890, I'm of no direct use, but I am on the ussrphoto.com forum, and they can probably tell you what time of day the smallest screw on any camera was screwed in, I'm sure they'll have some useful info, so I'll ask on there a little later.

Where are you living? The info I get may affect the reliability of delivery etc.
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Thanks for the response. I hadn’t heard of the site, I may wonder over and take a look at it. Let me know if you hear anything back. I’m in the US so it’s some distance for shipping.
 
JeffS7444 said:
I've made quite a few orders from east European sellers. Here's what I was able to recall from my eBay history. I've omitted Russian sellers, since they've been shut out of the market since 2022 or thereabouts.

Ukraine:
salefortrend
valdiscamera2011
ziko0607
grizzly33bear
models_ua
flying_ship_1
ussr_photoworld
yuriyperfect

Estonia:
Russobaltic Store

Latvia:
bort777alex
lv2015.bart (inactive?)

Belarus
biggerby2002

Poland:
okay_shop (inactive?)

IIRC, wartime deliveries from Ukraine -> USA have taken ~18 business days.

Some non-photographic purchases included postage stamps and other small items. I normally buy "as-is" cameras and lenses, with the expectation that I will be performing my own CLA work.
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Thanks for the information greatly appreciate the information. That’s a long list. You must have some camera/lens collection! I see what appear to be great buys, however they are from Ukraine, but because of the war and just preconceived notions/concerns wondered if the sales were legitimate despite the positive reviews.
 

Security Measure

www.ebay.com www.ebay.com

"Navigatorussr" is the last dealer that I bought from in the former USSR, operates out of the Ukraine. Item was well packed, shipped and received quickly.
 
Ejg1890 said:
For those wanting to acquire an FSU camera and lens the locations to purchase these are obviously the old Soviet block countries. Most options to acquire a FED, Zorki, Kiev and others are Ukraine, Poland and Kazakhstan among others. However, the immediate question that comes to mind is the legitimacy of the dealers in many of these locations/countries. What experience have people had purchase cameras and lenses from many of these dealers? At a high level what did you order? Did it arrive? How long did it take to arrive? Was it per description (better/worse)? Anyone have any specific dealers to check out or avoid? I have had no experience using dealers from these countries nor have I heard any feedback. Thanks all.
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You can also place a "want to Buy" here, and in other camera sites. There are a lot of good FSU cameras and lenses in the US that do not get a lot of use. Most tend to have been used to take photos. The prices out of the Former USSR countries are way up from years ago, so you may have a better chance of getting a good camera in operating condition in the US.
 
Ejg1890 said:
The reseller has a relatively low rating at 95. Many of the negatives are: item not sent, or item is faulty.
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Someone could add that the lens was counterfeit. I've reported these auctions as counterfeit before, Ebay does nothing about it.
 
Out of the countries you mentioned only Poland is in the EU. If you are located in the EU and the price is right, I would buy from Poland in order to avoid all the possible trouble with customs.
 
I have bought a few lenses from eBay sellers Evgeny Zubenko (Ukraine) and mffilmcameras (Kazahkstan), lens_ussr (Kazahkstan) and tirasphoto (Moldova), The lenses were as advertised and were delivered in good shape. Delivery time on all of these lenses was about 3 weeks
 
I bought several cameras and lenses from Russia, Ukraine, Poland and the Baltic States. But they were all FSU made items and I never purchased anything rare or expensive. Only once a non-working camera arrived (somethig rattling inside...); otherwise, all the puchases went as expected.
Joao
 
Sonnar Brian said:
This is an obvious fake- a Jupiter-8M with a phony namering.

www.ebay.com

CARL ZEISS JENA SONNAR Lens 2/50mm Red T For Camera Rangefinder Contax IIa IIIa | eBay

Lens - Carl Zeiss Jena SONNAR 2/50mm. This Sonnar copy lens is really professionally-made and is in excellent condition! All is fully functional! Glass is clear, no scratches, free of dust or fungus inside.
www.ebay.com

Not everything he sells is phony, but how can you trust a seller like this?

Security Measure

www.ebay.com www.ebay.com
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He does say “Sonnar copy” in a couple of places but that is no doubt for his own protection if challenged. Totally agree, how could you trust him on anything.
 
dexdog said:
tirasphoto (Moldova)
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This business is in Tiraspol, Transnistria, a separatist breakaway region within Moldova that relies on Russian political, economic, and military support. Its leaders claim statehood but the international community does not recognize the territory as a state. The Russian army has troops there, coined by them as 'peacekeepers' and by others as 'piece keepers'.
 
Ejg1890 said:
Thanks for the information greatly appreciate the information. That’s a long list. You must have some camera/lens collection! I see what appear to be great buys, however they are from Ukraine, but because of the war and just preconceived notions/concerns wondered if the sales were legitimate despite the positive reviews.
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Of course you are dealing with individuals, and as with anywhere else, some are solid citizens, while a few are kinda iffy, but you can usually figure out which is which.

Don't expect to find genuinely rare cameras being sold as junk: If anything, folks from the old east-bloc countries are hyper aware of collectable variations, and price them accordingly. NKVD FED isn't too rare, but even that might easily cost you a couple hundred bucks.

Fakes and custom creations are common.

Fakes include fanciful gold nazi "Leicas". I regard these as tacky novelties and they're generally priced as such. A few are more subtle, recreating ultra-rare FED variations, for instance. But genuine ones won't go cheaply.

And it's a pretty safe bet that no Soviet factory ever offered grey FED-2s or bright orange Industar lenses!
 
Out to Lunch said:
This business is in Tiraspol, Transnistria, a separatist breakaway region within Moldova that relies on Russian political, economic, and military support. Its leaders claim statehood but the international community does not recognize the territory as a state. The Russian army has troops there, coined by them as 'peacekeepers' and by others as 'piece keepers'.
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Yeah, I know that this seller is located in the Transnistria area, but was a good outfit to deal with. I was surprised that the package was routed through the Russian postal system, complete with Russian stamps! I can't hold the seller responsible for what his government is or does. Seller is not blacklisted by eBay, and Moldova is not shut off from financial operations like Russia is. I saved the stamps from the package as a curiousity, given that this might be the last time I ever see them.
 
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