Leica fake of the day

This is a highly reputable Aussie eBayer who I have dealt with ... I am surprised they would be selling a fake as a Leica. 😕 They sell a lot of high end Leica equipment including the M8 from memory! 😱
 
hummmm and there`s over 16 bidders on it?

Gee, I wish I could have people just throw their money at me like that 😛

hummmm the same seller has a real "Mont'e en Sarre" for sale as well

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=140158016992&ru=http%3A%2F%2Fsearch.ebay.com%3A80%2Fsearch%2Fsearch.dll%3Ffrom%3DR40%26_trksid%3Dm37%26satitle%3D140158016992%26category0%3D%26fvi%3D1

These are rare and I think this one is on the up and up while it has the sharkskin, but I think they should change the other auction or at least tell the people it`s a fake, not advertise it as a Leica III that`s just WRONG 🙁

....They stamp almost everything on Zorki`s nowadays......pretty soon it will be hard to find one that`s not bumbled about

Tom
 
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"Sorry but we put the wrong pictures with this item. We have cancelled the listing and will relist it with the correct pictures on Monday."
 
in 1949/50 France still occupied the Saar district.
less than 400 Leicas were assembled there to lessen the customs duty paid by the French on imported (German ) goods.
the engraved originals are now highly collectable.
 
France controled the Saarland again after WW II also.
the Monte Saar Leica was common in a IIIb model which came out much later than 1935.
 
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With all the effort that goes into making these fakes... what if the same guys spent their time on making really nicely restored old Feds or Zorkis instead? There's clearly a market out there for the stuff, imagine being able to get a very well tuned and pretty-as-new Fed 2 or something like that for $100 or so.
 
cmedin said:
With all the effort that goes into making these fakes... what if the same guys spent their time on making really nicely restored old Feds or Zorkis instead? There's clearly a market out there for the stuff, imagine being able to get a very well tuned and pretty-as-new Fed 2 or something like that for $100 or so.
Click to expand...

What`s really SCARY is when they do put true effort into faking something well.....


fakeIICK.jpeg


That`s a 100% FAKE Leica IIIC K "Grey" (with a serial number that never was made #390500 K)

🙁

And just to think someone bidding on evilbay PAID over $2,000 for this, I watched it exchange hands 3 TIMES!!!!!! In less than 1 month
(notice all the knobs are tooooo clean and the shutter speed dial has the B setting, also look at the wear on that knob? The B setting was something that didn`t come out till after camera #392800+ and the vulcanite is black not grey as the original cameras)

This would have been a great camera for a $400 user and listed as a fake so people were`nt misled

It pays to have everything checked out well, do your research and to know your stuff about rare cameras like this, if you want to own one, also buy from a reputable dealer or collector and it`s always best to get a camera verified and or be lucky enough to KNOW where the camera came from....the ex-GI war finds are still the BEST cameras to find in this respect

Because the Eastern Bloc forgers are really good if they want to be and their not worried about tearing up a nice $350 "stepped" rewind camera if they think they can fake it and get $1,500+ for it, with patina`d paint and fake K stampings

Tom
 
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Two things:

1) RE the Elmax camera: The serial# 357910 if I read it right) falls within the range of 357201 to 358500, for which range no camera production is listed in my reference books! Apparently the counterfeiters took advantage of a block of numbers that were never assigned to any model.

2) Re Tom's post of a fake IIIc K model: This is one that could have fooled me! I don't see any of the usual telltale signs I look for, like a misshapen viewfinder front window. What are some clues that I am missing? Also, the serial# seems to fall within a block of IIIc made 1943/46; I don't understand why you feel that this serial# was never made.

I agree this is scary, as I suppose I could have fallen for it if I had been lusting after this model at the time of the auction. What do I need to be more alert to? I know about funnel-shaped release collars, overlarge screws in front, and wrong frames around finder windows. What am I missing in the present example?
 
Rob-F said:
I don't understand why you feel that this serial# was never made.
Click to expand...

The minute I saw this I had the numbers going to Jim Lager and Germany....the serial number was NEVER
issued

I try to verifiy every IIIC K I see, weither I have an personal interest to buy it or just record it for posterity

There`s a bunch of numbers within the WW2 range of cameras that Leitz never used and the period of time the K shutter Leica`s were being produced was pretty chaotic in the middle of the war, just about when the tide was turing bad for the German cause, there`s lot`s to look out for with these cameras and Jim Lager`s books and expertise are a blessing for anyone who wants to learn more about the wartime cameras, Jim knows everything about these cameras and has devoted a great deal of his life researching them

Best advice is to buy private, NEVER from evilbay, because I`ve seen (2) fakes and (1) rechrome turn up in the past 4 months and all cameras sold for more then $2,000, it`s just hard earned money thrown away.....

Tom

PS:I found a camera today, that would have been a great prize had it not been modified and altered, an original Berlin issue "civilian" model K from 1944 that was originally painted Grey......but now sports postwar Leitz rechrome job with new vulcanite and it`s STILL at the same price a good Grey camera is - not worth it 🙁

*This should be posted over at my other thread, but I started this here because of showing that fake camera*
 
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Tom, if you ever get bored and feel like doing an extensive writeup on what you know about the wartime cameras I am sure nobody would mind. 🙂
 
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