Real or Fake?

[Creagerj]

A friend of mine asked me today whether the serial number on a Contax II he was thinking of buying checked out. I wasn't sure so I was hoping some of you could help.

Does this serial number:

J68480

look like a legitimate Contax II rangefinder serial number or is it the serial number of one of the many contax facsimiles such as a Kiev?

 

[Creagerj]

Here is the item number on ebay, 250138321718

It looks pretty good but I still don't know about the serial number.

 

[erikhaugsby]

don't Contaxes usually have the Zeiss Ikon logo stamped in the hot shoe?

edit: nevermind. a quick check of Google shows they don't.

and the serial number seems good enough. From cameraquest:

When was your Contax II or III made ?? According to the excellent "benchmarks" book by Foto Saga in France, ISBN 2-906840-06-8, the first letter before the serial number denotes a block of 99,999 serial numbers -- not all of which were always issued: Z 1935/6, A 1936, B 1936, C 1936/7, D 1937, E 1937, F 1937/8, G 1938, J 1938/9, K 1939, L 1939, M 1940/42, N 1941/3. Keep in mind the code was also used for other Zeiss cameras, so these codes do not indicate total Contax production.

 

[Doug]

Looks like a genuine Zeiss Ikon Contax to me Joe. Logo embossed in the leather on back, serial number looks ok, no PC flash outlet like Kievs...

 

[Creagerj]

So it real but it may have been compiled of a couple of real contax cameras?

 

[ZeissFan]

It's possible that it's a compilation of parts. The seller just says it works. He didn't say that some of the other parts might have come from different cameras. It might not matter, as long as it works.

Also, this camera is too worn to be a fake. Normally, the fakes are the black Contax II cameras with brilliant white letterings.

To be truthful, it makes little sense to buy a Contax and a Kiev and then remove the shutter from the Kiev and put it into the Contax. If you're going to go to that much trouble, you might as well just service the Contax and the Kiev and then you have two working cameras. This nonsense about the proliferation of Kiev shutters in Contax bodies was started by just one person.

A serviced Kiev will be more reliable than a 1930s unserviced Contax.