Is this authentic or fake?

[GeorgeDexter]

I think this is a fake, because it says "open" and "close" on the base plate. Also, I doubt the black paint is authentic. Anybody have any ideas?

http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Leica-S...eras?hash=item3a52f63572&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

 

[Nicholas Lindan]

Real: "Open & Close" is for the UK & US market; The Russians never made an 'e'; the shutter release in the Russian clones takes a standard ASA release cable. And, if it is, after all, a Russian fake it is probably worth more than the real thing.

 

[Anscojohn]

I agree with Nicholas Lindan; although I am not a Leicaphile. I have never seen a Soviet knock-off that looks remotely like that one.

 

[ntenny]

I'm not a Leicaphile, but I'm a bit of a Sovietrangefinderophile, and I don't think there was any Soviet camera that could have served as the "donor camera" for this one. As far as I know, the only Soviet Leica-mount camera with no rangefinder was the Zarya, whose chassis bore absolutely no resemblance to the Leica Standard.

That said, all things considered, I think a Bessa-L would be a better user in almost all respects than a Standard.

-NT


-NT

 

[GeorgeDexter]

Thanks for the input, all. I did find a gold chrome Ukranian copy that sold on eBay for $150 on Sept. 9. I wonder what they did use for the donor body? The shutter release is different, however. The black paint with chrome dials was standard for the e, no pun intended. I wasn't seriously considering bidding, I just saw it and was curious as to it's authenticity. Incidentally, does anybody know the going rate for a Leica Standard E? Perhaps I'll pick one up for my collection.

 

[nicefor88]

The 7-digit serial number cannot be of an old Leica. The 1 000 000th Leica M body was a M3 produced between May and July 1960...
Thus this is a fake, for sure... One knob is engraved with "Wetzlar", looks like the faker overdid it because such knobs in real Leica cameras are never engraved with the famous manufacturing site. The top plate is in some models, the back part of the top plate also bears the "Ernst Leitz GmBh Wetzlar" marking but never parts like knobs, levers, etc.
Hope this answers your question.

 

[ntenny]

The 7-digit serial number cannot be of an old Leica. The 1 000 000th Leica M body was a M3 produced between May and July 1960...
Thus this is a fake, for sure...

Where are you seeing a 7-digit number? There seems to be a 6-digit number (318494) on the top plate. It matches with the claimed date of 1939, per Stephen Gandy's list, but the list says it should belong to a Leica II. I don't know---I assume the Leicaphiles do---how accurate that list should be for the time period and models in question.

Assuming it is a fake, any guesses as to what it started life as? Soviet body with a top plate fabbed from scratch, maybe?

-NT

 

[winger]

I have my great-grandfather's Leicas and the older one looks like this one. The black bumped up area that has "Ernst Leitz" "D.R.P." and "Wetzlar" engraved on is not a knob - just the support for the shutter speed knob. I would assume it's raised above the level of the rest of the body due to space constraints. I also see a six digit serial, not seven (they say "No." before the number). I'm fairly sure my ggf would have bought his at a reputable shop (that's the kind of guy he was), so I don't think either is a fake.

 

[Nicholas Lindan]

Interestingly, the back of the top plate is engraved "C. A. REID". Reid was a British company that made Leica clones after WWII. http://www.pacificrimcamera.com/pp/reid/reid.htm Could those engraved initials possibly be "G. H."? - then you would have an interesting camera...

And no, it probably isn't a Reid I made over to look like a Leica standard - a Reid I is a much rarer beast. The Reid has a different shutter release and also has synchronization contacts.

 

[John Koehrer]

Wasn't Reid the official importer to Britain before the 2nd WW? That would explain the engraving.