Could the original owners of the cameras had the eagle engraved on a private basis: absolutely not! If the camera was military issue, you were not entitled to modify/engrave it and if your camera was a private purchase, you would certainly not want to engrave it and change it to military property.
-
-
It's been some time since I looked into this, but I was working with a Leica historian to validate it's authenticity.
The Leica logs show that the camera in question was indeed shipped to the military.
The question becomes is the Reichsaddler original, which I believe it is.
Based on my research Wehrmacht Leica's were not all engraved in the same fashion - simple speculation based on Jim Lager's examples in the book Wehrmacht Leica.
You will see several different examples of how they were engraved, depending if it was army, air force or navy. Mine specifically matches other examples in his book.
When comparing Leica engravings to binocular engravings, it's a little strange because the luxury camera seems to have poor engravings in comparison.
I suspect during war time, things were rushed - it's clear that Leica did not engrave these cameras, the military did. I don't know if that's true for binoculars.
One thing to note, after the war, it was apparently common for people to intentionally remove the Reichsaddler.Comment
-
eagle leica fake WAF2.JPG
A Leica was already an expensive high feature of the highest quality during WWII, so it is highly unlikely that a poor quality engraving was added by anyone during WW2. Finding a picture in a book is nice for comparison, but no proof. As said before, I would love to see a wartime picture of a Leica with such an engraving or a wartime factory catalogue, until then I remain a non believer. I don't know any examples of German wartime markings that got sloppy by the end of the war. This is usually an explanation that sellers use when presenting highly questionable engravings. And unfortunately, these are still flooding the market today. https://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/for...s-fake-galleryComment
-
I too find it hard to believe that engraving that looks like your mate Dave down the pub did as a favour. Was actually done by the relevant wartime authorities!Originally posted by glaser View PostComment
-
-
Check out the b/w photo in your link, of the uniform dressed man with a brush. The black lens cover clearly says ‘Leica’ and the top of the camera housing appears to be ‘clean’.
I have been in that museum, fairly interesting.
preferred the one in Narvik to be honest though.
Comment
-
I noticed that too. I think there were property marked Leicas but they'd be fairly rare. Sadly the waters have been muddied by fakers and false markings on genuine cameras but I cast no aspersions on the OP's camera.Comment
-
Comment
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Nice - do you regret parting with it?Comment
Comment