opinions on this camera

[Craigob]

what do you think, check out the engraving on the base.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=3827129877

VINTAGE LEICA CAMERA WITH RARE SWASTICA EMBLEMS
BOTTOM OF CAMERA HAS NAME OF: KRIEGSMARINE KARL DONITZ

[Patrick Dempsey]

Hi Chub,

these things turned up en masse about four years ago in the UK from mainly Belgian dealers. They had Luftwaffe and KM markings, and were all cased.
The Russians have a thriving cottage industry in faking these cameras on an industrial scale, which accounts for most of them and these have had spurious markings added to them to snare the military collector.

Here are some links of interest:

http://www.nemeng.com/leica/011e.shtml

http://www.cameraquest.com/luft.htm

I'd pass on it.

Patrick.

[Frosch]

They also appear at flea markets and camera fairs in Germany and Holland with monotonous regularity.

Strangely enough, I once met a Dutch camera collector of Russian clones of Leica and Contax rangefinder cameras that scoops these up if they are cheap. He said he wanted to canabalise them for spare parts, but he only ever buys the Heer and Luftwaffe marked pieces in good condition.

And some people think militaria collectors are weird!

/David

[schönbeck]

i'm pretty sure that this is a zorky copy from russia. save your money

[Craigob]

Thanks for the info - i let it pass and some poor sap paid $240