Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1997/06/09
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]> >I was in Moscow last year, and saw a lot of interesting LTM cameras at a >big flea market, most of which I assumed were fakes. There were a lot of >cameras with the little cast eagle/swastika emblem on the front. I told >several people about them when I returned to the U.S., and one friend who >knows a little about military collectables thought that they sounded like >they were the little emblems on WWII Nazi uniforms, which are very >common. Glue one to the front of a LTM or fake LTM and you have an >instant historical artifact. (I've also been told that the majority of >the "Leica" LTM bodies are Feds with fake Leica top plates on them.) Perhaps one could buy some Zorkis, Kievs and Feds and stick some of these lovely 5pointed enamelled Soviet stars on them or engrave them with cyrillic GPU or NKVD signum. Then they would probably sell to some crazy collectors in the USA as genuine Red Army models. Don't tell Saul Kaminsky though! > >Walking around and seeing that every camera dealer had at least one Luxus >tended to make me a little suspicious. > >I regret now that I didn't pay more attention to them; at the time I was >slightly disgusted at the blantancy of the forgeries. Now I'd tend to be >more curious about what they are and how they were made. I wish I had >looked at them more. I used to shoot with a IIIc, but other than thay one >camera, I don't know enough about the LTM cameras to intelligently know >what to look for. > >I did buy some lenses and a turret finder for a Keiv rangefinder camera >that I have. If I'd known Marc then, I would have talked to him before I >left and found out what to look for. Paul, does your Kiev Universal Turret Viewfinder (28-135mm) have a screw-in eyepiece retaining ring or a rubber eyecup? I have one of those, that just ends up with a fine thread inside the eyepiece; it looks as if there should be a ring or additional eyepiece on it. I don't recall, if the Zeiss Turret-finder had exactly the same eyepiece, but think the russian finder is a copy. Please e-mail me privately, if you have an answer, as this is not strictly Leica specific. Perhaps Marc won't mind as I'm talking about a " Zeiss" copy?? TIA and regards -otto- otto w. rath, 504-633, northcliffe blvd. toronto on. M6E 3M3 canada (416) 783 5128