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Fake Lenses
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 25, 2015 12:54 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Is there any documented faking of cameras and lenses other than the FSU - Leica fakes?

Companies like Cosina made camera chassis that ended up in all manner of other brands, including Nikon. And it was the same with so many of their lenses. Would it be worth it to create fakes from the likes of Cosina ?


PostPosted: Wed Feb 25, 2015 1:14 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

This guy wont be back. You need to email him. Oh, I'll send him a link.


PostPosted: Wed Feb 25, 2015 1:26 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

There are rather few really valuable SLR's; its not like Leica variants.
I cant think of anything that someone would fake with a Cosina.

Some Nikon F's due to special rare variants or provenance - something that used to belong to NASA maybe.
But it would be much easier to start with a standard F
Alpa. But one would have to hand-build a camera.
Zeiss Contarex - also would have to be hand-built.
Rare models of Miranda, like Laborec. But one would have to start with a Miranda, and it would be quite a job even so.
Some Topcons
Rare versions of other common cameras, like gold plating some Pentax.

Just drawing a blank here.

The Soviet cameras are natural fakes beyond anything else because they are indeed copies of collectible cameras.
So most of the faking is already done. The rest is details.


PostPosted: Wed Feb 25, 2015 5:36 am    Post subject: Genuine fake or fake genuine Reply with quote

Yes, in the case of Alpa, hand assembly and expert adjustment, possibly by someone well versed in the intricacies of the product. After Pignons went bust years ago, parts disappeared from the factory during the lenghty process before Capaul&Weber took over. Some years ago I noticed some new, very rare half frame and microfiche Alpas that could not have been made in Ballaigues. Strange coverings and if I remember rightly, strange serial numbers.

The prices asked were of course astronomical, so any transaction to buy the spares and wages for assembly would be amply covered.

The question then becomes, were these faked genuine Alpas worth as much as the genuine article or as they were genuine fakes, very similar to the real thing, -except for not being made by the factory- still worth the same as the genuine genuine ones.....

p.


PostPosted: Wed Feb 25, 2015 11:59 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Tom on Fakes is a good read...


http://tomtiger.home.xs4all.nl/fakes.html


PostPosted: Wed Feb 25, 2015 12:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

TAo2 wrote:
Hi Benscreenchannel,

There's now a market for obvious fakes with prices approaching £200 for some even when the seller puts FAKE!!! in the description. It's just another niche collectors corner now. Ah think yer mebbe on the wrong site for someone who's been fooled by a simple fake like a Leica top cover on a Fed or Zorki or Kievs dressed up as Contaxes. But ye never know... Cool. There are even fakes of FSU cameras, newer models tarted up as pre-war or scarce models of Fed/Zorki/Kiev.

Ah think that folk are much more savvy than some, even on this site, give them credit for. Ah honestly think these cameras are bought simply because they look good and who knows they may even function better than they did before the refurb. If yer going tae all the bother of sorting the outside then it's likely, imo, that the insides will get an overhaul as well.

This is my favourite fake...






not a fake one , But rather a very good work of study and engineering Twisted Evil


PostPosted: Wed Feb 25, 2015 5:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

On Alpa, it opens the question if they are fakes if they are built with original parts.
Its not quite like someone claiming that a Zorki is a Leica.


PostPosted: Wed Feb 25, 2015 9:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

luisalegria wrote:
On Alpa, it opens the question if they are fakes if they are built with original parts.
Its not quite like someone claiming that a Zorki is a Leica.


My lens is obviously a fake (re)made in smaller quantities, but I would rather say that the former USSR and also companies from japan where adaptive (good at remaking similar products cheaper, mostly based on German innovation). Wink

I would be supprised if my lens was made on the assembly line by KMZ.


PostPosted: Tue Jul 14, 2015 5:18 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Everything that has hype value will be forged, even goldram bricks.

Had a good laugh at the Berichter fake. That's so shouting colors and fake it's already camp. Who wouldn't want to be a Berichter? What's the price?

The fake is obvious though, Volkischer without Ö and wrong s (s instead of f or fch ligature) also, speaking of ligatures, I believe the fraktur kerning would be more dense.

taunusreiter web site had some nice info on German camera industry, including one page about Contax/Jupiter fakes I believe