Copies of the Leica II are everywhere. This will tell you how to identify a real Leica and avoid buying a fake.Collecting cameras should be a great hobby but beware of the counterfeit or copy of the real Leica.
There are genuine Elmar lenses with no serial number. When a Leica I (Model A), which had a fixed (non-interchangeable) lens with no serial number, was factory converted to a Leica II, III, or IIIa, the lens was converted to LTM for use on the camera, and no serial number was assigned to the lens.
Wow - thanks so much for this - I was looking through Ebay and it looks like every Leica 2 in the $800 to $1,000 price range is fake - I'm so glad I've found your video. Thanks again.
Superb, expert, professional suggestion of what to do during lockdown! Read about a feature, then practice it, then go on to another feature. Mr. McCordall, you are the best!
Looking at a used Leica IIIf online - seems to have the right rangefinder actuator in the lens mount area, shutter button looks like your example IIIf but has a hole in it (looked at a bunch of alternatives and they all had the same looking shutter button). Top plate looks legit as well as the engraving and serial number. The viewfinder is square though (but has a ledge). Again, I looked at a bunch of others and they all had square viewfinder housings on the front of the camera. I'm guessing that there's a tonne of fakes on the market...
Checking Lagers history of Leica book and it seems square window is correct. Got a great deal USD $250 for the 3 set, signed by Mr Lager and in as new condition. Stoked!!!
Thank you for your usefull tips. Since my favourite photographic local store has closed, i have to buy things online to find a good price, but it's full of traps. I found very usefull the tip on the lenses
I have a couple of fakes. You don't even need to look at specifics. Just the general quality is a dead giveaway - quality of chrome plating, knurling, lettering etc - is all you need to make a very rapid assessment. I honestly believe i could determine a fake, with a blindfold on - the difference is so obvious. The Reid is a different matter. It feels very high quality but looking at it immediately shows what it is.
Hello, I enjoyed your video. My Leica lllc complies with all your genuine Leica points except the rounded corner on the upper right corner of the viewfinder. I may have misunderstood you on that point. Perhaps you were referring to a Leica ll. Anyway, I've done a bit of simple research and looked at a couple dozen or so Leica lllc images, and they all look like mine, square.
你好 ！你会维修吗？我的佳能仿徕卡，我更换完帘布快门出了问题？B和慢速快门会卡住，两块帘布好像一起过去。 Hello! Can you repair it? My Canon imitates Leica, but after replacing the fabric, did the shutter have any issues? B and the slow shutter will get stuck, and the two curtains seem to pass together.😀
Hello sir, i have found a leica camera that used to be from my grandfather. I dont know much about photography or cameras but would like to learn how to use this one for i have fallen in love with it at first sight. However i dont know how to know which model it is to do research on how to use it, would you be able to help me with it? I would be forever grateful. Thank you so much for the well informed video.
@@PhillipMcCordall of course, the serial Number is 298885 and no it does not have any accessories except the leather case it comes with it. When you know the model could you tell me if it should have accessories? i could look for them and see if i find anything.
@@camilafazzio6147 298885 is a Leica 111 (three) made in 1938 , The lens unscrews and many other lenses are available second hand but normally very expensive. Learning how to use it, is another problem if you know nothing, you will need a light meter so you can calculate the exposure, the focus is through the left viewfinder by turning the focus ring with the lens pulled out of course. Loading the film into the camera is not easy and there are several tutorials on you tube on the subject of loading and using a Leica, although for a complete amateur this may be a real learning curve you have in front of you.
@@PhillipMcCordall ok thank you so much for your help i really appreciate it! i will try to do my best, but first i will take it to a shop and see if its all working correctly and can be cleaned. Have a good weekend! thanks again.
Very entertaining video, It is quite puzzling that if they can make counterfeit, but realistic looking normal leicas, why all 'special models', Luftwaffe/Olympics are so garish, and obviously fake.
Is a Fed really a fake when it's not marketed as a Leica? I have a Fed 2. I knew it was a Fed when I bought it, it was sold to me as a Fed, it's got Fed on the body... nothing fake there.
No I agree but a lot of feds have had changes to make them look like Leicas, by changing the top housing , that's the object of my video , the rest are legal copies of course.
I just came across your video and boy oh boy do I feel stupid! I won a bid on what I thought was a Leica. I restored it and even made it work. I don’t even know what to do now because I wanted a genuine Leica. What do you suggest if someone gets a fake and are fakes worth anything?
Fascinating video! I have an interesting "Leica clone" with Fed-1 DNA but it doesn't try to pass as a Leica! No, that would be too straight forward and perhaps overly obvious! No, it instead poses as a famous Japanese Leica clone! It tries to pass as a Leotax with the Showa Optical Works Ltd. nomenclature and such! The lens is a collapsible 5cm f/3.5 marked Lantana Anastigmat with metal Leotax cap. But it has the Fed-1 four slotted screws on its front and the three around the tripod socket on the bottom and of course a lever in the lens cavity instead of the Leica roller! It works well (after a fashion) and is interesting as a "clone of a clone" but it's NOT a Leica OR a Leotax!
hey I have a leica II and would like to have it authenticated but don't know where to go to do so could you please point me in the right direction. From the vidoe, it might be fake but I want to make sure before selling it. Thank you very much :)
What part of the video is different from yours ? The most reliable way to know is by taking the lens off and looking at the focus mechanism on the body. If it's a round wheel then it's 99% sure it's a Leica
@@PhillipMcCordall well the focus mechanism is round but there are screw on the bottom plate and on the lens the screw is long but the rest seems to point at an original
@@samuelbourget9076 If everything else is good apart from the screws then your good. I'm told that some did have screws, although I've never seen one :)
hi! very nice video i like the vide, but i still have a doubts abaout one leica that i wanna buy, if i show you that one can you say me if it is a real one? thanks
Yes I realise that,Zorki and Fed copied the Leica design legally after the war when the copyrights became free. I thought I had made that clear in the video. However there are a lot of those cameras that have had the parts changed with Leica copied parts, so they look like the real Leia as I demonstrated again in the tutorial. These cameras are difficult to identify as counterfeit cameras. I've nothing against the design copied Zorkis or Feds , they are good cameras. Bear in mind that a copy is not the same as a counterfeit object.
I found an old "Leica ll" my dad had given me before I moved, was trying to figure out how it worked so I could do some photography with it and the forum I posted to told me it was a fake Zorki lc Leica kinda funny I didn't plan on selling it regardless
you omitted japanese copies.. CANON; Nikon were involved in making bodies, lrnses. Leotax also? servicemen, eat photographers found some of them wprthehile.
Well it could be a real Leica with a replacement top casing, The biggest problem is what you can see in a photo, when buying on the internet, that's why I show all the different ways of telling.
Do the Leica fakes actually take good photos? I can't find a single video on RU-vid comparing photos taken with a real Leica and a fake one. Are there any actual photographers buying these fakes interested enough to actually try them out?
