New summicron-m forgery?

[steinzeug]

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Does anyone know if there is such a thing as forged versions of the new leica lenses?

and if so how to spot them?

 

I´ve been offered a summicrom-m 50mm (latest version with built in hood)

 

thanks.

[UliWer]

Never heard of this since the times when the 50mm-Elmar was forged in Russia or Ukrania for forged Leica II cameras. What makes you think you were offered such an item?

[steinzeug]

Never heard of this since the times when the 50mm-Elmar was forged in Russia or Ukrania for forged Leica II cameras. What makes you think you were offered such an item?

 

Just wanted to be sure, was offered a mint version for 900 EUR by a private seller.

[UliWer]

Well, I would not buy such a lens without having seen it and without asking the seller about papers which prove that he has acquired it legally. This does not mean anything about the person who made you the offer, but it is recommandable for all sides involved to keep the market clean.

[steinzeug]

Well, I would not buy such a lens without having seen it and without asking the seller about papers which prove that he has acquired it legally. This does not mean anything about the person who made you the offer, but it is recommandable for all sides involved to keep the market clean.

 

Thanks for the concern, papers are all there, and I have no reason to doubt the seller. It was meant more as a general question, as I know that for instance quality wrist watches have been copied in China to a very high (at least visual) degree, and was therefore curious to know if Leica lenses had also been effected by forgeries in recent years.

[steinzeug]

Thanks for the concern, papers are all there, and I have no reason to doubt the seller. It was meant more as a general question, as I know that for instance quality wrist watches have been copied in China to a very high (at least visual) degree, and was therefore curious to know if Leica lenses had also been effected by forgeries in recent years.

 

And what about Dummies? has does one tell them apart from real lenses?

[luigi bertolotti]

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Never heard about lenses' forgeries in recent times: I think that simply there is no economic in such a biz : the Russian "Elmarski" was, I think, a std. Industar 50 3,5, made in thousands as "original Industar" for Feds/Zorkys, and easy to be re-engraved as a Leitz Elmar, for the "original" was anyway almost identical to the Elmar... nowadays the market for new Leica lenses is a narrow one (but VERY important for us... ), mostly made by passionate/experts, and there aren't manufacturers of lenses that are "copies" of Leica's ones: how much would it cost to produce, say, a fake Summilux 50 asph that, even only to a simple hands-on sight and a pair of test shots could decently look like an original one, and how MANY the forgerer can hope to sell through gray channels ? No way, I think.

[giordano]

And what about Dummies? has does one tell them apart from real lenses?

 

They cost more (being very much scarcer), there's no iris that moves when you turn the aperture ring, and the few I've seen won't focus an image of the shop window on the palm of one's hand.

[giordano]

Cheap Rolex copies: less than a tenth the cost but keep better time. If there were lenses like that I'd be tempted:D

[SJP]

Not quite, my Chinese wall Rolex "automatic" isn't, it requires manual winding 2x per day otherwise everything comes to a grinding halt.

 

It was considerably cheaper that the real thing (although of course it might be real;))

 

This is my 3rd unique collectors item fake Rolex. But meanwhile I am using my mobile phone as my primary timepiece.

[Mauribix]

This is my 3rd unique collectors item fake Rolex. But meanwhile I am using my mobile phone as my primary timepiece.

 

Wow, how much does the iRolex cost? :D

[SJP]

I spent about 10 minutes reducing the price down to about 10 euro, these salesmen can keep up with a brisk walking pace;)

 

My fellow conference goers were jealous of my unique acquisition but nevertheless believed that I was ripped off.

[giordano]

I meant the ones with quartz movements.