Leica Copies/fakes out there?

[ALScott]

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Is there such a thing as a Leica copy/fake lens or body out there being sold?  I ordered a thumb grip off Amazon for my Q3 and what came was something that looks in every way to be made by Leica but I know it isn't and did not knowingly order this kind of copy.  I just see many lenses and bodies for sale and large portion of them seem to be coming from China.  I guess is this a concern as with say, a Rolex watch?

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[frame-it]

22 minutes ago, ALScott said:

I just see many lenses and bodies for sale and large portion of them seem to be coming from China.

L-mount lenses from China? [you posted in the L-mount lenses zone]

 

[spydrxx]

If you do a forum search you will see hundreds of fake Leica bodies, mostly from the former Soviet Union. There are also lots of fake lenses. Not L-mount, but rather (usually) LTM, Leica threadmount or screwmount bodies. Then there are the ones which aren't fake, but based on Leica designs which were abrogated in the economic treaties after WWII, some quite good, using the LTM designs of the era, some with advanced features by Canon, others by Leitax, Reid, Nicca, et al. frequently for sale on Ebay and by independent camera companies.

[Anbaric]

Two kinds of fake are quite common - modern small accessories like lens caps that bear the Leica logo, but have nothing to do with Wetzlar, and vintage screwmount cameras and lenses that started out as 'honest' Soviet copies that have been refinished with bogus Leica  engravings and are often left stripped down to the brass. You'll also see genuine Leica stuff with spurious additional engravings (often military) to make them seem collectable and inflate the price, or with exotic reptile skin leather and gold plating to suggest they are rare 'Luxus' models. I haven't seen any fakes of modern Leica cameras or lenses, which would be hard to do convincingly because there are no close copies to base them on (except perhaps for models from companies like Panasonic that Leica have themselves rebadged).

[jaapv]

2 hours ago, ALScott said:

Is there such a thing as a Leica copy/fake lens or body out there being sold?  I ordered a thumb grip off Amazon for my Q3 and what came was something that looks in every way to be made by Leica but I know it isn't and did not knowingly order this kind of copy.  I just see many lenses and bodies for sale and large portion of them seem to be coming from China.  I guess is this a concern as with say, a Rolex watch?

Things like thumbgrips, lens caps, lens hoods etc? Of no concern whatever. Straight copies of modern lenses and cameras?  Rather not. Third-party lenses of other (partly Chinese) brands? -Plentiful - many quite good.

[beewee]

PetaPixel published a wonderful article on the history of Leica copies: https://petapixel.com/history-of-leica-copies-from-braun-to-zorki/