# A truly rare find, today.



## The Barbarian (Jul 11, 2021)

At a flea market today, I found a Luftwaffe Zorki 1.     Beautiful condition; the metal had been brightly polished, and the Luftwaffe engraving looked almost new.   The dealer wouldn't let me get a picture of it, and he wanted a lot of money for it, so I had to pass.

Darn.   I'll probably never see one of those again.


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## compur (Jul 11, 2021)

Don't worry. By passing up that camera you saved yourself the embarrassment of paying too much for a fake. There are thousands of these Russian counterfeits out there. They do have some value but probably a lot less than what that crook was asking.

Google zorki luftwaffe


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## flyingPhoto (Jul 11, 2021)

They are EASY enough to find on ebay. About 250 to 350$. Depends on what exact zorki model was used and if they did the silver or gold finish on them.


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## compur (Jul 11, 2021)

More like $150-$200, I'd say, based on actual sales, not asking prices.


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## The Barbarian (Jul 12, 2021)

compur said:


> Don't worry. By passing up that camera you saved yourself the embarrassment of paying too much for a fake. There are thousands of these Russian counterfeits out there. They do have some value but probably a lot less than what that crook was asking.


Wait, you mean Russia didn't build cameras for the Luftwaffe!?    I'm so disillusioned.

Edit: I'm not sure the guy selling it was a crook.   I suspect he had been victimized himself.    Although his objecting to me photographing it, does make me wonder.


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## Warhorse (Jul 12, 2021)

The Barbarian said:


> Wait, you mean Russia didn't build cameras for the Luftwaffe!?    I'm so disillusioned.
> 
> Edit: I'm not sure the guy selling it was a crook.   I suspect he had been victimized himself.    Although his objecting to me photographing it, does make me wonder.


I tend to think your correct about him not letting you photograph it. After all, it's not like a piece of custom designed jewelry, that someone could steal his design.


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## compur (Jul 12, 2021)

The Barbarian said:


> I'm not sure the guy selling it was a crook.   I suspect he had been victimized himself.    Although his objecting to me photographing it, does make me wonder.


What was his asking price?


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## The Barbarian (Jul 12, 2021)

I believe he wanted $300.


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## cgw (Jul 12, 2021)

Recall seeing these laughable replicas at the Photographic Historical Society of Canada swap meets. The tall-tale sales pitches re: the cameras' provenance were side-splitting. Felt sorry for suckers who were trying to foist them off as authentic since they'd likely been sold them as the real deal.


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## Mitica100 (Jul 12, 2021)

The Barbarian said:


> I believe he wanted $300.


That's about twice than eBay prices, $145.00 plus $24.00 shipping from Kiev, Ukraine.


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## flyingPhoto (Jul 18, 2021)

these zorkis are rather good clones of the real camera.. is just that the small problems are. 

1. ever seen a genuine gold plated leica?
2. The Leica factory has published a data tidbit claiming that the man in control of the factory in the 1930s and 1940s was an opponent to nazis and that the factory NEVER made any product with a swatzstika on it
3. Leica factory also stated somewhere they never made cameras for the german military


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## Mitica100 (Jul 18, 2021)

flyingPhoto said:


> these zorkis are rather good clones of the real camera.. is just that the small problems are.
> 
> 1. ever seen a genuine gold plated leica?
> 2. The Leica factory has published a data tidbit claiming that the man in control of the factory in the 1930s and 1940s was an opponent to nazis and that the factory NEVER made any product with a swatzstika on it
> 3. Leica factory also stated somewhere they never made cameras for the german military


1. Yes, there were a few gold plated Leicas like Leica Lexus II
2. True, there was even a Leica Train filled with Jewish workers that worked at the Leica factory and that train made it out of Germany in time for these workers which later went to New York and other places (Canada and Portugal) and established Leica factories there.
3. Yes, they did actually, the famous Luftwaffen Leicas delivered to the German Army around 1939, although they absolutely refused to inscribe the Swastika emblem on their cameras. There were some Leicas found with a Swastika engraved on but the engraving was not done at the Leica factory.

Hope this helps…


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