Fantasy, Fakes & FEDS...oh my!

Hi all.

The sale posts were all pretty out of date, so I figured it would be worth creating a post to see if anyone could help out.

This is my first post so consider this a formal greeting from a distant friend!


<u>Overall</u>, I am wanting to purchase pretty much most FED or Zorki cameras(albeit limited to model 1 and 2).

However <u>Specifically</u>, I am very interested in the Fantasy/modified/fakes such as the Stalinete, Red Army Commander, the golds, the blacks, you name it.
That being said, the Nazi Germany mods/fakes are not really my thing.

I am hoping someone may be selling something of interest or may even just be able to point me in the right direction.


I completely acknowledge that difficulty in tracking down some of the more noteworthy ones. However, I am pretty open to even the more common fakes and am still even hoping to get my hands on a few of the more standard FED and Zorki cameras while I am at it.

It might not even be worth mentioning this, but like most I am also still trying to acquire a FED 1s and Zorki 2.


Unfortunately, eBay seems somewhat limited to the less inspiring Nazi modifications and most of the fantasy cameras don't seem to pass through the websites all that often.


Thanks,

James.

Hello James

First welcome to the forum.

I share your interest in modified and faked Russian cameras and over the years i had the chance to find some of them mostly over the net.

More than a decade ago there were very much such cameras on eBay. Every second FED-Zorki was a fake then, only counting the real fakes not the colorful modifications also named "FED-Zorki".

In the meantime the specialiezed workshops in Russia and the Ukraine are closed for years now. No more "new" forgeries are made. Only those unpopular "Hakenkreuz" and other Nazi symbols left and are on sale today.

Badly i'm not ready to sell parts of my own collection right now. Sorry. But i wish you good luck finding such cameras in the near future.

Best wishes - Guido


PS: I'm still looking for fakes and modifications too by the way.

Hello James,

Your question opens a world without limits...

I totally agree with Guido: since some years, the cameras belonging to these categories are less and less interesting, made only for money, without real interest. What exactly means a golden Leica copy commemorating the Olympic games of Berlin (1936) when it is made from a Fed 1g (1954/55)? The examples are numerous...

On the other hand, we still can find some copies which could have originally existed: the Fed "Sibirsk/Paulus", Fed-sport, Fed-stemar... And some interesting fakes of rare items: Fed NKAP, Sagem, Nicca, Shanghai... very often too expensive for what they are.

Please, have a look at this interesting thread, if you have not seen it: http://ussrphoto.com/Forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=3384.

And at http://ussrphoto.com/Wiki/default.asp?WikiCatID=76&ParentID=1

and: http://ussrphoto.com/Wiki/default.asp?WikiCatID=77&ParentID=1

Best wishes to find interesting cameras. And sorry to keep mine for myself... [:)]

Amitiés. Jacques.

Hi all,

Thank you, Jacques and Guido. I appreciate the response. Regardless the outcome, it's always great to be able to meet and share passion for these things. It's not often we are presented with the opportunity.


Guido,
I definitely can tell I am late to the party as prices are incredibly inflated whilst being contrasted with a distinct lack of quality and authenticity in the fakes. And yes, I completely understand how much of a paradox that statement is.

I completely understand that you wouldn't want to sell your collection. I would only hope those who offer to sell to anyone only do so because they have sadly lost interest.

The hunt never ends!


Jacques,
Haha I definitely agree. Part of the purpose of my post was to initiate a conversation opening Pandora's box. One which I am excited to participate in.

You make an excellent point about the later creations lacking the history and character that make the fantasy/fakes meaningful and valuable. And I wholeheartedly agree that not only are the original fakes too expensive, but so are the disingenuous ones. At least in my personal opinion. If the market is willing to pay that price, then it seems to meet that value. I have just yet to witness nothing but stagnation of an inflated market online more recently, namely eBay.

Thanks for sharing those links. I very frequently visit the wiki of fantasy, commemorative, etc cameras. However, I failed in finding the forum post.

Don't apologise for keeping yours to yourself either. Like Guido, we are all here for the same reason.


Best of luck to the both of you.