WTF: Zorki-1e in green

Hello friends

Some weeks ago I found a strange version of the Zorki-1e in green. For the picture I put a green Zorki-C side by side:



While the Zorki-C of course is authentic I have some doubt concerning the Zorki-1c. The s/n of this camera is 55227510 and looks correct because 1955 and 1956 the numbers with eight digits are usual.

What do you think about this camera? Seen from a technical point is it possible to swap a body of a Zorki-1 and a Zorki-C?

Best wishes - Guido

PM1135. Camera identical to PM1125, but covered in green synthetic leather, instead of black vulcanite. According to Princelle and Suglob sources, these very few cameras were intended as a gift for important guests. Possible variations with strup lugs on body or with bilingual export markings. Very rare to find nowadays. Camera opposite from Ilya Stolyar (USA) coll.

From:
http://www.sovietcams.com/

Green Zorki-S is quite common, so it must be pretty tempting to put Zorki-1 in a green body shell and sell this "very rare" camera for some nice $$$. I'm sure some bright mind in Ukraine already came up with this idea.

quote:

---

Originally posted by contronatura

I'm sure some bright mind in Ukraine already came up with this idea.

---

I can not rule it out, but the camera from Guido seems for me to be genuine, the s/n almost matches the s/n of green Zorki-S (they are from 1956-57). By the way, the camera of contronatura is from 1953.
I have two green Zorki-S, but no green Zorki-1, so I cannot compare .

Regards, Alexander

quote:

---

Originally posted by contronatura

Green Zorki-S is quite common, so it must be pretty tempting to put Zorki-1 in a green body shell and sell this "very rare" camera for some nice $$$. I'm sure some bright mind in Ukraine already came up with this idea.

---

In the case of Guido's camera, this is correct. It was advertised in June with a black vulcanised body and again in August with the green body for more than twice the price, from the same seller.

But it does look more attractive in green


Cheers
Geoff

quote:

---

Originally posted by geoffox23
In the case of Guido's camera, this is correct. It was advertised in June with a black vulcanised body and again in August with the green body for more than twice the price, from the same seller.

---

Nice detective job, Geoff :)

Here is another piece of Eastern European folk art:

Slightly off topic, but I have considered fitting a Zorki-2c body onto a zorki, to have strap lugs. (Will be re-covered to hide the extra holes).

Cheers
Geoff

Thank you for all your answers!

@vittorio: Thank you very much for the link to PM1135 on www.sovietcams.com, that's exactly the same and looks like a Princelle K92 variant not in blue but in green.

@contronatura: This was my idea too at the first look. But ... The Zorki-C in green is not so common as you wrote. It was hard to find one in good shape some years ago. The one in the picture I found years after I began the search.

@Alexander K.: A very good point! A green Zorki-1 from 1952 may be doubtfull because in this years such coverings didn't exist. But in 1955 ...

@Geoff O.: Yes, you're right, the seller from the UK had two cameras with the same s/n, one in green and one in black. But maybe it would be a good idea to take a closer look to both auctions ... the one with the green one had the correct number in the title (and was sold to me), the other one (in black) mention the s/n 55216315 in the text and you can find this s/n also in the pictures. So this auctions has nothing to do together, but the error in the title. Bye the way: Good reseach ... I didn't. ;->

Thank you very much to all. Some very interesting arguments are coming up and some misjudgments too.

Now I'm pretty shure it's probably not a fake but a real rare camera. I didn't realy imagine this after all ...

Best wishes - Guido

I have a PM1145 Zorki e black synthetic leather serial N°5553662. No strap lugs. I found it at a flea market, and it was pretty cheap. I'm not totally positive about it, but it looks original.

Dear friends

I'm very sorry, but I was wrong. In the meantime I was contacted in private with new facts and pictures. The camera in question was on eBay with black body in June this year. From the same seller.

After confronting the seller with the facts and showing him his own pictures from an earlier auction with the black camera the seller said he don't know nothing ("I can't read the s/n" on the picture), then he offered full refund because he "believed" what I said ... I will keep this camera because I also like the fakes even if most of you don't. I respect this and also understand that this fakes are a scandal under a historical point of view.

I can't fight against fakes and fakers directly but I want to show how the system works and what kind of fakes are around. In this case I think we found and documented a fake and some of us also know who the seller was. I will not give his name in public.

For the records: A *modification* is a camera never released in this form (like a golden Zorki or the Zorki-75) and a *fake* (like a false FED-Zorki or this green Zorki-1e) is a camera made to deceive someone. I like modifications and I dislike fakes but I collect all of them.

By the way an other sign that this camera had to be investigated: All screws needed to change the body were damaged by the use of a screwdriver too small. It's always a good idea to take a closer look to the screws I think. On the pictures of the black version of the camera in question the screws are in very good shape.

Last but not least many thanks to the one who gave me the last evidence.

Best wishes - Guido