#Leica Luftwaffe Serial Numbers serial numbers

He agreed and I am now pleased as punch and have the crown jewel of my collection!

It does hurt the value but it could be restored in the future.ДЄfter discussing it with the owner, I offered to purchase the camera. None of these things matter much as the core guts of the camera and the top cover with all engravings are original. Lastly the black viewfinder in the back should be partially chrome so that was probably replaced as well. The vulcanite leather covering and the shell it goes on were also replaced. The top shutter speed dial has been changed.

The camera is not 100% original from the factory anymore. The lens was delivered three days earlier on the 8th as part of the same order shipment number 13082. The body was delivered to Berlin from the factory on August 11th, 1944.

#Leica Luftwaffe Serial Numbers serial numbers

I contacted several authorities on LeicaвЂ™s of that vintage and after sending serial numbers and photos of the different parts of the camera, they were able to confirm that it was indeed authentic. There werenвЂ™t many forgeries going on then because no one was really thinking of collecting 60 years ago.ДЄfter spending a few minutes looking it over I decided it was good enough that I needed to do more research. He said his dad had owned it from the late 1940вЂ™s when heвЂ™d been in Germany after the war. My first glance was that it did indeed look authentic. He kept showing me camera after camera but was holding out on the Leica til the end. On Wednesday I met him at church to look over all of his bags. I had my suspicions but said of course IвЂ™d look at them and let him know what to do with everything, if any of it had value etc. They had belong to his parents and he was looking to get rid of them. Last week, someone I know asked if I could look over all of their cameras. If you check ebay right now you will probably find 3-4 pages worth of fake ones and most likely, not a single legitimate one. Consequently, there are far more fakes than original WW2 military LeicaвЂ™s in existence. The combination of both was pretty tempting for some people.

Unfortunately, at some point along the way people started realizing there was a market both for LeicaвЂ™s and for Nazi items. Many of the authentic ones that survive now were war spoils brought home by Allied soldiers after the war. Most Germans after the war did not want to be seen with something with military engravings in case they were thought a Nazi, so they would usually sand or grind off the markings so they couldnвЂ™t be seen anymore. Most were either lost during, or were defaced after. No one knows how many military versions are still in existence but it is thought to be in the hundreds that survived the war. I had decided long ago that it would be so hard and unlikely to ever find a real military version that I was going to have to be satisfied with one made during the war that was of the same look and design but for civilians. Since I love both Leica cameras and all things WW2, my goal was always to own a IIIc for my collection. The IIIc with a step by the rewind switch w as the version made during the war. If they had a special shutter with ball bearings for more robustness especially in the Eastern Front, they were usually labeled with a K by the serial number, and or a K on the shutter curtain itself. (Wermacht Heer) for the Army, and M or M with a Reichsadler (Swastika with Eagle) for the Navy. Luftwaffen-Eigentum for the Air Force, Heer or W.H. They usually marked the military ones with which branch of service they were going to be used in. I have one that I use but itвЂ™s not really a collectible, itвЂ™s just a tool.Дuring World War II, Leica made cameras for civilians and for the military. My favorite cameras are LeicaвЂ™s, which unfortunately are quite expensive to collect. The majority of them are not terribly rare or valuable, just interesting.