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Fake in ebay of Contax 60mm macro lens

wang

Well-Known Member
I wonder if other fellow members of this forum would go to see if this is a fake in e-bay.

A ebayer claimed his Contax 60mm Macro being special http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7554851942
One of the special feature of this lens is that it has a black base plate instead of a chrome one.
Because of these special features, the start biding price is USD1098, Buy it now price USD1398.
I have two 60 macro lenses, one from Germany and one from Japan, both of them have chrome plates.
The other lenses which have black base plate for ex&le are 21 2.8, 25 2.8, 28 2, 28 2.8, 35 2.8, 35 1.4 45 2.8, 50 1.7, 85 1.4, 85 2.8, none of them has a base plate looks like the one shown in this ebayer's photo.

I believe he just paint his chrome plate to black. I emailed this guy and of course he denies it and persists on the special features of his lens.
 
Hi Wang,



I have never owned the 60mm AE, but I do have lots of other Zeiss lenses, both German & Japanese. Some have black rear bayonet mounts just like this one on ebay....I do not see any reason why this should be a fake. If you compare Zeiss lenses, many of the same lens can have differences in the style and construction of the mounts. I think this was just continous 'upgrading' by Zeiss, maybe also they at times just use other parts from the parts bin, which they had left!
 
Hi all,

I looked at this listing and quite frankly, it looks legitimate to me. I can see no good reason for anyone making a fake of this sort, and like Steve, I have lots of Contax lenses, some have chrome and others black bases. In addition, if you check the seller's feedback, he has 210 positives, many recent, with no negatives and the listing is a nice one. Evidently a lot of people are happy with him. If I were in the market for such a lens at such a price, I would bid on this item based on what I see.

Steve is also correct about manufacturers using what they have available in terms of parts. I know this happens in firearms manufacturing and other industries and probably camera work as well. I am constantly asked if this or that firearm configuration is a "fake" because it uses this or that set of screws, or these grips, or this barrel length which is atypical. Research normally reveals that this was due to a special production run for a distributor, or a deadline that had to be met with parts already in-house, rather than something sinister going on.

Cheers,

Tom
 
The lens looks fine to me, as others said it's probably just a newer, upgraded version.

The guy has 210 feedback, 100% positive, he's not from a noted rip-off country, he sells camera gear normally.

This looks like an honest listing and I would be happy to bid on it.

Good luck,
Matt
 
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