To sell my MP or not to sell my MP

[illuminatus]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

Hello everyone. I started out with Leica MP about 10 years ago. Then life happened and I stopped taking pictures for many years. While organizing my closet recently, I came across my Leica gears. I played with the camera and lenses for awhile. Taking pictures with MP is a very tactile experience which I enjoyed very much. Now I want to get a M 240. I do like film cameras, but I think it's getting less practical for me. This leaves me with a question. Should I sell my MP when I get a M 240? I probably won't get to use it very much and I think it should be given a chance to take pictures. But I think I might regret selling it because it is a beautiful instrument and I may use it from time to time. Has anyone have any experience with going completely digital?

[mfunnell]

I have kept and still use my film cameras. However, I am reasonably well set up to do this in that I have all the gear for home developing (though not wet printing) of black and white film and good scanning options including a dedicated 35mm film scanner with whole-roll attachment and a good-enough flat-bed scanner for medium format film. I do like the results I get from scanned film, and still very much enjoy my film cameras (esp. my M3, Hexar RF and Rolleicord). If I did not already have equipment for developing and scanning (and experience using it) I might not bother now I have my digital M.

 

I hardly ever shoot colour film these days. I'm not set up to develop it myself and having it developed for me is just too painful these days, as the options available where I live are neither convenient nor cheap.

 

...Mike

[Advertisement]

The Leica Q3 is available for pre-order at B&H Photo Video and Adorama

[sunil]

Hello everyone. I started out with Leica MP about 10 years ago. Then life happened and I stopped taking pictures for many years. While organizing my closet recently, I came across my Leica gears. I played with the camera and lenses for awhile. Taking pictures with MP is a very tactile experience which I enjoyed very much. Now I want to get a M 240. I do like film cameras, but I think it's getting less practical for me. This leaves me with a question. Should I sell my MP when I get a M 240? I probably won't get to use it very much and I think it should be given a chance to take pictures. But I think I might regret selling it because it is a beautiful instrument and I may use it from time to time. Has anyone have any experience with going completely digital?

 

Other than the fact that it is a beautiful piece of equipment which you'd fondle every now and then, it is totally impractical now and doubtful you'd get much, if any, use from it. Unless you think it will go up in value and so is a good investment, my vote is to sell it. Personally I doubt it is a good investment but then you don't want to own my stock portfolio.

[honcho]

........Other than the fact that it is a beautiful piece of equipment which you'd fondle every now and then, it is totally impractical now and doubtful you'd get much, if any, use from it.......

 

Fondle? Totally impractical?

 

Hilarious.

[Guest Her Berger]

Fondle? Totally impractical?

 

Hilarious.

 

D'accord.

 

My MP is one of my best friends. Its absolutely practical and a mechanical masterpiece. I use the LUMU lightmeter on my iphone with awesome results.

 

I also shoot with a M8 and Nikons.

But I sill love my MP and even my IIIf.

 

Don't sell it.

Keep it.

(Or sell it to me, just kidding)

[satijntje]

I own a M240 and have just bought an M7!

Keep your MP!

 

John

[JWW]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

Since I was using the digital M the majority of the time,a few years ago I made a similar decision to sell my MP and buy a great condition M2 for those occasions that I wanted film. It was just as nice to use and way less expensive.

[jdsheepdog]

I sold my MP to help finance the M 240, and I was not happy, but, I have an M3 which I actually like using better than I liked the MP, just because of the better (IMHO) viewfinder,

So, after thinking about for a bit, I think it was the right decision, but only because of the faithful M3

[Lee Martin]

Keep it, it will long outlive an M240

[Peter H]

Ask yourself this:

 

If you didn't already own one, would you now buy one?

 

If yes, keep it.

 

If no, sell it.

[sc_rufctr]

It sounds like you're done with it. Just move it on.

[Herr Barnack]

Hello everyone. I started out with Leica MP about 10 years ago. Then life happened and I stopped taking pictures for many years. While organizing my closet recently, I came across my Leica gears. I played with the camera and lenses for awhile. Taking pictures with MP is a very tactile experience which I enjoyed very much. Now I want to get a M 240. I do like film cameras, but I think it's getting less practical for me. This leaves me with a question. Should I sell my MP when I get a M 240? I probably won't get to use it very much and I think it should be given a chance to take pictures. But I think I might regret selling it because it is a beautiful instrument and I may use it from time to time. Has anyone have any experience with going completely digital?

It does not sound as if you need the money from selling the MP to help pay for the M240. If that is the case, I would say keep the MP.

 

As an alternative, you could buy the M240 and keep the MP. When your one year anniversary of getting the M240 rolls around, look back over that year and think of how much you used the MP (or didn't) use it. Then you can reconsider whether to sell or keep the MP. If you keep the MP and don't use it at all for a year after getting the M240, you can always rethink selling it then.

 

Bottom line: If you sell the MP and end up regretting it, you can't un-sell it. It's gone forever.

[250swb]

There is nothing impractical about using film nowadays, in fact it is more practical than ever. Once upon a time you needed a darkroom, now you just need a small desktop scanner and an inkjet printer. Once upon a time you'd forever be sending cheques off for exotic chemicals and film, then waiting weeks for them to arrive, now you press a button on Ebay. Anybody with a sink in the house can process film, and enjoy doing it.

 

Steve

[tookaphotoof]

Although I like my M240, I love my MP. Develop both color and b/w myself. The only downside is I can't keep up with developing and I develop randomly so I probably still have undeveloped rolls from last Christmas.

 

Whether you should keep or sell is up to you, but mine will never leave the house unless I need the money to survive.

[Peter H]

........... Anybody with a sink in the house can process film, and enjoy doing it.

 

Steve

 

It was never the sink that was the problem for me. It was the black-out. Or lack of it. It really used to irritate me that I could never perfect it, and spent too much of my life getting cross about it.

 

I love Lightroom compared with semi-dark rooms.

[Jeff S]

Has anyone have any experience with going completely digital?

 

Yep, 5 years ago, after building 4 darkrooms over a 30+ year period. There was another learning curve to an all-digital workflow, but that's always been necessary for creating fine prints. Changes to software (for camera, computer, editing programs, print drivers, etc) are a pain, but a small price for the continual incremental gains in output quality not available in the world of film. No less dedication required, but a lot more convenient and flexible….and less smelly.

 

I knew when I didn't build a 5th darkroom after another house move, that it was time to sell all the film cameras. Made some scans of some old negs, but no desire to make that a part of my normal workflow. YMMV.

 

Jeff

[Herr Barnack]

It was never the sink that was the problem for me. It was the black-out. Or lack of it. It really used to irritate me that I could never perfect it, and spent too much of my life getting cross about it.

 

I love Lightroom compared with semi-dark rooms.

You don't really need a darkroom to be able to load film into tanks for developing, just one of these - Photoflex Film Changing Room (25 x 22 x 15") AC-CROO1 B&H

 

I have developed 35mm and 120 film for years using the smaller, ore economical version - Paterson Changing Bag (27.5 x 27.5") PTP125 B&H Photo Video

[alun]

TheOP has probably already made their decision on this, but if not then I would say sell it. Liecas deserve to be used to take photographs with. They aren't ornaments. If you don't foresee using it, then sell it.

[Paulus]

Hello everyone. I started out with Leica MP about 10 years ago. Then life happened and I stopped taking pictures for many years. While organizing my closet recently, I came across my Leica gears. I played with the camera and lenses for awhile. Taking pictures with MP is a very tactile experience which I enjoyed very much. Now I want to get a M 240. I do like film cameras, but I think it's getting less practical for me. This leaves me with a question. Should I sell my MP when I get a M 240? I probably won't get to use it very much and I think it should be given a chance to take pictures. But I think I might regret selling it because it is a beautiful instrument and I may use it from time to time. Has anyone have any experience with going completely digital?

 

If you sell the MP you will probably regret it. If you don't sell it, you will probably keep this nagging feeling: " do I have to sell it"

 

Which feeling do you prefer?

[Advertisement]

Hallo,

Look here: Interesting Leica gear

[bocaburger]

I had a couple MP's, to me they were just modern M6's with inconvenient rewind knobs and I sold them without a moment's regret. I still have my M4's, they are full of strap and meter marks and a few dings here and there, but represent decades of accompanying me on travels, and the high point of Leica workmanship.