What point is a Leica collectable?

[albertwang]

Honestly we tend to think that it's only old Leicas that seem to be collectable... but I really do think that my 1985 M6 is a collectable of sorts.

Any opinions on a cutoff or criteria for what makes a Leica collectable? Rarity? Any thing?

[bill]

In my experience, absolutely anything can be collected. Something becomes collectable, in terms of competition for ownership, when more than one person decides that they want it to have rather than to use.

So. Age or value are not determinants. Price (not value) becomes a factor of rarity, condition and desirability.

Regards,

Bill

[ddp]

Albert - what makes your M6 stand out? Collectability is usually attributed to low production volume, limited editions perhaps. Assembly line errors or LNIB specs for something that's old.

[bill]

Tsk, Dan, it's Alberts - that makes it unique...

Regards,

Bill

[ddp]

Perhaps it's the rare pancake M6....

[jc_braconi]

When you buy a new model and you don' t sell the old one, this one become a collectable one !
Greetings
jc

[albertwang]

Originally Posted by ddp

Albert - what makes your M6 stand out? Collectability is usually attributed to low production volume, limited editions perhaps. Assembly line errors or LNIB specs for something that's old.

I wouldn't say that it's rare at all but it was the first Leica metered rangefinder that I have owned (and still the only one I have too).

[dkpeterborough]

IMHO there is far too much talk and writing in collecting circles about 'rare' and 'rarity' ... perhaps it might be better to use the words 'scarce' and 'scarcity' more ... especially on Ebay.

Just my 2p worth.

Dunk

[Canfred]

Collectable , some 20 to 30 years from now it will be the R9 fitted with a working DMR. Rare now and more so then they will be a real collectors item.
Manfred

[R.Morrison]

The Leica M is the camera of legends. When you pick up your M (any M) to do photography you are holding a piece of photographic history. You are photographing with a version of the camera-of-choice of Cartier-Bresson, Ralph Gibson, Jim Marshall et al. What's that worth to you?

R. Morrison, M4-P, etc.

[pilot]

Well, as Manfred says, if you keep it long enough it will (might) become collectible. I bought my LTM stuff over 40 years ago for normal camera prices, never thinking about collectibility, but they seem to have become real collectors items. Mind you, stuff is only worth what people are willing to pay. I wonder what it will be worth when film has disappeared completely. Of course, by then I probably will have disappeared as well.

Bryan

[stumac]

So, have I unwittingly become a collector? Since purchase of D2, I have not looked at my SL, R4, Minilux, R lenses from 21 to 560, hoping for a R10 sometime in future.
Although I must admit to aquiring a 1939 111A and 3 lenses recently, but that is another story I may recount here soon.

Regards, Stuart

[luigi bertolotti]

Originally Posted by albertwang

Honestly we tend to think that it's only old Leicas that seem to be collectable... but I really do think that my 1985 M6 is a collectable of sorts.

Any opinions on a cutoff or criteria for what makes a Leica collectable? Rarity? Any thing?

Of course, and thanks God, there is not a definite AUTORHITY that states what is a collectable and what is not: classic Leicas are always been collectables, maybe also in the '30s...
As a Leica collector by myself, for me a good starting point is this: anytime a (classic, repeat) Leica item is no more in the product list of Leica Co., it is a collectable by definition: otherwise, is a used item (much of interest, lot of times...): M6 is no more produced = M6 IS a collectable: thene there are the subtle distinctions in a single product: is the M6 dated '85 ? So it hase the LEITZ (not Leica) red logo on the front? well, its quotation in different from a M6 of some next year...it took hours and lot of discussions to deal with all these details that are the daily stuffs of Leica collectors (that, BTW, are a specific breed in the world of photo collectors, themselves a breed in the world of collectors of mechanical devices,themselved a breed... collecting is a specific psychological mood and trend, that has its inner motivations, reason d'etre ecc...)

[pilot]

I don't think that because something is old or has Leitz on the label makes it collectible. None of my Leicaflex stuff is. For example, you can find any number of older reflex lenses for regular prices. Just because they have single or double cams seems to keep the price down. After all, they are superb optics, and the newer lenses aren't that much better. I still prefer the Leicaflex and SL to the later models. The SL was probably the best reflex camera of all (though many wouldn't agree with that).

Bryan

[earleygallery]

What about people who collect carrier bags? I use them as waste bin liners. What would a carrier bag collector say about that!

[luigi bertolotti]

Originally Posted by earleygallery

What about people who collect carrier bags? I use them as waste bin liners. What would a carrier bag collector say about that!

carrier bags...eh eh eh.. but try to ask a REAL Leitz collector about strange names like ETNEU or ETTOX...