To sell, or not to sell, that is the question (seeking wisdom)

[enboe]

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I'm sure that I'm not the first to come to the point of decision on whether or not to cull the herd. I would be interested in hearing your decisions and experiences when you were in the same place.

 

I've accumulated a bunch of M's, a iiig, a CL, and a C11 over the past decade. I cannot honestly say that shooting an M2 is more enjoyable than shooting a (modern) MP, so why keep the M2? If I sell off the pre-meter Leicas, I could easily add one or two of the new lenses to my stable with no money out of pocket. On the other hand, I could buy said lenses and not impact my financial position, so selling is not a necessity.

 

I guess my question is who has sold off the older items in their collection, only to regret and re-acquire the same items later, and what was the reason for the regret?

 

Thanks.

 

Eric

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[bill]

Eric, I am a couple of weeks ahead of you.

 

So far I have sold my M2, III and a CV 50mm, together with all my R kit and Olympus 4/3. My rationale is twofold. Firstly, I had got to the point where I had more kit than I could reasonably use. Secondly, in the case of the R and Olympus kit, I had come to the end of my "journey" with them. I had not used the Olympus kit for nearly a year, and the R, which got a good airing in Santorini a couple of months ago, was not giving me the pleasure that my Ms do. The III was an impulse purchase a little under a year ago, and again did not engage me in the same way as my II does.

 

So, I am currently down to an M7, II, LC-1 and D-Lux 4. I am busily sourcing an MP to replace the M2, and then that should be me done on the M side. The "gaps" in my capabilities (Macro and Tele) will be filled in due course with a V-Lux 1 - no rush.

 

All that said, the thing that you should never sell is a lens. I have sold and "rebought" a number over the years, including a DR Summicron, collapsible 90mm Elmar and CV 35mm Pancake.

 

Hope this helps!

 

Regards,

 

Bill

[zipper]

Eric, many years ago when I was young and still knew it all, I sold my M4-2. I slightly regretted this for a few years, being Leica, if not not camera-less, until I finally had to replace it with an M6. Reason was I fancied I could spot my Leica Kodachrome 25 images amongst a load of my Nikon stuff. Later I wished I hadn't sold my bp Summichron too, especially when I bought a bp MP which would have suited it very well: I did buy another bp lens, but a 35 'chron this time, they would have made a nice pair. There was the 90 APO too, brilliant lens sold too cheap. I now resist selling any Leica kit, but (as Bill said) especially Leica glass as I found sooner or later you will find a use for it, and have to buy it back, at a premium... seller beware ;-)

[dickgrafixstop]

Unless it's broken or you just plain don't like it, for whatever the reason, there seems to be little occasion short of bankruptcy to "de-acquisition". Leica equipment may be a better

investment than stocks, certainly more fun to fondle, and actually useful. As a veteran of

several equipment downsizing tries, I heartily recommend against it. Whatever I sold, I

invariably "needed" it within weeks, and on several occasions re-purchased (usually at

more than I sold it for) to round out the inventory.

This equipment is like sex - it's all good, just some's better than others.

[mooky]

I've played 'musical cameras' more than I care to admit.

 

Regrets include selling my IIIG - because it's a great and very usable Screw-mount, but now the lenses obviously aren't as good though you can now buy some really good after-market lenses for them, plus, it's a very compact design. Sold my M5, not yet replaced it with another, but I plan to - great camera, sold my first SL2mot and motor for an R3mot - the biggest mistake ever - but have since got another - a near perfect manual focus SLR, one that I constantly use.

 

Those are the most significant - plus, I can still get them repaired. Buying more glass is always on my front-burner - wish I still had my 19mm Elmarit, 21 Angilon for M, let my 50/1 Noctilux go but I don't miss it, I do miss my early 70's vintage 90 Summicron M (silver, scalloped focus rings) a really nice copy it was. Oh well, on and on, I kept the or returned to the bodies I liked, and learned to trim down to the most used lenses. The glass 'is where it's at'.

[luigi bertolotti]

Eric, I think that to solve your doubt you have to clarify what, in my mind, is a clear difference between TWO moods that most Leicaphiles share:

- The COLLECTOR mood

- The USER/COLLECTOR mood.

 

They are quite different : the pure collecting is to have something that you like to have for you love the item in itself; I have several items of this kind... my user film Leica is a M4... I have a fine M3 too, but in user terms it has nothing more than M4 (and the double stroke can be seen as a minus...) : but I love to have a M3, the only reason to sell it would be pure need of money, unrelated to photo equipment; same applies for many lenses of mine... the first Super Angulon 21mm f4 is a splenidid delicious item, without NO reason to be used instead of its better brother f 3,4 , not to speak of the Elmarit 21 asph... but I'll surely keep it.

 

Using collectibles are different : they are items that can help you to enjoy some specific "flavor" that is unique of some gear, and this is specifically true for optics: between my items, for instance, the old Summarit 50 1,5 as well as the Summarex 85 1,5 fit nicely this role : frankly, with anyway a rare usage... but I like to keep something that , time to time, allows me to catch an image in which the subject bears clearly the "fingerprint" of the old glass it was taken with.

[lars_bergquist]

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No one who asks this question in a forum for collectors can expect any other answer than the one you have got: Hoard it all!

 

The old man who is a Leica user

[surfer dude]

Eric, I am a couple of weeks ahead of you.

 

So far I have sold my M2, III and a CV 50mm, together with all my R kit and Olympus 4/3. My rationale is twofold. Firstly, I had got to the point where I had more kit than I could reasonably use. Secondly, in the case of the R and Olympus kit, I had come to the end of my "journey" with them. I had not used the Olympus kit for nearly a year, and the R, which got a good airing in Santorini a couple of months ago, was not giving me the pleasure that my Ms do.

 

Hi,

 

I'm not trying to hijack the thread, Eric, so my apologies but, Bill, that is incredibly like my own situation. In fact just last week I sold my R system and bought a 0.85 M6TTL to complement my 0.58. I also acquired a 90mm summicron and (and this will be of some interest to collectors I'm sure) a 1962 135mm Elmar that used to belong to Elliott Erwitt, who used it extensively in the 60's. My plan is to use the Elmar, which belonged to his former wife/partner until a month or so ago, although the mount is fairly distorted and will probably need to be replaced.

 

For digital (and I used to have an E1, E3 and a bunch of lenses) I'll retain the 5mp E1 and a 14-54 zoom. That will be plenty.

 

Eric, you will miss those cameras which have been your friends and companions, but sometimes moving on can cleanse the soul and start you out on new adventure, new ways of looking at things. Good luck with it!

[iShutterbug]

I recently sold off my IIIg, two II's, and an R3A. Along with them I also sold a 180 Telyt, 135 Hektor, 90 Elmarit, 50 Summarit, two 50 Elmar Red Scales, and a 35 Summicron ASPH (screwmount). (Most of them CLA'd.) I've posted several pictures in the Photo Forum I've taken with them. Here are a few recent ones:

I don't miss them--yet

Don

[Guest Ron (Netherlands)]

At first I was more in collecting camera's than lenses, but after some years realized I much more enjoyed using different lenses. So I ended up with one digital and one film M and further used the proceeds of the sold camera's to acquire many nice lenses

[jc_braconi]

Unless you are in need of money; make trade in dealers shops.

[UliWer]

I recently sold off my IIIg, two II's, and an R3A. Along with them I also sold a 180 Telyt, 135 Hektor, 90 Elmarit, 50 Summarit, two 50 Elmar Red Scales, and a 35 Summicron ASPH (screwmount). (Most of them CLA'd.) I've posted several pictures in the Photo Forum I've taken with them. Here are a few recent ones:

I don't miss them--yet

Don

 

Bad news.

 

I liked Your photos with the screwmounts.

 

I'll miss them.