Tri-elmar Buying help

[jtorrents]

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A few hours ago I've been in a store playing with an incredible (for me) Tri-elmar. Of course, this could be one of the best and nicest Christmas gift...The most important is that I have WA (wife aproval :-). The lens is brand new, with box, and never used. However, it doesn't come with the viewfinder (frankenfinder). The price is around 3000 €. What would you do?

Thanks and Merry Christmas,

 

Joaquin

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[01af]

The price is around 3000 €. What would you do?

For a used Tri-Elmar-M 16-18-21 Asph, € 3,000 is too much when it comes without the Universal-Weitwinkelsucher-M (a. k. a 'Frankenfinder'). In very good condition and with the finder included, the price would be okay. Without the finder, not.

 

EDIT: Umm ... wait. Brand-new? Literally brand-new? With original Leica warranty included? Then I guess it's okay. But when it's pre-owned—that is, like-brand-new rather than actually brand-new—then you should be able to find a better deal. The original box includes the 'Frankenfinder' ... where has it gone? Normally, you can buy the finder separately but not the Tri-Elmar lens; it always comes with the finder included.

[jtorrents]

Thanks for the answer. Yes, it is brand new, never sold. The box says that it includes the viewfinder, but the seller says that it was sold long ago...so there is only the lens.

 

Joaquín

[ho_co]

Joaquín--

B&H Photo in New York currently shows the lens with finder for $6000; and they show the finder separately for $900. Unfortunately, both are listed as "temporarily unavailable."

 

The price you've been quoted is okay, but the lens needs the finder IMHO; and there's no way to know how long it'll take to find the finder alone.

 

The way I figure it, overall you'll save about the cost of the finder if you buy the lens and then buy the finder separately. But you'll be have an almost unusable lens in the meantime.

 

I would still need to do some thinking to decide whether to go for the deal you've been offered.

[01af]

ho_co is right; the Tri-Elmar-M 16-18-21 mm Asph is next to useless without an accessory finder. Unfortunately, the Leica Universal-Weitwinkelsucher-M currently is hard to get separately; hardly any dealer has one on the shelf for immediate sale. As an alternative, you may also use the Voigtländer 15-35 mm zoom finder—it's less bulky than the 'Frankenfinder' and also cheaper but alas, just as hard to come by.

 

If you want to use the Tri-Elmar on an M8 then you might use the Leica 21-24-28 mm finder which is only half as much as the 'Frankenfinder' and way more elegant but has no parallax compensation (the Voigtländer 15-35 hasn't, too). And it also is hard to find.

[jtorrents]

Thanks. Now I'm trying to locate a dealer who sells only the viewfinder. It's like finding a hidden treasure. A kind of kid's game buying Leica toys :-)

[michali]

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Joaquín-- If you like the lens I would snap it up fairly quickly the price while not a bargain is not bad.

 

With all due respect to some of the other posters here, I don't agree that the lens is unusable without the finder. I often use my Tri-Elmar for general photography without the finder which is bulky & unwieldy in any event. I agree that you could also use one of the Voigtlander finders until such time as you locate a Leica finder.

[RobertJRB]

If money isn't an problem I would buy it.

Than just use it on 21mm until I found a nice used, or maybe new frankenfinder. I used my 18 SEM on M8 (24mm) for some months before buying an extra finder (I wanted the old plastic leica finder) and never had any problems with it. You know there is much more on the image than you see in the finder so you can anticipate to it. However switching to 16 or 18 can be tricky.

[ho_co]

... Now I'm trying to locate a dealer who sells only the viewfinder. It's like finding a hidden treasure. A kind of kid's game buying Leica toys :-)

 

Joaquín--

That's a good attitude, and I congratulate you.

 

If you're still game at this stage, you should buy the lens.

 

It's unlikely that you'll find a dealer who stocks only the finder. Your best bet would likely be to special-order the finder, then wait it out.

 

 

Good luck to you!

[jtorrents]

After a whole day searching for the holy grail (the frankenfinder) I can confirm that this is an imposible mission :-) Several phone calls to dealers and always the same answer. This is part of the game :-) a long game...

Thanks everybody for the useful answers.

 

Joaquín

[cliffp]

Harrisons cameras of uk have a mint tri elmar with finder for £3200 if that is any use

[lanetomlane]

I bought a WATE (no finder) secondhand from B+H and when I only used M8's I had a 21-24-28 finder, which was great. When I traded one of the M8's to buy the M9 I had no trouble buying the Frankenfinder new from B+H. They had them in stock late summer and so I would guess they must have new ones on order from Leica. Just a matter of time ..... how long's a piece of string?

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Regards, Tom