Best places to buy Leica old glasses in UK

[delander †]

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I've bought from quite a few of the UK Leica dealers. Generally they are fine, but often not that interested in chatting. From a buyer's pov if you visit a shop, particularly if you have made a significant journey, you may like to chat about things as well as buy something.

 

I've always found Richard Caplan to be very courteous and helpful, Red Dot are also OK. London Camera Exchange in Guildford dont have much Leica stock but seem to be able to get stuff quickly when other dealers have long waiting lists. Ffordes and Robert White are also good although they are both mainly online for me.

 

At the moment Leica gear is in such short supply and I get the impression that Leica dealers dont have to make much sales effort.

 

Jeff

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[250swb]

The only two I would recommend are Harrison's in Sheffield (but now limited stock of second hand compared to the massive amounts they used to have), and Stephen's in Manchester. I have used others, but most are very optimistic in their descriptions of condition if buying on the phone, the worst being Ffordes. In their case a mail order IIIF Red Dial described as Exc++ was decidedly tatty on arrival, and not even a IIIF, but a IIIC upgraded to IIIF. They seemed argumentative and bemused that I should quibble about it. They gave a refund but without an apology.

 

Steve

[farnz]

Balance? One might consider my comment, and Rich's, to be the balance to the unequivocal support the shop enjoys, and I imagine will continue to enjoy, on this forum. I have no quarrel with anyone else's view and hope those who patronize the shop will continue to receive the level of service they seek.

<snipped> ...

Thank you, John, for your gracious reply.

 

I suggest that the reason for unequivocal support is self-evident since, as the saying goes: there are no friends in business.

 

Pete.

[earleygallery]

We're all human, we all have off days. Look at Seal!

 

For me the true value of a dealer becomes apparent when something goes wrong. That's when 'service' counts.

 

I don't need have my ego massaged when making a purchase, nor do I need to waste an hour making small talk, but I guess I'm a more direct kind of personality in that way. I sometimes don't go into Croydon Camera because it takes an hour just to buy a lens cap, and I usually leave with some random purchase like a baby Rollei

[leicanet]

To my experience,

Richard Caplan customer service, friendliness and quality of the items I bought is without a single doubt my numer one choice in London.

 

All other dealers in London mentioned in this thread (except for RG Lewis and Nicholas of which I have no personal experience) have often a much different view than mine when they describe an item as mint, as I have often realized when viewing the item personally in their shop. Ffordes in Scotland are pretty good but sometime a bit of a bet between the description/grading of their items and what you actually receive.

 

However, as far as friendliness goes, I find Aperture to be ok, Red Dot and Classic Camera depending on the day.

[farnz]

I agree, James, Reg Roach at Croydon Photo Centre certainly can talk. But I don't mind that because he's full of interesting information and experiences and it gives the shop, as a long-time family owned business, that personal touch that's sadly missing from so many others these days.

 

I'd rather have Reg behind the counter to talk to than one of those know-nothing, pimply-faced plonkers from the chainstore up the road.

 

Pete.

[andybarton]

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It is worth doing a search on the forum for all the dealers suggested.

 

You might find that some have a reputation that you wouldn't like to encourage and do business with.

[mmradman]

...I wasted a good half day of my life because of Nicholas Camera, never again!. I really wouldn't have minded if I'd gone there on spec, but I phoned and spoke to them for some time and was encouraged to visit and see the selection of lenses on offer, and I visited the day after!

 

Croydon Camera is just around the corner from me. They have a very poor website and there's a lot more gear in the shop - worth a call if you're looking for something in particular. I still have a Kodak Retina and a B&O amp my father bought there in the 60's, from the owner who still works there today.

 

Your experience spelled out here confirmed nagging feeling I had about Nicholas.

When I paid them a wist it was like watching Del Boy at work, item i was after was 30 minutes away in the storeroom and price was off the scale.

 

Bought once from Croydon Photo Centre, wish it was handy to pay them a visit. That was most enjoyable transaction dealing with elderly gentleman over the phone.

[masjah]

Your experience spelled out here confirmed nagging feeling I had about Nicholas.

When I paid them a wist it was like watching Del Boy at work, item i was after was 30 minutes away in the storeroom and price was off the scale.

 

Bought once from Croydon Photo Centre, wish it was handy to pay them a visit. That was most enjoyable transaction dealing with elderly gentleman over the phone.

 

Some say that their "storeroom" is every other easily reachable dealer; I couldn't possibly comment on that, but if so, that might explain the prices.

[earleygallery]

I've heard that too John, from another dealer - you can imagine the workflow, get order at X price, hunt around/bargain for said item in roughly the condition expected allowing for enough margin, forward onto buyer - get paid up front and no need to carry stock!

[Lord Fluff]

Red Dot being one - snotty attitude towards a scruffy photographer with scruffy equipment that - shock - gets used...!

 

You are not alone in having misgivings about Red Dot. I find them at best ok, but there's often a bit of an indifferent, "I'm doing you a favour letting you be in here" attitude, and I'd not say their service is commensurate with the amount I've spent there. They also have some very Leica-ist attitudes which can be a bit wearing - their reaction when I asked if they had cheap aftermarket lenscaps was, I'm sure, very funny for them, if not anyone else. I'm not sure how many thousands one needs to spend at once to get any kind of freebie, but clearly I've not found the lower limit yet, not even for an LFI or screen protector when spending north of £2000.

 

Richard Caplan though treat you like a god, regardless of what you spend. They've held items for me for several days just based on an email (Red Dot won't do this without a 10% deposit, even for established customers) and generally made me feel welcome every time I've been in, even if it's only to procrastinate yet again over an M9. They will quite happily sell you a cheap aftermarket lens cap, despite being perhaps the swankiest of all London Leica dealers. The net effect is that I want to give them my business, whereas with Red Dot I do so reluctantly.

 

I also regard Aperture very highly - Patrick and Richard are good guys and very patient, especially considering some of the demanding tourists they have to deal with every day due to their location. I've had great customer service from them too, and no questions asked when things went wrong. They can get extremely busy though, so Saturdays are best avoided.

[pgk]

I also regard Aperture very highly - Patrick and Richard are good guys and very patient, especially considering some of the demanding tourists they have to deal with every day due to their location. I've had great customer service from them too, and no questions asked when things went wrong. They can get extremely busy though, so Saturdays are best avoided.

I met a friend at Aperture for a coffee. She was fascinated as, although familiar with the area around the museum (she is a Londoner, I am not) she hadn't been in before. Somewhat quirky but interesting and my dealings with them (by post) have been very good too.