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Long term value


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BTW - have you ever seen a lens shade for the 75mm Biogon? No? Want to see one? :)

Never seen (but saw one for the 53...of the "compendium" kind) ... show me... (ok, is OOT... ;)... I understand if you don't)

 

OBLeica - If Leica made LF it would be the Super Technika, a rangefinder!

Agree 100%

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Keeping lenses for investment has two major problems (like any other investment I guess) that is, when to buy, and when to sell! For myself, like art, I'd buy lenses purely for the enjoyment that would ensue; with Leica lenses, any loss on sale would be more than outweighed by the pleasure that I'd derived from using them. I would think of any potential profit as a bonus. (I bought several of my R lenses ex demo, as new, with full warranty, and it is apparent that they could now easily be sold privately for significantly more than I paid for them. Should I sell them? No, because that's not why I bought them. Eventually, they'll be worth nothing - I don't care.)

 

If anyone thinks hanging on to Leica lenses is a losing proposition, try hanging on to cash - there is a fool's errand!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Speaking of Boris, I had the following email exchange with Photoalps about two weeks ago:

 

Hallo photoalps,

 

The top plate of this camera appears on the photographs with a couple of tiny white flecks. Is this dust, or paint, or something else? I would be very grateful to know. With very best wishes,

 

Al

 

***************

 

Dear Al

 

It is from flash, camera is new!

 

- photoalps

 

***************

 

Dear photoalps,

 

Thank you very much! Can you please send a photo without flash of the top of the camera?

Thank you in advance. Al

 

***************

 

Hi!

Sorry No,

camera in Stock and it is very difecly make picture again,

Camera real 100% New Condition!!!

 

- photoalps

 

***************

 

Dear photoalps,

 

Thank you. I know the camera is new and genuine. What I am worried about is the finish of the black paint. Please look closely at the two photos you have posted and you will see a small white dot above and to the right of the "L". Since this seems to be in the same place on both pictures, taken from different positions, I am not convinced it is the flash. So this is why I asked: dust or paint? If I actually buy the camera, can you take it out of stock and let me see it please before shipping it to me?

 

Thank you again, Al

 

*****************

 

No further reply from Photoalps! :eek: I think I learned all I needed to know about this operation, and I wouldn't touch their wares with a barge pole.

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I have found that Arsenal is often over-priced on non-collectibles. Is it the same with collectibles?

 

It is the same with all their sales. Look to what they ask for their items, divide it by two and then you might find the beginning of a rational price. The other jerk of the same ilk is 'go kevin' on that big auction site. Insane prices, no adequate description, lots of pictures that tell us nothing.

 

But experience tells me that the very rich are entirely sheltered within their clique and will spend, spend, spend and push away anyone who wants to spoil their delusion. Take 'em for what you can. I won't have a thing to do with them. What goes around....

.

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If anyone thinks hanging on to Leica lenses is a losing proposition, try hanging on to cash - there is a fool's errand!

 

Booool shite. I accidentally put $6000 into a market and forgot about it for thirty years. No Leica made when I did that has appreciated as much. Cameras are not an investment, unless your expectations are very low.

.

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And the same rude words to you, sounds like what you did was INVEST 6k, and lucky you are that it has appreciated, my American sister tells me that most in the us have not been so lucky lately

If you put 6k in a leica m box, and put it in your showcase next to your collectors M5, the money would have lost value, while the box would probably have appreciated.

I always think its funny when people say they are going to 'invest' in some new electronic based camera, when its inevitable that it will be junk when the circuit boards are obsolete.

 

Gerry

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General advice - never sell a lens - you'll regret it later and wind up paying more to get it back. It took me three mistakes to learn that lesson.

 

If you still decide to sell, the following site gathers closing auction prices over time and gathers trends. I hope you find it useful.

 

Eri

 

 

Leitz Lenses Price Guide: estimate your lens value

 

??? The link comes with 'DNS Error - Server cannot be found'. :confused:

 

Edit - Another search was more successful - it is the /Leitz/ bit of the above link that was the problem. This link works...

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And the same rude words to you, sounds like what you did was INVEST 6k, and lucky you are that it has appreciated, my American sister tells me that most in the us have not been so lucky lately

 

If you put money into a diversified, managed fund for thirty years it will appreciate because the market works that way _over a significant period of time_.

 

$6,000 > $185,000 for that forgotten fund.

 

That's why so many people who have long term plans retire as millionaires, even Americans.

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That's strange. My long term managed fund is worth half of sweet fanny adams. I had planned to retire as a millionaire.

 

It depends upon your fund and the global economy. And tax. And a Chancellor who robbed your pension fund. And all that other nasty stuff.

 

I'm looking at penury when I retire.

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And its still an investment (aka gambling) not cash

Gerry

 

I've never known anyone do anything but 'win' with a managed-fund services company. One is investing in the company that manages the funds, and indirectly into the stocks, and a talented managed fund company does a good job maintaining a diversified portfolio.

 

Disregarding the exceptional performance of a few Leica items, and a few exceptional stocks, the long-term stock market performs better. Buying a production Leica as an 'investment' is a fallacy. It is not an investment unless you can accept a very low yield, and of course, keep it in the box, in a protected environment so that you end up paying for something you don't use.

 

My father was an econometrics expert (what one today calls a person with terminal degree in economics earned in 1940) and a financial statistician. He warned me when I was eight years-old to never 'gamble' in the stock market. Short version of the long story, after he passed away we found he had about three million dollars in stocks, managed since I was about eight years-old. It's the old Irish-Catholic thing, "do as I say, not as I do" but being a financial agnostic, I ignored the advice.

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If you want to invest in actual and future values, I just received an email from "Boris"

 

Just Arrived Items 24 July 2012: Astro Berlin f. M42 1:2,3/100 mm Pa

 

enjoy !

 

With respect, that's not an investment. Stocks are better because you haven't so much money in an item that depends upon an idiosyncratic and small market, while with stocks you can sell just parts, not the whole chunk, opening the market to many relatively ordinary buyers. (Besides, the arsenal over-prices everything so that you lose years before any so-called appreciation begins.)

 

Most Leicas which are actually used barely keep up with inflation.

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I am very glad I haven't been disappointed with capital growth over the last 10 years on most markets, I bought a few cars and made a greater return and had fun ;)

 

Needless to say if you have a big pot it's a different story

 

Good to Know! You have taken the money I lost in the same way:mad:

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