Jeffry Abt Posted March 3, 2014 Share #41 Posted March 3, 2014 Advertisement (gone after registration) I had the good fortune to acquire a M soon after they came on the market. I was happy in spite of the fact that I knew I was paying top dollar and that prices would fall as supply increased. I'm still happy! The fact that others are paying less is inconsequential! Good for them! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted March 3, 2014 Posted March 3, 2014 Hi Jeffry Abt, Take a look here Price drop?. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
250swb Posted March 3, 2014 Share #42 Posted March 3, 2014 We are talking about technical capability of equipment. Are we? I was talking about making good photo's so please don't confuse me with your gang of gear aficionado's. The M240 despite the potential it can deliver still suffers from the age old dictum of 'rubbish in rubbish out' at which point it has no technical advantage at all, the user has neutered it. Obviously this can happen with any camera, but any other camera doesn't labour under the sobriquet of 'aspirational' where excellence is being purchased. But a boring picture is a boring picture, the M240 has no influence over it, and only boring people are going to think ease of focus and resolution, and whatever other advantage you can come up with, trumps pointing any camera from the past 150 years at something interesting. Extreme technical excellence from a camera is just the icing on the cake, nothing more, so like the saying 'be careful what you wish for' the newest Leica fully deserves 'be careful what you aspire to' because in reality it only amounts to a tiny fraction of the image's power. Steve Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted March 3, 2014 Share #43 Posted March 3, 2014 Up to a point, Steve. If the photographer sees a good image but the equipment is technically unable to record it the capability of the camera is certainly a crucial consideration. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wlaidlaw Posted March 3, 2014 Share #44 Posted March 3, 2014 The M240 (and unique Leica lenses, such as the Noctilux) enable you to do all sorts of things that are difficult with other cameras, so the tool really can make a difference. Having been using both the M240 and an Olympus EP-5 fairly intensively over the last few weeks, confirms to me how much I prefer manual focus for close to medium distances but conversely, how useless manual focus is (with the 80-200 Vario Elmar both on the EP-5 and M240) is at long distances with a tele lens, on moving subjects like Kingfishers, monkeys and even elephants. I really wish I had taken my autofocus 75-300 M-Zuiko Mk2 for the EP-5 with me instead of the Vario Elmar. The photo below (M240 and 0.95 Noctilux) would be very difficult to get with most DSLR’s, although you could come close with the various f1.2 lenses you can buy for Nikon and Canon. My grandson using one of his Christmas presents. Wilson Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/222870-price-drop/?do=findComment&comment=2543201'>More sharing options...
jaapv Posted March 4, 2014 Share #45 Posted March 4, 2014 After shooting monkeys, elephants and kingfishers for the last thirty years with manual tele lenses, I am more than slightly puzzled by the uselessness thereof… Vario-Elmar 105-280 with 1.4x extender @ 280, wide open: Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/222870-price-drop/?do=findComment&comment=2543224'>More sharing options...
colonel Posted March 4, 2014 Share #46 Posted March 4, 2014 Are we? I was talking about making good photo's so please don't confuse me with your gang of gear aficionado's. The M240 despite the potential it can deliver still suffers from the age old dictum of 'rubbish in rubbish out' at which point it has no technical advantage at all, the user has neutered it. Obviously this can happen with any camera, but any other camera doesn't labour under the sobriquet of 'aspirational' where excellence is being purchased. But a boring picture is a boring picture, the M240 has no influence over it, and only boring people are going to think ease of focus and resolution, and whatever other advantage you can come up with, trumps pointing any camera from the past 150 years at something interesting. Extreme technical excellence from a camera is just the icing on the cake, nothing more, so like the saying 'be careful what you wish for' the newest Leica fully deserves 'be careful what you aspire to' because in reality it only amounts to a tiny fraction of the image's power. Steve Flip flop ! You started by mentioning some incorrect things about camera specs and now apparently it's all about art ? Boring people want good focus ? Good grief ...... Moving swiftly on Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wlaidlaw Posted March 4, 2014 Share #47 Posted March 4, 2014 Advertisement (gone after registration) Jaap, The focus ring on my 80-200 VE requires close to zero force to move it and I found it nearly impossible not to lose focus with it. Using it on a tripod is just fine but using it hand held on a crowded, moving boat was more of a trial than a pleasure. My Olympus AF zoom would have done a better job. Wilson Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted March 4, 2014 Share #48 Posted March 4, 2014 The force on the focus ring is indeed a factor, Wilson. I like them light like the 280/4.0 so I can focus with one finger, so to speak. Nevertheless the slightly heavier ones are not too bad. It is long since that I used the 80-200, but I cannot recall anything special Maybe a CLA? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
NJH Posted March 4, 2014 Share #49 Posted March 4, 2014 Up to a point, Steve. If the photographer sees a good image but the equipment is technically unable to record it the capability of the camera is certainly a crucial consideration. Good point which is why I find shutter lag to be much more important than IQ differences. I bought the wife that new Nokia, the images are surprisingly good but its useless for photographing anything other than static subjects. Leica do pretty good in this regard I find compared to consumer mirror less systems (previous gen in particular). Never really gets mentioned though. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
250swb Posted March 5, 2014 Share #50 Posted March 5, 2014 Up to a point, Steve. If the photographer sees a good image but the equipment is technically unable to record it the capability of the camera is certainly a crucial consideration. I completely agree Jaap, which is probably why I have already mentioned in this thread that a photographer should buy the best camera for the job. But it doesn't mean that pictures automatically get better just because the camera is aspirationally 'better' as colonel seems to think. For instance one of the most striking photographs in the Landscape Photo Forum at the moment is made with a small sensor D-Lux4, but I won't point you directly to it because trawling through and comparing and contrasting which image is made from which camera is the informative point. Steve Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lenicolas Posted March 5, 2014 Share #51 Posted March 5, 2014 About the price drop, why hasn't it happened in the US stores? The demand is stronger there? Or they don't advertise it online but they will give you a better price if you show up? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
doolittle Posted March 5, 2014 Share #52 Posted March 5, 2014 You need to get out a bit more and go to see some Ferrari rallies and Ferrari cup races, where the great majority owners drive their cars very fast and well. This includes most of the 250GTO cars, which are now worth in excess of $50M. Here are just two of us on a competitive rally, up on a very narrow and bumpy military road, high in the Swiss mountains, in the pouring rain last year. Not exactly being cosseted in an air conditioned garage! Wilson Nice to see those cars on the road, that green Ferrari is a beauty. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wlaidlaw Posted March 5, 2014 Share #53 Posted March 5, 2014 After shooting monkeys, elephants and kingfishers for the last thirty years with manual tele lenses, I am more than slightly puzzled by the uselessness thereof… Vario-Elmar 105-280 with 1.4x extender @ 280, wide open: Jaap, You have a much steadier hand than I have. Wilson Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wlaidlaw Posted March 5, 2014 Share #54 Posted March 5, 2014 Nice to see those cars on the road, that green Ferrari is a beauty. The 250 Lusso is a lovely looking car and I think it drives better than the much vaulted 275 GTB4 NART Spyder I was the navigator on. The NART Spyder is a heavy, rather wallowy car, which leaks like a sieve in heavy rain, all over your legs. It is so heavy that until you get over 5000 RPM, it is not as quick as the average modern diesel hatchback, albeit making a lovely noise while it gets there. The Lusso is actually closer related to a 250GTO than the older 250GT. Wilson Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephenPatterson Posted March 6, 2014 Share #55 Posted March 6, 2014 About the price drop, why hasn't it happened in the US stores?The demand is stronger there? Or they don't advertise it online but they will give you a better price if you show up? I think in the US a majority of Leica sales are from authorized dealers, who are under contract not to sell for less than MSRP. In Hong Kong it's a mix, but even authorized dealers, such as Tin Cheung (who have two Leica boutiques in the city) offer two prices. There is the "official" Leica Hong Kong price, which for the M240 is around 72,000 HKD (about $9300 USD) or the grey market price, which is almost 20,000 less. The only difference is the "official" HK version comes with a meaningless warranty issued by the local distributor Schmidt Marketing. In the event of a problem they will simply ship your camera to Germany (after attempting to get you to pay for the service). With the grey market camera in the event of a warranty problem you simply ship it direct to Leica AG yourself. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest redge Posted March 6, 2014 Share #56 Posted March 6, 2014 About the price drop, why hasn't it happened in the US stores?The demand is stronger there? Or they don't advertise it online but they will give you a better price if you show up? One difference in the US, where the standard price is $6950, is that it's possible to buy the camera from a dealer in another state without paying tax. That said, I'm staying in New York and chose in December to buy from my preferred New York dealer, which meant that I paid tax of 8%. Maybe I'm a masochist The camera is certainly more readily available lately. Tonight B&H, the largest US online retailer, is showing both black and silver in stock at $6950. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
semi-ambivalent Posted March 6, 2014 Share #57 Posted March 6, 2014 I'm not sure that driving $50m cars on a classic car rally in Switzerland constitutes "getting out a bit more". Quite the contrary I'd say. Perhaps if you were on that road aboard a late 70s 6-spd Masi... s-a Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
250swb Posted March 6, 2014 Share #58 Posted March 6, 2014 About the price drop, why hasn't it happened in the US stores?The demand is stronger there? Or they don't advertise it online but they will give you a better price if you show up? In the UK the Dealer web price's (apart from a couple) still show the old price £5100, but phoning around today the Leica dealers I contacted confirmed the new price was £4799. The exception seemed to be R.G. Lewis and Stephens in Manchester who were bundling goods (EVF and binoculars respectively) in lieu of the lower price. So it is probably worth phoning around in the US, the price drop seems to be permanent. Also in the UK some dealers (Harrisons in Sheffield in a couple of weeks) are putting on a Leica seminar by Leica UK and for £25 attendance fee you get a voucher for a further £100 off Leica goods which would bring the M240 price down even further. Steve Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wlaidlaw Posted March 6, 2014 Share #59 Posted March 6, 2014 Dale have been offering the M at this price since just after Christmas. I posted somewhere else that I was very pleasantly surprised at the very substantial discounts I got offered at the back end of last year and early this, on Noctilux and 18SEM lenses. It actually meant that I paid less for a new 18SEM than a lot of dealers were asking second hand. Wilson Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozkar Posted March 6, 2014 Share #60 Posted March 6, 2014 I think maybe time for a facelift for the M? Time ruins fast in Digiland… My (little) local dealer would have a heart attack if Leica announced an updated M. His back-ordered M240's, ordered more than 12 months ago, are now arriving and filling his stock room. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.