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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.

 

Popflash has loads of M240's in stock, some mint/like new, for close to $6k. Black and silver bodies are both available. As well as the Monochrom and ME.

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Not certain that any products from these 'competitors' compete with the M, with the possible exception of the Sony A7R. But in my view that doesn't either. It's not a rangefinder, and it's not a Leica. IMHO The M is not a 'Christmas' type product where there might be a 'can't get that, so I'll have that' thought/purchase process.

 

I think for most, acquiring the M240 is an experience, which, in pecuniary terms alone (let alone aspirationally and emotionally) is way beyond any Fuji, Olympus or Sony.

 

Most people waiting for Ms were/are established users, probably using M9s, and prepared to wait. That some have waited so long that we see a price drop is fortunate for them. I doubt all this a conscious marketing ploy from Leica, more a simple cock up in initial supply.

 

The A7R is a very viable alternative to an M240. It may be a co-incidence (or not) that M240 supply suddenly improved when the A7/R became available.

 

Tim Ashley is very well respected around the traps and has posted an interesting assessment on the new Zeiss 24-70 for the A7/R. He's been looking for a viable replacement for his M240 kit for some time and it seems he has finally found it.

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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

 

NIce candid capture of your Grandson … but the technical sentiments you express are stretching it a bit don't you think?

 

What I see is a delightful photo of a cute little kid with badly blown highlights (dynamic range?), and some ferocious purple fringing (Nocti interacting with the sensor in such contrast conditions?).

 

Do we really need $18,000 worth of kit to achieve that? We may want to, but we don't need to as suggested by your post.

 

(BTW, I've used the 50/0.95 for years … previously used on a M9P, and now use it on a M Monochrome and a Sony A7R with higher ISO performance than the M, using an adjustable adapter that allows the Nociti to focus 2X as close as on a M camera … so I know what it can and cannot do on other cameras).

 

- Marc

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Hasn't the pink M9 been done already by digitalrev?

 

“Envoyé depuis mon HTC One X avec Tapatalk"

 

 

Probably knowing Digital Rev! In any case I meant a pink C not an M. A pink M is unthinkable :)

 

Wilson

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A uniformly pink one is, I agree. But you could still fancy a pink one with purple or yellow splotches, can't you?

 

Philipp,

 

I would probably get purple and yellow splotches before my eyes without Leica having to paint them on. :D

 

Wilson

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Here is the link:

 

 

You wouldn’t mind so much if he had done it properly but that paint job is similar to my level of painting Airfix models when I was aged about 10. It probably needed to be offset with green snakeskin covering for the body. I hope the producer gave him a personal demonstration of the weight and solidity of his M9 after doing that.

 

Wilson

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You wouldn’t mind so much if he had done it properly but that paint job is similar to my level of painting Airfix models when I was aged about 10. It probably needed to be offset with green snakeskin covering for the body. I hope the producer gave him a personal demonstration of the weight and solidity of his M9 after doing that.

 

Wilson

 

It is the Top Gear type of intentional incompetence where it is easier to do it right than do it wrong, but that wouldn't be entertainment :)

 

Steve

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Leica 10770 M 24MP RangeFinder Camera with 3-Inch TFT LCD Screen - Body Only (Black):Amazon:Camera & Photo

 

 

Amazon (US) has a third part vendor showing the body for $6800. Not a huge discount, but at least it's in the right direction.

 

I'm not sure that I'd be in a big hurry to buy a $7,000 camera from something called Electronics Basket, about which Electronics Basket and Amazon offer zero information :)

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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:

 

Beautiful! I couldn't do that in a thousand attempts!

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In Australia one authorised dealer is now advertising that they have stock on hand and surprisingly show a new lower price which is around $1000 less than the sometimes mentioned list retail price previously or $500 less than the reduced price advertised by some dealers previously. I do not know what the official list retail price here is or was.

 

Prices here include the 10% Goods and Services Tax. Comparing the pre-tax amount to the US price without whatever taxes, the price is actually comparable to the BHPhoto list for example, before the exchange rate is taken into account. Remarkable.

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