Advice on selling lenses

[bencoyote]

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What's people's advice on how to sell lenses:

 

I just got a SL and though the TL lenses are adaptable to the SL they really aren't ideal. For example the 55-135 does zoom to the FOV of a 200mm but then it only uses 12MP and so cropping in really doesn't work. What I want to get is one of those 90-280mm. I live right next to an estuary and I kind of want to do birds and wildlife from time to time. My other system is an M and for normal FD's it is great, I basically got the SL to do things the M doesn't do well like tele, ultra wide and macro.

 

What's your best advice:
1) sell here - small focused market (hassle of shipping)
2) sell ebay- larger market (hassle of posting and shipping)
3) trade in at local leica store - maybe they will give me a better trade in value.

 

What I'm thinking of selling are:
APO-Vario-Elmar-T 55-135mm Boxed lke new
Super-Vario-Elmar-T 11-23mm Boxed lke new
Summicron-T 23mm Boxed excellent to good - some external paint has rubbed off)

 

Also should I sell now or wait for when the new rumored TL with the EVF comes out the one with the code name Clooney?

 

 

[ropo54]

Leica Store is the easiest, as they will give you 80% FMV towards a trade and 70% FMV in cash. If you trade, of course, you will also have a credit towards the sale tax difference. But, those numbers are subjective to the Leica person taking your equipment in so make certain you are content with their figures. (For me, sometimes yes, sometimes no).

 

I have also used Fred Miranda buy/sell which is excellent. Historically, T lenses have sold slowly there, but perhaps that is changing now that the TL2 is out.

 

I have had good success on eBay as well. Of course, you must factor in a 10% commission to eBay. Still, I have had good success. I've always personalized my posts and have photographs taken with the lens.

 

I have not sold on this site but I think it worth giving it a go.

 

As for selling now, I think that T lens prices have gone up since the TL2 has come out. When the T market enthusiasm was flat and no one knew whether Leica was going to continue the line, the lenses became quite inexpensive. 

 

Good luck. 

Edited October 7, 2017 by ropo54

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[dkCambridgeshire]

The SL 90-280mm is not a lens for bird and wildlife photography unless you can approach subjects at close focusing distance ... 280mm is not long enough for many wildlife subjects and unfortunately there are no SL extenders available.  The SL roadmap does not even hint at SL extenders . .. as if they might be impossible to design for the SL system. Nikon and Canon AF tele lenses are adaptable to the SL via the dedicated Novoflex SL adapters but AF performance is compromised i.e. too slow to capture wildlife action. Manual focus legacy tele lenses work well with the SL … including the Leica R 560mm  provided its awkward 'push button & slide' focus action is mastered  for use with a digital camera. The 80-200/4 R lens works well with the SL via the various adapters available and can be used with e.g. the 2x APO R extender to convert the lens to 160-400/8 R  … but even 400mm is not necessarily long enough for wildlife imaging. I've been using a Canon FD 500/4.5 on my Leica T via an adapter and it works well as a 750/4.5 (1.5x crop factor) lens; the FD 500/4.5 is currently away being converted to manual focus Canon EOS mount with the intention of using it with the SL with Canon EOS 1.4x and 2x extenders … via the Novoflex EOS to SL mount … but until I try it is an unknown quantity with the SL.  

 

Should you sell the TL lenses?? 

 

Indications are that Leica Camera AG is committed to the SL / TL system and all lenses share the same mount. The rumoured Clooney will almost certainly have the same mount and thus use TL lenses as native lenses. If you sell the TL lenses to fund a longer lens e.g. the SL 90-280mm for the SL 601 it will likely not be long enough for your intended use. 

 

Consider your potential regret at not having any TL lenses if the Clooney becomes reality.

 

Decisions … decisions  … Only you can decide. 

 

I tried too sell my TL 23mm via the Leica Forum 'Buy and Sell' facility  … and at a knock down price … but there were no takers.

 

I now have a TL 11-23mm plus the TL 23mm … and plan to keep both

 

dunk 

[junah1]

I have used this group on Facebook and have been happy with the results, TL lens are a minority group, so may be a bit more tricky.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/leicaclassifieds/

I have also found Leica Store Manchester to be very good, without the hassle of using PayPal, shipping etc.

Good luck

[Belle123]

Sold on EBay and also traded in a lot at my dealer. Since these aren't hard to find lenses, if you absolutely want to drop them, I find trade in is at least as good as trying to sell on EBay, especially with all their fees and shipping cost, time hassle. But if you have any doubts, keep them.

[brill64]

Their monetary value isn't that great, their intrinsic value is or may well be in the future so best hold onto them, like Belle123 says.

[bencoyote]

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The SL 90-280mm is not a lens for bird and wildlife photography unless you can approach subjects at close focusing distance ... 280mm is not long enough for many wildlife subjects and unfortunately there are no SL extenders available.  The SL roadmap does not even hint at SL extenders . .. as if they might be impossible to design for the SL system.  

 

Should you sell the TL lenses?? 

 

Indications are that Leica Camera AG is committed to the SL / TL system and all lenses share the same mount. The rumoured Clooney will almost certainly have the same mount and thus use TL lenses as native lenses. If you sell the TL lenses to fund a longer lens e.g. the SL 90-280mm for the SL 601 it will likely not be long enough for your intended use. 

 

 

Good advice. Thank you.

The one disagreement that I have is that the 90-280 behaves like a 135-420 on a TL system. That may be long enough for most wildlife photography.

[bencoyote]

The SL 90-280mm is not a lens for bird and wildlife photography unless you can approach subjects at close focusing distance ... 280mm is not long enough for many wildlife subjects and unfortunately there are no SL extenders available.  The SL roadmap does not even hint at SL extenders . .. as if they might be impossible to design for the SL system. 

Kind of have been thinking about this all night. I have a Nature Conservancy calendar in my kitchen. The "free" one they send you when asking for additional contributions and what they have is what I would call "animal portraits" the kind that really do need a HUGE telephoto lens. There is another approach to wildlife photography where it shows the animals in the context of their environment. 

 

So:

For humans portraits 85-90 or 105mm  but in context i.e. street photography 28-35 or 50mm 

For wildlife portraits 400-560mm or more but for wildlife in context ??  

[Louis]

Leica Store is the easiest, as they will give you 80% FMV towards a trade and 70% FMV in cash. If you trade, of course, you will also have a credit towards the sale tax difference. But, those numbers are subjective to the Leica person taking your equipment in so make certain you are content with their figures. (For me, sometimes yes, sometimes no).

 

I have also used Fred Miranda buy/sell which is excellent. Historically, T lenses have sold slowly there, but perhaps that is changing now that the TL2 is out.

 

I have had good success on eBay as well. Of course, you must factor in a 10% commission to eBay. Still, I have had good success. I've always personalized my posts and have photographs taken with the lens.

 

I have not sold on this site but I think it worth giving it a go.

 

As for selling now, I think that T lens prices have gone up since the TL2 has come out. When the T market enthusiasm was flat and no one knew whether Leica was going to continue the line, the lenses became quite inexpensive. 

 

Good luck. 

 

Rob, are you using Leica Store Miami in Coral gables for your trades or there is another leica rep in south Florida?

[ropo54]

Rob, are you using Leica Store Miami in Coral gables for your trades or there is another leica rep in south Florida?

 

Louis,

No, I have only used Leica Miami/CG for trades. No other Leica representative.

I have sold on eBay and Fred Miranda buy/sell.

I have purchased from all 3.

Rob

[scott kirkpatrick]

I recently bought all three TL zooms for use on my SL as video (APS-C and 4K) lenses.  Purchasing used/mint or new/old stock, I paid less than half of the new price for the three, and I am very happy with the results.  That suggests that these lenses will bring more value, if you really have to sell them, as trade-ins to a dealer than as used lenses on E-Bay or a forum listing.  But frankly, I would suggest you keep them and keep the TL, since when the TL is used with the 90-280, you will have a 135-420 for those birds you can't sneak up on.

Edited October 15, 2017 by scott kirkpatrick