Leica M6, M7 or MP and costs of each

[ejg1890]

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Looks like I’ll go the Leica M2 with self timer route. One that has been recently CLA’d with a limited warranty and appears to be in great condition. I’ll see it later today or tomorrow morning. I shoot primarly 35mm but also have 21mm, 28mm, 50mm and 75mm. The 50mm isn’t a problem, while I can use the entire viewfinder for 28mm and rough estimate for 75mm.  Not sure which frame lines will appear for the 75mm, 50 or 90mm, but I also don’t shoot 75mm very often. 

[a.noctilux]

M2 will show only 50 frames for 50/75 lens.

only 90, when 28 or 90 lens mounted.

I use for long my 75mm on M5 and with a couple of days, you know where the framing can be.

In doubt, you can preview lever with "90" then take haf way 50/90.

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[ejg1890]

29 minutes ago, a.noctilux said:

M2 will show only 50 frames for 50/75 lens.

only 90, when 28 or 90 lens mounted.

I use for long my 75mm on M5 and with a couple of days, you know where the framing can be.

In doubt, you can preview lever with "90" then take haf way 50/90.

Thanks.  I can use the M10-R to get estimates of the 75mm and 28mm in relationship to the 50mm and the viewfinder area. 

[Mute-on]

19 hours ago, Studienkamera said:

A silver M6 from a seller in Williamstown was advertised one or two weeks ago for AUD 4900 on gumtree and sold within a day.

Even with current price trends, and AUD FX rates, that’s getting pretty ridiculous, unless it was a unique combination ( e.g., 0.58 TTL).

[Studienkamera]

44 minutes ago, Mute-on said:

Even with current price trends, and AUD FX rates, that’s getting pretty ridiculous, unless it was a unique combination ( e.g., 0.58 TTL).

Agreed, it was a plain vanilla silver classic M6.

[ktmrider2]

Agree, Leica film camera prices have gone nuts in the last couple years but I doubt if we have seen the peak.  Supply and demand as except for a few MP and MA bodies, film cameras are  not really being made anymore.  And Leica has been marketing itself as a high end luxury product.

[Helge]

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Leica’s production volume for film M is back to the same value as about 20 years ago, so saying that “they are not real being made anymore” is not really true for Leica. However the supply is still not satisfying the demand, which is affecting prices for used ones big time.

Edited March 26, 2022 by Helge

[Mute-on]

1 hour ago, Helge said:

Leica’s production volume for film M is back to the same value as about 20 years ago, so saying that “they are not real being made anymore” is not really true for Leica. However the supply is still not satisfying the demand, which is affecting prices for used ones big time.

What volumes are we discussing here?  Do you know actual production numbers?
 

20 years ago the M7 had just been announced/introduced, and the MP was 12 months away. Now we have two M film models, MP and M-A, so the range is very similar. 

Edited March 26, 2022 by Mute-on

[otto.f]

19 hours ago, ejg1890 said:

Looks like I’ll go the Leica M2 with self timer route. One that has been recently CLA’d with a limited warranty and appears to be in great condition. I’ll see it later today or tomorrow morning. I shoot primarly 35mm but also have 21mm, 28mm, 50mm and 75mm. The 50mm isn’t a problem, while I can use the entire viewfinder for 28mm and rough estimate for 75mm.  Not sure which frame lines will appear for the 75mm, 50 or 90mm, but I also don’t shoot 75mm very often. 

I made my best photo’s with a Summilux75 on an M4 without the 75 framelines. You’ll get used to it soon. 

[otto.f]

7 hours ago, ktmrider2 said:

Agree, Leica film camera prices have gone nuts in the last couple years but I doubt if we have seen the peak.  Supply and demand as except for a few MP and MA bodies, film cameras are  not really being made anymore.  And Leica has been marketing itself as a high end luxury product.

It may well be that given Leica’s history, their used prices are a reliable marker for inflation. If inflation goes down, which reassured us Christine Lagarde before the Russia’s attack on democracies, then we might expect a small price drop at the end of this year. But maybe this marker is only reliable when it goes up 🤑

But if everyone who wants a film Leica runs at M2’s now because the other ones are too expensive …

Edited March 26, 2022 by otto.f

[Ouroboros]

I find it odd that anyone would buy an M6 at costs that are getting steadily closer to the cost of a used MP or M-A. 

Leica Store Manchester have a couple of M6's in black and silver and an M6 'Panda' in stock, the .72 black M6 is priced at £2795 and the .72 'Panda' is £3095.  They are also advertising a .72 silver MP (s/n 5257629) at £3495, at these prices I don't know why anyone would opt for an M6 when an MP can be had for only £400 or £600 more.

2 years ago a dealer in the South West offered me a mint condition black M4-2 complete with  all original packaging and paperwork for £600 plus a Yashica T5 I had on me at the time in p/ex.

  I passed it by because I neither wanted or needed an M4-2 and still don't, but if I was offered the same deal now I'd snap it up and immediately sell for at least twice that amount.

 

ETA:  I subsequently sold the Yashica T5 privately a few months later for £425, an absurd amount of money for a plastic p&s no matter how good the 35mm f3.5 Tessar lens is!

 

Edited March 26, 2022 by Ouroboros

[Knipsknecht]

vor 41 Minuten schrieb Ouroboros:

[…] at these prices I don't know why anyone would opt for an M6 when an MP can be had for only £400 or £600 more.

Well, some people may prefer the rewind crank of the M6 over the one used on the MP, and if we include the M6 TTL, the bigger shutter speed dial is much more comfortable than the little one found on the M6 classic and the MP.

And personally I can only repeat myself: A MP is a M6 classic in a nice dress - that‘s it.

But in general I agree - the prices of used analog Leica M cameras are pretty crazy right now. Actually I am thinking about selling my M6 and keeping just the M7 (which I prefer over M6 and MP)😉.

[Ouroboros]

2 minutes ago, Knipsknecht said:

Well, some people may prefer the rewind crank of the M6 over the one used on the MP, and if we include the M6 TTL, the bigger shutter speed dial is much more comfortable than the little one found on the M6 classic and the MP.

And personally I can only repeat myself: A MP is a M6 classic in a nice dress - that‘s it.

But in general I agree - the prices of used analog Leica M cameras are pretty crazy right now. Actually I am thinking about selling my M6 and keeping just the M7 (which I prefer over M6 and MP)😉.

The M-A and MP are still current.  From the MP serial number I quoted above, I would guess it's a relatively recent camera (can't be bothered to look it up), whilst the M6's are probably all well over 20 years old.  I suppose if you value the angled rewind crank, zinc top plate and inferior viewfinder of an M6, then the £400-600 price differential must seem like a bargain!  

[ejg1890]

3 hours ago, Ouroboros said:

Leica Store Manchester have a couple of M6's in black and silver and an M6 'Panda' in stock, the .72 black M6 is priced at £2795 and the .72 'Panda' is £3095.  They are also advertising a .72 silver MP (s/n 5257629) at £3495, at these prices I don't know why anyone would opt for an M6 when an MP can be had for only £400 or £600 more.

A nearby dealer in the mid Atlantic area of the US has a used MP black paint “discounted” to $5,200 about $150 less than a new MP. Issue of course is you can’t find a new MP anywhere and no one knows when they will be available. The M6 non-ttl is $4300. 

[ejg1890]

Picked up the M2 this afternoon. As other stated the viewfinder is not cluttered with frame lines or red lights. 

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Edited March 26, 2022 by ejg1890

[otto.f]

21 hours ago, Ouroboros said:

I find it odd that anyone would buy an M6 at costs that are getting steadily closer to the cost of a used MP or M-A. 

I don’t like the film transport handle, not as smooth enough as in M3, besides I prefer the plastic handle like in M4 M6 and M7. Still odd, that M7 and M6 are nowadays about equally expensive. And the M7 has the bigger shutter dial, which I find nostalgic non-sense on the MP/M-A. I’m not sure but since the bigger shutter dial on the M6-ttl the directions of aperture and shuttertime are the same: turning to the right is more light coming in, which works much faster in practice. They set it back to opposite in the MP/M-A as in M’s from the ‘80’s and older, which is also the wrong kind of nostalgia

Edited March 27, 2022 by otto.f

[otto.f]

12 hours ago, ejg1890 said:

Picked up the M2

Seems a real nice copy! Congrats

[andrew01]

I am glad I bought my two M cameras over 10 years ago when prices were low.  In hindsight I should of kept my M6TTL 0.58 which I bought brand new.  I still have a slightly zinced M6 classic and a SS M3.  

Perhaps Barnack cameras will be the next to skyrocket?  They seem to be a great bargain in a world where 90’s electronic point and shoots are going for four figures.

 

 

[Capuccino-Muffin]

3 hours ago, andrew01 said:

I am glad I bought my two M cameras over 10 years ago when prices were low.  In hindsight I should of kept my M6TTL 0.58 which I bought brand new.  I still have a slightly zinced M6 classic and a SS M3.  

Perhaps Barnack cameras will be the next to skyrocket?  They seem to be a great bargain in a world where 90’s electronic point and shoots are going for four figures.

 

 

The barnacks are Jewels in every sense of the word. Mechanical marvels. Yes, I believe it’s worth to own at least 10 of those babies, and use them. They are extremely reliable and a joy to touch and use. 

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[andrew01]

18 hours ago, Capuccino-Muffin said:

The barnacks are Jewels in every sense of the word. Mechanical marvels. Yes, I believe it’s worth to own at least 10 of those babies, and use them. They are extremely reliable and a joy to touch and use. 

Agreed. I have a iiic and a iiif.  I haven’t used them recently because both are overdue for a service.  If there is one thing I would change it would be a bigger viewfinder (only the expensive iiig model has this).