The (almost) ultimate analog Leica M Special Editions list & investment guide

[Al Brown]

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So back in 2010 Cameraquest published this comprehensive compilation of Leica M analog special editions and some ratings on how well they would do as an investment.

https://www.cameraquest.com/minvest.htm

While I do agree with some ratings, I on the other hand completely disagree with others.
 

How well in your opinion did this list age?

[madNbad]

Gandy list 92 M4-2's of the first batch had the red "Leitz" badge on the front. I bought this one from Huss and the serial number puts it about the mid production mark. When I sent it to Don Goldberg for some updates, I asked him about it and his reply was basically some had them most didn't.

 

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[raizans]

Does anyone here buy Leicas as real financial investments? What was your best investment so far?

[69xchange]

6 minutes ago, raizans said:

Does anyone here buy Leicas as real financial investments? What was your best investment so far?

Some people here who bought the titanium M-A.

[Al Brown]

Virtually every Leica camera and lens, but especially 50 Noctiluxes, 35 Summicrons IV and steel rims were an *awesome* investment if bought in 2010 and sold today. I remember getting a mint MDa with both bottom plates for 170 euros. Even some special editions were dirt cheap.
And let us not forget the instant investment king, the 100 pieces of silver 50/1.2 Noctilux re-edition at 15K euros which is now what, 70 or 80K?

Edited September 1, 2023 by Al Brown

[madNbad]

1 hour ago, Al Brown said:

Virtually every Leica camera and lens, but especially 50 Noctiluxes, 35 Summicrons IV and steel rims were an *awesome* investment if bought in 2010 and sold today. I remember getting a mint MDa with both bottom plates for 170 euros. Even some special editions were dirt cheap.

In the spring of 2012 I noticed my M6 TTL had developed a light spray of bubbles across either end of the top plate. I started looking at the KEH website and spotted a M6 TTL Millennium. It sat on the site for three weeks until I called the sales department and made an offer of my bubbly camera and six hundred usd. A week later it arrived in unused condition. It took a trip to Solms for the finder upgrade and some MP touches. I used it till 2018 when it was sold for twenty five hundred dollars. The last time I saw it it had been used heavily and was on Craigslist for eleven thousand dollars. 
It’s always the person after me that benefits.

[Pyrogallol]

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About ten years ago I bought an M6 and a few months later an M4P, £450 each, from my local specialist dealer, now retired. A few years later I sold the M6 back to him for £900 so the profit paid for the M4P. A few years later the price of an M6 had doubled again. Has the price rise slowed down now due to the reissue of a new M6?

[madNbad]

19 minutes ago, Pyrogallol said:

About ten years ago I bought an M6 and a few months later an M4P, £450 each, from my local specialist dealer, now retired. A few years later I sold the M6 back to him for £900 so the profit paid for the M4P. A few years later the price of an M6 had doubled again. Has the price rise slowed down now due to the reissue of a new M6?

There was the big run up I’m the price for a lot of film cameras at the height of the pandemic. A lot of folks were “rediscovering film” and the M6 was the darling of the bunch. As we move out of the pandemic mindset, people began to realize how expensive film an processing were and the film camera wasn’t so much fun anymore. Prices are beginning to stabilize and the true value of many of cameras is becoming apparent.

[Steven]

Where are the MP3 and M3J on that list ?

[Bronco McBeast]

22 hours ago, raizans said:

Does anyone here buy Leicas as real financial investments? What was your best investment so far?

M2 BP, M4 BPs, LHSA BP Lux + Cron... so on. 
 

Not investments. I use them maximally.

[Bronco McBeast]

I disagree with quite a few entries. Especially the MP Classic, meterless.

500 units, and it’s already the most unique of all the MPs (that have ended up becoming a basic, run of the mill camera). 
 

0.58 ala carte M7/MP are also collectibles, IMO.

[Steven]

1 hour ago, Bronco McBeast said:

500 units, and it’s already the most unique of all the MPs (that have ended up becoming a basic, run of the mill camera). 

I find it to be the most useless expensive camera because of one fatal design flaw: the lack of Buddha ears. 
 

a good friend of mine replaced the top case of his MA with an MB BP top plate and it looks as nice for 1/3rd of the price. 

[Bronco McBeast]

50 minutes ago, Steven said:

I find it to be the most useless expensive camera because of one fatal design flaw: the lack of Buddha ears. 
 

a good friend of mine replaced the top case of his MA with an MB BP top plate and it looks as nice for 1/3rd of the price. 

Monsieur Steve, un peu de rigueur!

The way to see this is as follows: serial number dictates what is and what is not. Slapping any MP plate over a M-A does not transform a MP into a MP-classique. Let’s see why:

Besides the serial number, there is also the lack of the silver band in the viewfinder. 
Very unique.

Engraved SOLMS. This alone is a huuuge rarity.

Complete framelines, unlike the broken ones from The regular MP: highly desirable.

There is the unique door. Exclusive to the MP Classique.

Black frame counter. Exclusive to the classique model

Original leatherette unique to the classique model.

It is a 500 pieces run. 

If a +1.1mil M3 is desirable, the MP classique is the equivalent to the MP.

Came with a  Rigid Summicron BP. Which is already a collectible.

 

For all the Above, the MP classique is very different than the run of the mill MP, the MP classique is a highly collectible, highly unique MP.

Find a set and tell us how much it is...

 

Edited September 2, 2023 by Bronco McBeast
Added to list

[Steven]

1 hour ago, Bronco McBeast said:

serial number dictates what is and what is not

If you collect first and foremost, yes. I enjoy collectible stuff, but not to leave on the shelf. To observe, admire and use.

 

1 hour ago, Bronco McBeast said:

silver band in the viewfinde

I don't know what that is? !

 

1 hour ago, Bronco McBeast said:

Complete framelines, unlike the broken ones from The regular MP: highly desirable.

Same frame lines as a regular MA, which is the base body used for the mod I discussed earlier.

 

1 hour ago, Bronco McBeast said:

Black frame counter. Exclusive to the classique model

Easy to change. I've put a black counter in all my bodies. Takes 5 minutes.

 

1 hour ago, Bronco McBeast said:

Original leatherette unique to the classique model.

I have a few spare ones at the office, takes 5 minutes to replace.

 

1 hour ago, Bronco McBeast said:

It is a 500 pieces run. 

Another point not in favour of the MP Classic. If you care for rarity, I think an MP Kyoto, an MP Titane, or an M3J is far far more desirable. If talking only about design, the holy grail for me is the MP3. If you want a body with no cell, the MA titane is a much more beautiful item to me. 

 

1 hour ago, Bronco McBeast said:

If a +1.1mil M3 is desirable

Of course an M3 would be more desirable, but let's no debate on this because we are discussing modern limited edition here. 

 

Oh, and you forgot to address these ugly ear lugs of the MP classic ! 

 

But all jokes aside, it's all a matter of taste, and how we use and appreciate the objects. I love the MP3 because it's the exact remake of the original MP, but with a cell. The clean frame lines (35 - 50 - 75) are the essence of an M for me, and look so nice. For others, it will be another body! 

Edited September 2, 2023 by Steven

[Bronco McBeast]

I enumerated the list as to why the classic MP is a highly collectible and desireable model. 

And no, having an extra MP classique leatherette and sticking it to a MA doesn’t devalue the MP classic or add value to the M-A: this only denatures the M-A. 
 

Same for the early MP cameras with the highly criticized sharkskin. One could change the Skin but today, it is the early ones with the sharkskin that are valuable. 
 

All in all, you are not in agreement... but that does not change the high collector value of the Classic MP.

 

I would prefer a M3-P to the Classic MP which is extremely understated. But I do not agree with the list giving it a 1-star. The Cossic MP is definitely a 4-star.

Edited September 2, 2023 by Bronco McBeast

[kivis]

I am very appreciative of all the work Gandy does on his web site. BTW have you ever seem an absolute perfect list of all Leica M's, limited editions or otherwise by anyone else?

[Al Brown]

On 9/4/2023 at 12:04 AM, kivis said:

I am very appreciative of all the work Gandy does on his web site. BTW have you ever seem an absolute perfect list of all Leica M's, limited editions or otherwise by anyone else?

Yes, by Leica.

[Studienkamera]

38 minutes ago, Al Brown said:

Yes, by Leica.

I doubt even Leica has a perfect list. Information on past products disappears very fast, in my experience.

[Al Brown]

3 minutes ago, Studienkamera said:

I doubt even Leica has a perfect list. Information on past products disappears very fast, in my experience.

There is a list.

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Hallo,

Look here: Leica M

[Studienkamera]

Just now, Al Brown said:

There is a list.

Is it perfect? Can you show it?