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How big is the Canadian market for Leica?

And how many batteries do you really need anyway..?

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1 hour ago, Photoworks said:

How big is the Canadian market for Leica?

And how many batteries do you really need anyway..?

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Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

Don't have exact numbers, but when Camtec hosts Leica events it is a very healthy showing. Leica has always done well in Canada ever since the Midland days where they established production capabilities. 

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1 hour ago, BernardC said:

I've bought stuff from Camtec, they are a good dealer. However, they are the only dealer in Montreal, and they have limited stock. Other Canadian cities don't fare as well. I think that Vistek and Downtown Camera might have a few items in Toronto, then it's almost 3,000 km to Calgary, and then Vancouver. I may have missed some stores in that list, but do they have anything in stock?

Back when I was in university there were three Leica dealers in Ottawa alone, all with stock. Unfortunately I couldn't afford a new Leica body or lens back then, but surely there is a market for at least one dealer in each 1 million+ population centre?

Stock definitely undulates, not because Camtec fails to sell, but because Leica can rarely fulfill complete orders. I believe Leica prioritizes stores they ship their limited product supply to.  

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I have bought nearly all my Leica gear from Rangefinder.com in Hong Kong - an excellent dealer. I just got a brand new APO 90mm SL for $US 3,999.  B&H want $6,600 for the same lens due, I assume, to tariffs.

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18 hours ago, Chuck Albertson said:

JD's entitled to express his opinion. Everyone else (me included) have been taking their shots at Trump's tariff regime.

Careful. I took a shot at Trump’s tariff regime in this thread and my post got deleted. 

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11 hours ago, BillCB said:

I have bought nearly all my Leica gear from Rangefinder.com in Hong Kong - an excellent dealer. I just got a brand new APO 90mm SL for $US 3,999.  B&H want $6,600 for the same lens due, I assume, to tariffs.

What was the shipping time and import fees like?

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Shipping typically (by Fedex) less than a week. No import fees, just approx CDN $120 to Fedex for clearance. If by Hong Kong Post takes a little longer.

Bill

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18 hours ago, BillCB said:

Shipping typically (by Fedex) less than a week. No import fees, just approx CDN $120 to Fedex for clearance. If by Hong Kong Post takes a little longer.

Bill

Canada probably enjoys free trade with Hong Kong (and the EU). 

In my home country, we have for all practical purposes 0 % tariff on everything except agriculture and some textiles. We have a 25 % VAT rate, though, but the same for all irrespective of a domestic and foreign producer, hence not trade distoring. 

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Posted (edited)

Hey, here's an idea:  If Leica prices are too high at the moment, set aside your insatiable desire for instant gratification (I know - how dare I even suggest such a vile and contemptible outrage).

Wait out the global trade war.  The tariffs will come off sooner or later and Leica's prices will revert to their previously obscene levels. 

Edited by Herr Barnack
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On 5/10/2025 at 2:42 AM, Jean-Michel said:

I recently wrote to Leica (Germany) suggesting that they re-establish a Canadian presence in Canada. I received a prompt reply : "We can confirm that the tariff price adjustment will impact the Canadian market similarly to the U.S., as Leica Camera North America operates out of the U.S., with all imports managed through its U.S. headquarters before reaching Canada. While the current tariff timeline prevents structural changes for now, Leica Camera North America is actively exploring ways to better support Canadian customers, including the possibility of establishing Canada as its own subsidiary within Leica’s global sales network"

I would suggest that Canadian members might also contact Leica to support that possibility, or even moving all of Leica North-America to Canada!

And there’s the problem.

Under most tax laws and international tax treaties, if a tariff or goods and services/value added tax is charged at the border, it is refunded on export.  In practice, this means that goods shipped into the US destined for Canada should remain “in bond” or zero rated with no tariff or tax applied.  These levies are only made by the Canadian authorities on import into Canada.

This is a problem of Leica’s making by treating the US and Canada as the same market (which, pre-tariffs was understandable).  An alternative would be to seek a refund of the tariff on export to Canada, but I doubt the US has any idea how to run such a system.  Countries with GST and VAT do this all the time.

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Posted (edited)

The weak dollar and the USA tariffs can't help pricing, but did American customers ever think it wasn't quite fair they paid pro-rata less than everybody else in the world? No? Well the biter is bit. What made America great is now reinterpreted to make Americans poorer. Look around you for who did it, and it's not Leica.

 

Edited by 250swb
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  • 2 weeks later...

It's economics. Canada has less than 10% of the population of the USA, so setting up a distribution center in Canada isn't very cost effective.

In addition, most Leica products (not the D Lux 8 or the Lux Grip) are made in Germany, so the impact is very limited relative to US/China tariffs.

The Leica USA center serves all of North America, so all central America countries and the Caribbean countries are also impacted.

That said, we are still dealing with just a handful of products from China. We're buying premium products, not disposable cameras.

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7 hours ago, mdrips said:

It's economics. Canada has less than 10% of the population of the USA, so setting up a distribution center in Canada isn't very cost effective.

Most photo brands find it cost-effective to go through Canadian distributors, or to set-up their own distributor. The historical reason why Leica US handles Canada is because the old distributor went bankrupt, more than two decades ago. That was in the pre-digital era, when Leica itself was nearly bankrupt.

A lot has changed in the last 22 years, and in the last 4 months.

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7 hours ago, BernardC said:

Most photo brands find it cost-effective to go through Canadian distributors, or to set-up their own distributor. The historical reason why Leica US handles Canada is because the old distributor went bankrupt, more than two decades ago. That was in the pre-digital era, when Leica itself was nearly bankrupt.

A lot has changed in the last 22 years, and in the last 4 months.

A Canadian Leica distributer near the Canada-US border might be very profitable. 

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