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Leica bargains?


albertwang

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280 f/4 US $1600 a few years ago

SL + 3-cam 35mm Elmarit-R US$75 (SL needed minor repair, I did the work myself)

 

and the one that got away: advertised in the local free newspaper a few years ago

"Old German camera with three lenses, $300". I was dead broke but called anyway. Turned out to be "mom's old camera, she didn't use it very much. It says 'M3' on the top".

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Can honestly say I've never gotten any Leica "bargains". This after a few decades of yard sale visits.

 

That said, I did find a couple of photograpic treasures. First an Olympus XA with A16 flash and case. $4.00 and still have it today. Wonderful pocket camera.

 

The ultimate prize however was a Hassy 1000F with 3 Ektar lenses, 3 backs, hard system and ever ready cases, filters and hoods, IB, straps, etc. Total $115.

 

Did I feel guilty? You betcha. So I gave it to my parish Priest about 15 years ago when I discovered he was an avid (and pretty good also) photographer. He has long since transfered to another parish but sends us a Christmas card every year, reminding me the shot was taken with his Hassy.

 

Guess I have been forgiven, but still cruise the yard sales looking for that $25 original MP.

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Bargains ? what exactly is a bargain ... anyway I traded my Nikon FM3a (Great Camera btw) and 50mm 1.4 for a Leica M4 and Tabbed chrome Summicron 50mm 2.0 both in original packaging and in very good shape. I did tell the guy I traded with that he would be losing out, he didn't seem to care. The M4 was recently overhauled by Leica solms and the lens was practically new.

 

I bought an SL2 black paint in original box on Ebay for 415€ which turned out to be a prisitine condition one, no marks what so ever. The offer was for the body only, no mention of condition but it looked good on the photos, it came with all the stuff and original invoice and was hardly ever used. I trade this for a hassleblad 503cw plus planar 80mm lens.

 

Both seemed pretty good deals to me.

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  • 11 months later...

M3 double stroke (1957) with: 50mm Summicron, 35mm Summicron (with eyes),

90mm collapsible Elmar, 135 Hektor, all Wetzlar lenses. Grungy and filthy dirty when it came into the store I was working at in the late 90s; the Summicron looks like the front element was cleaned with an SOS pad, dirt inside the Elmar, separation in the 35mm Summicron,

hairspray (!) on the Hektor. Bought it all for $118.75. Over the last few years, I've had the Elmar cleaned by Leica in New Jersey (for about what I paid for the outfit, but worth it),

Solms did what they could for the 35mm Summicron (no flare yet), and this past May, our kindly Leica rep used his repair points for the M3 body- new vulcanite, new shutter, the double stroke changed to a single, and a complete CLA. The Summicron 50 I'll leave alone, as it works fine. Yes! An aside: the MOST amazing Leica bargain I've ever seen occurred in Cleveland; the camera store owner's son went to a garage sale one Saturday and scored a box containing two spotless IIIfs, a 35mm Elmar, a 50mm Summarit, a 135 Hektor, a Leicablitz, and a complete Visoflex, along with the manuals for everything...$100...this was around 1992, before Ebay and such.

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How about an inverse bargain? I traded my old 1968 Summicrom 50 mm that I bought second hand at (converted) € 200 in 1972 - a bout 50% of the new price, not cheap; now traded it against a new 50-cron and got € 250 for it! 35 years of use (and a lot of tear and wear) for free. Thats a bargain.

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5 or 6 years ago a small shop in my town displayed a very used IIIc : was a one-man shop+lab...a photographer that tried to get into business for he worked only on holidays... he didn't knew much about Leicas... I spoke a little of the IIIc but I wasn't interested, even if price was good... at a moment he said "there is also an old lens..." and showed me a SPLENDID, SUPERCLEAN Hektor 7,3 cm 1,9, caps, hood, original leather bag with Leica logo inside. I asked him how much he asked for that lens only... hesitated a moment... than said "100 Euros ?"... I quickly bought it.

There is a sad end... three or four months later I red in the local newspaper he tooks his life, shop wasn't going well, was forced to close... it was the only time I entered that little shop ... a bargain, sure, but I always feel a sense of bitterness... a person who didn't find his way...

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Leica M6 + 50mm Elmar + 50mm Summilux + Minolta DiMage scanner + Domke bag, about 2 years ago for € 1350. Subsequently sold the Elmar for € 350....

 

M2 in reasonable condition for € 200 this year

 

M4 in great condition for € 450 this year

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before the M8 hit the market I got a Noctilux in good condition for 700€ offered from my local foto-store. I had not intended to buy a Noctilux but could not resist. (glad I didnt).

Cheers, Tom

 

I think now its time to buy R-lenses, we should have the R-lens-kit ready before the next digital R is announced

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  • 4 weeks later...

Leica IIIf with coated Elmar and case for $50, all EX+ or better. It was in a brown paper grocery bag at a local camera shop labeled "Used Camera Grab Bag: $50". The Manager put it together and did not tell the staff what was in it. They were shocked to see a Leica come out of it. He had a good laugh. They could have taken the Risk.

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Having gone to her house to see some old cine stuff from her late husband, this old lady shows me a camera in a brown leather case, and asks me if I might be interested to buy it... I ask how much, she says two hundred.

I hesitate. I ask "Dollars?", "No, Pesos, of course". I was a starving medical student at my second year, working as (the only) staff photographer for an Argentinian-Jewish cultural magazine during the weekends, but could afford to spend some 15 US dollars for that nicely weighting old camera. It was a nice IIIc with its Elmar.

 

After some months, I traded it in a shop for a barely used Nikon F3HP with MD4 motor and three lenses. The seller was delighted by the red color of the shutter curtains and by that "W.H." engraved on the top plate...

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I don't know if I have ever got a Leica bargain, but I got a good deal this year.

 

I picked up a brand new in the box black paint MP-3 LHSA kit with Leicavit and LHSA 50 aspheric and shade for just $5,000.

 

I was pretty happy about that since they are now gone from the store shelves.

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I know of a Leica user who bought a 60mm R lens from a Leica dealer in Derby some years ago for £50 or less ... and after dealer realised he had made a mistake with price he asked for it back ... but buyer said "deal is a deal" and kept it ... buyer is a well known lecturer and judge on club circuit in UK .

 

Dunk

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