B&H Availability

[arthurpreston]

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B&H now has a price posted for the M9 of $6995, and their site says "coming soon". They are, however, closing on the 18th of Sept and will remain closed until 21st of Sept., so don't expect it to be too soon. I clicked the "notify me when available" button at the bottom of the description.

[kalina]

B&H now has a price posted for the M9 of $6995, and their site says "coming soon". They are, however, closing on the 18th of Sept and will remain closed until 21st of Sept., so don't expect it to be too soon. I clicked the "notify me when available" button at the bottom of the description.

 

This is generally a very busy time for B&H because of all of the photography classes ordering from B&H from mid-Sept to mid-Oct.

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The Leica Q3 is available for pre-order at B&H Photo Video and Adorama

[scottwallick]

B&H now has a price posted for the M9 of $6995, and their site says "coming soon". They are, however, closing on the 18th of Sept and will remain closed until 21st of Sept., so don't expect it to be too soon. I clicked the "notify me when available" button at the bottom of the description.

 

I have it that preorders will consume the initial M9 supplies in NYC for some time, with the M9 'hitting the shelves' mid-November.

 

I have been wrong before.

[hlansing]

Adorama is saying mid October...I woud be surprised if B&H was later than that.

[Elmo]

B&H now has a price posted for the M9 of $6995, and their site says "coming soon". They are, however, closing on the 18th of Sept and will remain closed until 21st of Sept., so don't expect it to be too soon. I clicked the "notify me when available" button at the bottom of the description.

 

The Jewish High Holy days begin Friday night. That is the reason they will be closed.

 

BTW they have an e-mail me when it's available sigh-up. you will get an e-mail when the M9 is available.

[arthurpreston]

I just ordered some stuff from B&H and asked about M9 availability. The gent said "Hopefully next month, but I just don't have any more information than that."

[Shootist]

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Really this is all Leica's fault. In the video of the Assembly of the M9 which was made sometime in August you see they are still making M8.2.

Leica should of put all those to one side and focused on producing M9's. To my knowledge there are no dealers clamoring for M8.2, Give me more, more, more M8.2's.

They are wondering where the M9's are they CAN sell.

 

Right now Leica could be selling tons of M9's and I bet dealers all over the world have not sold a new M8.2 since 9/9/09, at least not for the price listed as of Sep 8 09.

[jaapv]

You're joking-right? That film was made before the M9 launch - how could they show M9 cameras being made?

Edited September 17, 2009 by jaapv

[sean_reid]

One of the things that struck me when touring the factory (side by side with the workers) is that Leica still does a good deal of careful work by hand and they are limited in how many cameras they can produce a day. For example, the focus accuracy of each one is checked manually (using a test assembly and a computer) and there really are only so many cameras that can go through the line at a given time.

 

Given that reality and given the demand for the M9 (according to dealers I've spoken to) I would expect that some people may have to wait for awhile before getting a camera. Obviously, one's individual dealer might have more information on that.

 

Cheers,

 

Sean

[Shootist]

You're joking-right? That film was made before the M9 launch - how could they show M9 cameras being made?

 

They did show M9 in that video and the title states Assembly of the M9 and on the LL site says a Tour of the M9's final assembly and testing. Even though it was made before the launch it was not released until after the launch.

The video interview with Stephan Daniel was also made well before the M9 was launched and not released until after the 9th of Sept 09.

 

And no I'm not kidding. If I had a product that I know was not selling that well and a new product that I know for sure would fly off the shelves I certainly would not put any effort into producing the old product until I could fill the orders for the new one. To me that is just personal and business common sense. It happens all the time. Why Leica does not understand that simple concept I don't know.

[dfarkas]

They did show M9 in that video and the title states Assembly of the M9 and on the LL site says a Tour of the M9's final assembly and testing. Even though it was made before the launch it was not released until after the launch.

The video interview with Stephan Daniel was also made well before the M9 was launched and not released until after the 9th of Sept 09.

 

And no I'm not kidding. If I had a product that I know was not selling that well and a new product that I know for sure would fly off the shelves I certainly would not put any effort into producing the old product until I could fill the orders for the new one. To me that is just personal and business common sense. It happens all the time. Why Leica does not understand that simple concept I don't know.

 

In all fairness, when we are at the factory our guide said that the following day would be the last one of M8.2 production. After that, the entire line would switch over to M9 exclusively.

 

To second what Sean has already said, a lot of time and care goes into making each camera. Working double shifts, they can only make 100-200 per day. So, let's say that is 700 a week. About 25% will come to the US, which is roughly 175 cameras per week. At this rate, it will take quite some time to catch up to demand to where an M9 will be readily available without being on a list.

 

David

[johnbuckley]

David - that's really an extraordinary figure: 700 manufactured per week, and about 175 of them making their way to the States, at whatever moment - next week? -- the real shipments begin. It speaks to the nature of what a Leica is, why it's so expensive, and our expectations for it. And it speaks to the importance of the M9/digital M as a lifesaver for Leica. Thanks for the report, which helps calibrates expectations better. Cheers, JB

[swamiji]

Working double shifts, they can only make 100-200 per day. So, let's say that is 700 a week. About 25% will come to the US, which is roughly 175 cameras per week. At this rate, it will take quite some time to catch up to demand to where an M9 will be readily available without being on a list.

 

David

 

Ok... lets extrapolate. The Leica Rep said my dealer (to be nameless) has on order 25% of all M9's coming to the US (placed by 9/9/9). That means we should have received over 40 M9's (less than half there order) in a weeks time... from lets say 9/9/9. I am near the top of the list, and my dealer has receive none...

[Englander]

David - that's really an extraordinary figure: 700 manufactured per week, and about 175 of them making their way to the States, at whatever moment - next week? -- the real shipments begin. It speaks to the nature of what a Leica is, why it's so expensive, and our expectations for it. And it speaks to the importance of the M9/digital M as a lifesaver for Leica. Thanks for the report, which helps calibrates expectations better. Cheers, JB

 

John-

It also speaks to Leica still putting out M8s in the middle of August instead of totally concentrating on ramping-up M9 production two weeks before its official announcement. In the "assembling the M9 video, they are still assembling M8s!

 

Joe

Joe Englander Photography

[jaapv]

Ok... lets extrapolate. The Leica Rep said my dealer (to be nameless) has on order 25% of all M9's coming to the US (placed by 9/9/9). That means we should have received over 40 M9's (less than half there order) in a weeks time... from lets say 9/9/9. I am near the top of the list, and my dealer has receive none...

He may have 25% on order - but so may have any other number of dealers. He most certainly won't receive 25% of cameras coming in. My dealer has 30 on order - he got...two.

[swamiji]

He may have 25% on order - but so may have any other number of dealers. He most certainly won't receive 25% of cameras coming in. My dealer has 30 on order - he got...two.

 

He has two stores, 100 on order, and has received 0

[brill64]

David - that's really an extraordinary figure: 700 manufactured per week, and about 175 of them making their way to the States, at whatever moment - next week? -- the real shipments begin. It speaks to the nature of what a Leica is, why it's so expensive, and our expectations for it. And it speaks to the importance of the M9/digital M as a lifesaver for Leica. Thanks for the report, which helps calibrates expectations better. Cheers, JB

 

we've slipped into a "i want it and can have it now if i want" mentality