rpavich Loc: West Virginia

No way! You MUST have bought it because it's a status symbol and you are just a shallow poser who craves attention...right?

It CAN'T be that you shoot the camera that you like and enjoy the most...that's not possible! :)

waegwan Loc: Mae Won Li

I agree. I've never owned either but I'd love to. :-)

LWW Loc: Banana Republic of America

Worth is subjective.

A LEICA/ROLEX/MONT BLANC comes at a premium price but also commands a premium price used.

I have 2 Rolex, and a few MONTBLANC.

One ROLEX I bought used and wear every day, the other I bought used and seldom wear. The first I paid $1,600 for in 1992 and another $400 in maintenance over the years and its valued at about $2,500 used today and about $4,500 if replaced new. Compare that with a $500 SEIKO if bought new in 1992 and the ROLEX is a superb bargain. The other I bought used in 2003 for $700 on a gamble not working. I have about $1,200 invested and its worth about $2K today.

They are jewels, the MONTBLANC's I am less impressed with but they were business awards and cost me nothing but the tax and still trade for about half of new pricing.

I don't own a LEICA but I keep getting the itch now and then.

My advice in these type of items:

- Buy used and very nice examples. Like a CADILLAC, let someone else take the depreciation from "NEW" status.

- Buy them in a down economy when they will be way cheaper and more abundant.

- If you have to finance them, wait.

- If you can afford the price of admission they can be an excellent and usable investment.

- If they don't impact your other responsibilities, you need no further justification.

- If you admire them for what they are you will usually find them quite satisfying.

- If you buy them for snob appeal you will probably be frustrated as there are many knockoffs of premium brands and most people won't know the difference.

GAS496 Loc: Arizona

Well wait a minute! I do crave attention and am a shallow poser. Is there something wrong with that? You should see my wife. She is the “Leica” of women. 😀

jeryh Loc: Oxfordshire UK

Having had, and still have one left, I can answer; the mechanical leicas were superb- particularly the M series, and most of the R series;
however, when you come to the electronics, I can only say, Leica does not have the electronic expertise- I had a number of the early digital models, and Oh dear me, problems problems, which meant a long and expensive trip to Solms for repair ! And very often when the camera came back from repair, it often had a defect which wasn't there when it was sent in. I still think that my Minolta CLE was the best of the last Leicas, and the M6 was the best of all the mechanical leicas. Superb !

Bigmike1 Loc: I am from Gaffney, S.C. but live in Utah.

Yeah, that was a later model with a built in light meter. I remember ordering a light meter from a photo magazine for 3 or 4 dollars. I had a hard time trusting it and couldn't understand why my photos were over exposed. I always guessed the aperture setting and because of that had an exposure problem. Ah, the good old days..............

rpavich Loc: West Virginia

One thing that nobody has mentioned in this thread is that you don't lose money when you sell your Leica camera. (most of the time)

They hold their value very well.

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

Older film yes. Newer model plastic bodies point and shoots not at all.

rpavich Loc: West Virginia

I was referring to the film M's and the Digi M's.

bylinecl

Looking at the response to your post made me recall Leica historian and chronicler Irwin Puts immortal words:
“Leicas aren't something for everyone, but offer everything for someone.”

For the record, my only cameras are an old, very well-used film Leica M4-P, which I carried as an overseas correspondent, and a Leica Monochrom Typ 246 (note: comes without a Red Dot) ---my only digital camera. Have four lenses, all substantially pre-date the Monochrom. They work swell on the Mono.

Interesting to note that every time the subject of Leica comes up on UH it seems to evoke a disproportionate response. People either love them, or hate them. Some sound as regretful of owning them as they were of their last bad marriage. Others sound as fond and somewhat sentimental as they were of their first and now-lost love.

Then there are those who fell in love with Leica somewhere in their relationship with the fickle mistress, Photography, and hang in there as though it were an enduring marriage, not perfect, maybe lacking something now and then, but worth keeping for the positive qualities and living with the inevitable occasional negative (no pun intended), regardless.

What’s interesting is to look at a list of those less-than-positive responses culled from a series of these previous posts:

"Absurdly expensive,
"Technology deficient status symbol,
"Only Red Dot snobs would own one,
"Unaffordable,
"Lenses are rediculously expensive,
"Repairs take too long,
"M-series Rangefinders out-dated,
"Require extensive learning curve,
"Doesn’t answer today's photographic needs,
"A rich person’s indulgence,
"Canon, Nikon, Sony, Panasonic, Fuji-Film all cost less and have far more features."

Yes, well, the list is long -- being essentially a series of personal judgments, or opinions. And Leica's high cost is the foremost issue. So, in the event one or several of those issues apply, then a Leica is simply not “something” for you.”

There are many other German products, cars for instance, about which much of the above is said. And don’t forget Patek-Philippe or Rolex watches. In the end, it’s just a matter of what you need and want and how important having it it is to you.

On the other hand, as I noted on this site, some months ago, if you appreciate the superb hand-made quality, the timeless aesthetic, the classic elements of design, the distinctive sound of the shutters, well, Leica’s---especially the earlier film M-series which are for lack of a better metaphor, mechanically organic. Even the digital M-series rangefinders, lacking automatic focus, will slow you down to a much more carefully selective function; they make you consider and zen your exposures....

As Mr. Puts so succinctly noted, a Leica is not "something for everyone."

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

Yes indeed, even those suffer more than film because of advances in digital over the years. For instance, the 12MP suffers, not like the old film Leica's did. Don't get me wrong, they hold value but not like the film bodies, but they hold I believe because they can still hold the vaulted Leica lenses.

TonyP Loc: New Zealand

I recall I posted some thoughts regarding my experience with Leica when I first joined UHH.
You might like a look at my collection. I was going to sell it but still havent been able to bring myself to list it.
https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-131231-1.html
Cheers

waegwan Loc: Mae Won Li

I don't know anything about Leica except that I would like to own one some day. ;-) Sell it? Why? That would be be like me selling my 1987 Britannica Statesman edition with all the updates for the last 30 years. Do I really use it? Not as much as I used to but when I do I really enjoy it. :-)

speters Loc: Grangeville/Idaho

Its still a German company and they are selling according to the "mother"- companies guidelines!
Even though BMW can produce their vehicles much cheaper in this country, they don't give them away over here either!