Would You Buy an MP Hammertone in LN Condition

J

jplomley

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...plus the matching 35/2 Asph for 5K?

I've already got a Mamiya 7 and an M8, had an M6TTL (0.58) but sold that to help pay for the M8. Said goodbye to 35mm film...BUT I just found my dream camera unexpectedly, and for what I think is a reasonable price. There is not a mark on the camera, the original owner put only two rolls of film through it, and it has sat unused since. Comes with the original box, papers, and unfilled warranty card. Surely this camera would hold its value much better than my current investments :mad:

Is 5K a reasonable price???
 
35 cron ASPH goes for $1500 (US) used, thus the camera would cost you $3500. Your paying $1000 premium for the hammertone?
 
jplomley said:
...plus the matching 35/2 Asph for 5K?

I've already got a Mamiya 7 and an M8, had an M6TTL (0.58) but sold that to help pay for the M8. Said goodbye to 35mm film...BUT I just found my dream camera unexpectedly, and for what I think is a reasonable price. There is not a mark on the camera, the original owner put only two rolls of film through it, and it has sat unused since. Comes with the original box, papers, and unfilled warranty card. Surely this camera would hold its value much better than my current investments :mad:

Is 5K a reasonable price???
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Go back to the guy and ask him this:

"Dude, where is the Hammertone Leicavit that goes with this set?"

Including that piece (which was part of the set) it would indeed be worth 5k...

I have the set and use it a bunch (sans Leicavit which throws me off). Very nice finish and I like (being an old-fashioned guy) the top engraving. The Hammertone lens hood is kind of silly but it's part of the deal so I use it. A nice LHSA creation all the way around. At the time of issue it cost about the same as a regular stock MP but the body is so much groovier (the sandpaper skin of the stock MP drives me batty).
 
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Wasn't it just the LHSA version that came with the leicavit?
If it's LHSA minus the Leicavit, definitely over-priced - for the moment.
Moreover, if you intend to use it, I'd insist on an evaluation period.
A lot of these are "Like new" because they don't work.
I had a NIB MP from the first batch -just beyond warranty- totally eat itself up.
Egregious quality control issues, I'd be hesitant to buy any unproven MP.
 
If you like hammertone and you think its a reasonable price (which you do) then buy it. However if I had money to invest camera gear would be the last thing I would dabble in. Much better investments out there, even in this lousy market. If you're buying it to use that's something else. I bought an MP3 last year and I am using it a lot so no collector will ever be interested in mine. However I didn't buy the MP3 as an "investment" in the first place.
 
that version of the 35/2 asph is 2k, so 3k isn't bad for a hammertone, considering how much the mp is going for nowadays.

if this is an investment in creativity, i would save some $ and go for a black paint mp and regular 35/2 asph. if you're not going to shoot it, there are neater leicas than the hammertone.
 
There are a lot of currently undervalued stocks out there, real estate is going for a song in many parts of the country ~ THOSE are investments. Take the money and buy your wife a gorgeous new dress, a couple of pair of expensive shoes, perhaps a nice necklace, then take her away for a weekend, pop open a bottle of champaign, and enjoy the dividends. The Leica MP won't smile at you when you fondle it.

Pick up a beat to crap M2 if you actually ever decide to take some pictures. Leica M2's know how to make great pictures.
 
The Hammertone finish will chip under impact. I have seen it chip and that's worrying.
 
Surely this camera would hold its value much better than my current investments :mad:
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Don't buy it if you're thinking of it as an investment. If you intend to use it, go for it. My 2 yen :)
 
Buy it, scuff up the box, misplace or dirty the instruction book, perhaps chip the paint, all likely to happen over the next few years even if you don't really use it beyond running the occasional roll of film through it in your living room, and I'll give you $500 bucks for it, you pay shipping.
 
Cameras as investments! Cameras are tools to take pictures with AND if you are lucky down the road and want to sell or upgrade, you might get a percentage back. Leicas do hold their values relatively well, but I would not bet my retirement on them.
If you buy something like a Hammertone MP/lens and use it - one day you will drop it, bang it against the car door ot plain wear some of that hammertone finish off and you just lost 40-50% of the value!
Hammertone is easily applied to a camera, I have a M2 to prove it! The finish was actually developed to hide blemishes in castings for exhaust manifolds at Jaguar in the 50's. Leica later applied a similar finish to a small series of Md cameras and Visoflex housings for use in laboratories. I did my M2 to cover up scratches and a couple of dents - now it looks like a exhaust manifold with a lens on it!
 
Tom A said:
Cameras as investments! Cameras are tools to take pictures with AND if you are lucky down the road and want to sell or upgrade, you might get a percentage back. Leicas do hold their values relatively well, but I would not bet my retirement on them.
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Safe as houses!
 
Guys,

Like every other Leica Forum there is this "collector wanker vs. real photographer" elitist thing that creeps in here. It's tiring.:bang:

The OP obviously finds the Hammertone MP attractive (so do I) and wants to take pictures with it using actual analog film. Let's be supportive.

Since a new Hong Kong standard sandpaper MP is US $3,850.00 and a new Hong Kong 'Cron (say that fast three times) ASPH 35mm is US $2,475.00, the OP can get a great deal from his Hammertone buddy. It sounds like he wants to take actual pictures with it. Well, good.

I mean, why not get it? I'm sure he could find a beat up user M3 and a Summaron f/3.5 for $700.00 and take the same quality pictures and look cool but obviously he wants a new camera and doesn't need the cred. Beat up is so 20th Century.. If he has the money, he should enjoy it.
 
Agreed.

We really don't know what is on the guy's mind. He said he found his dream camera at last. That leads me to believe he at least wants to squeeze off a few with it..

I think Leica has kept afloat over the years by appealing to the collector. Every special edition means big easy money for the company. Can't fault anyone for that, especially if it helps in any way to bring Leica toward the black and away from the red!:)
 
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if you asked me, it doesn't sound like he wants to use it. worrying about whether a limited edition camera in mint condition is a good investment is a dead giveaway. a collector's item does not encourage its owner to make it uncollectable.

plus, he sold the m6 and stopped shooting 35mm in favor of drf and medium format rf.
 
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