Wow, a bit surprised at how M body prices have fallen

Historically M bodies have always fluctuated in value.

Next question... What will prices be in five years? I'd bet they'll still be "expensive". Especially ones in realy good condition.
 
I'd love to know where all these low priced M4's are hidden on Ebay.

I just counted 26 available, and if you take out the 'exceptional' ones, those boxed and mint, the rare ones, those from known high priced dealers, there are only 14 regular user camera's, some better than others, none going cheap. And that is 14 worldwide. So it is a small gene pool, and as any scientist knows a sound theory needs a much larger sample to justify that Leica M4's have crashed in price. For instance there is only one available in the UK out of the 26 on Ebay, so if that goes's cheaply do I think prices have crashed, or if it goes expensively do I assume they have risen? Out of the worldwide 14 it only takes a couple to go cheaply to swing the statistic's to imply a market crash, while at the time of year when people get their tax refund will high M4 prices really mean they are worth what they are bringing?

If somebody said they had been tracking prices over the last couple of years and said they had seen Leica bodies consistently on the rise, however slowly, I wouldn't be surprised. But it needs a proper large sample to come to any conclusion, not just a notion of what is happening on the day you decide you want to buy a camera.
 
Unless you can fix it yourself, it's a good buy but there no real deal there if you
have to pay Leica $600.00 or so for a repair, and once they get the camera they
might find more things here and there that needs to be fix and the price goes up.

range
 
Hi,

If you look on ebay then you'll find prices of most items will go up and down and sideways at times.

As I see it the time of year has a lot to do with it, January means people are paying for Christmas, August or thereabouts means they're on holiday and they all affect the cash available to buy.

Secondly, are you looking at for sale by auction? a lot of the bargains are in the BIN's and they may only last a few minutes. So look in completed for prices.

Lastly, if there's several for sale at roughly the same time the prices will swing because people will fight over the first and forget the last one as they win earlier ones.

And, anyway, you can't really compare because the condition of them may not be what's written y the seller and condition is very important.

Regards, David
 
I don't think I've seen M4s for 600$ but I have seen them for less than 600£ which I still think is inexpensive. And that's from well-known dealers and in very good condition.
 
I bought a nearly mint M4 with a DR Cron for $1k. Does this mean that the prices have fallen? No, it meant I got a good deal. 🙂
 
I sort of see the OP's point--prices do seem slightly lower than a year or two ago. But IMO they were on the high side then, so now prices are coming back down to earth. Still, prices for Ms are always dependent on condition, uniqueness, and too many other factors to truly nail down a specific market price. In looking at KEH's prices, Ms are now cheaper now than they were a year ago when I bought my M6. Here in the classifieds there are more than in recent years for sale, but I think many of us are selling off extra Ms we have for the Fuji series and other similar digitals.
 
seakayaker1 said:
M7's appear to have fallen in value faster than the rest of the film M bodies that appear to be holding their own. I picked up a Mint condition M6TTL Chrome about 18 months ago and was in the same shop today and the asking price was $200.00 higher. I think you can find deals but the prices do not appear to be dropping through the floor just yet.
Click to expand...

there's been a 10% decrease of value on the M6 for the past 12 months.
Bought my M6 last year for $1200, now they are hovering around 1000-1100.
The M6TTL were 1400-1600 last year and now they are at 1200-1400 mark.
I havent followed the M4 but the M3 has gone down to 800-900 from 1000 as well.
 
digitalintrigue said:
I bought a nearly mint M4 with a DR Cron for $1k. Does this mean that the prices have fallen? No, it meant I got a good deal. 🙂
Click to expand...

That's a great deal, not a good deal.

Every once in a while I'm compelled to buy a camera, and recently I bought a M4 from Adorama that was priced as "F" condition that was in "E-" cosmetic condition for $599.00.

The chrome M4 has a small piece of leatherette missing that gets covered by a TA Rapidgrip, otherwise it is a remarkably clean M4 that has an intact "L" seal. Because this camera was basically a shelf queen the shutter at slow speeds is off and sometimes sticks, and the rangefinder has a slight vertical alignment issue.

Anyways, add a $275.00 overhaul from Sherry plus $45.00 in parts and for a total of $919.00 I'll have a freshly overhauled M4 that will be good to go.

Good deals happen, but you have to be patient to be lucky.

Cal
 
digitalintrigue said:
I bought a nearly mint M4 with a DR Cron for $1k. Does this mean that the prices have fallen? No, it meant I got a good deal. 🙂
Click to expand...

My MINT M3 cost me $500 after I sold the 35 Summaron that came with it. The photos made it look like the camera had a big dent in the back, but after asking the seller if that was the case they replied it wasn't and I bought it. Best deal I ever got on a M.

BTW, that $600 M4 is sold again. If you sent it to Youxin Ye it would cost you a much less than $630 to repair.
 
I think a lot of people are selling their mechanical Ms to get Leica and Fuji digital RF cameras + film in the US is cheap, but in Europe it's a luxury item. I've seen a roll of Kodak 35mm slide film as high as $14, and film turnaround processing time can go from one week for C-41 to up to a month for E-6.
 
rlouzan said:
I think a lot of people are selling their mechanical Ms to get Leica and Fuji digital RF cameras + film in the US is cheap, but in Europe it's a luxury item. I've seen a roll of Kodak 35mm slide film as high as $14, and film turnaround processing time can go from one week for C-41 to up to a month for E-6.
Click to expand...

Film in EU is cheap, macodirect or AG. Less than 4 euro a roll colour or b&w. C41 process 3 days! b&w 30 mins!
 
rlouzan said:
I think a lot of people are selling their mechanical Ms to get Leica and Fuji digital RF cameras + film in the US is cheap, but in Europe it's a luxury item. I've seen a roll of Kodak 35mm slide film as high as $14, and film turnaround processing time can go from one week for C-41 to up to a month for E-6.
Click to expand...

Although I just bought a Monochrom, I bought the above M4 while waiting, and I don't plan on selling any film cameras. For me buying the Monochrom was the luxury item, especially since it involved buying a new computer, a printer and in the future a calibrated monitor.

Cal
 
Well, I bought a superb condition M4 with somewhat recent service for €450,--
It needs the strap lugs replaced (well, they would still be ok, but better safe than sorry) and a user condition 50mm v3 Summicron for about the same.

Good times 🙂
 
Hi,

Film is cheap if you buy it in bulk when it's cheap and stick it in the fridge or freezer. I pay under a couple of quid for mine, that's under two euros. And I import it from mainland Europe from time to time.

Buying it in a strange town because you suddenly need it is expensive and time consuming. Same goes for batteries. Frames left and power left are easily checked and spare film and batteries take up little space...

Regards, David
 
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