Buying a Used M240 - Pros and Cons??

[lumiere]

Hi all,

I am evaluating the possibility of upgrading from the M9 to the M240. I would appreciate guidance with the following:

1. I have seen a few pre-owned M240s at different dealers for various prices. My price range is $6000 and I have seen some selling at this price, I am tempted to buy one of these (pre-owned) cameras but I am not sure if it is worth the risk...what are the pros and cons of buying a used M240 at this point? Should I wait a little longer for the prices to drop even further?

2. If I decide to buy the new M (after hearing your helpful advice, of course), would you recommend that I trade my M9 with the dealer or that I sell on Ebay/Forums? There are too many pre-owned M9s in the market right now that I am wondering if it will take forever to get a fair price for a used M9...

Thanks in advance for your thoughts and feedback.

Best,
lumiere

 

[35photo]

If it was me, I would buy used from an authorized dealer as they would probably have a warranty on the camera. If you worked a trade though a dealer for your M9 you probably would get less than just selling it out right say on eBay or in classifieds..

I purchased my M9 last year from a Dale Camera, it was well used and was sent to Leica to for a maintenance check up and calibration.. Everything has worked just fine since I've owned it..

 

[Vickko]

Are the "pre-owned" in fact factory refurbished units? They sometimes come with a 1 year warranty.

My M9 was a refurb and I am completely happy with it, and saved some money.

Store demo units also qualify as refurb's, and they might have undergone less stress than a shooter-owned camera.

But I would buy from a dealer, as they sometimes can provide support if there are problems. One of the best is popflash.com

 

[jpfisher]

Saving $1,000 or so is always appealing; you're taking a risk. The M 240 ships with a 2-year warranty in the US. If anything goes wrong in that period, Leica repair prices are probably going to come close to making up that price difference.

Buying from a dealer might get you some coverage. Popflash has a black 240 body for around $6k right now with a note on the site saying 'contact for warranty' details.

Something might go wrong with the camera within a year, within two years, or it might run like a top for a long time before requiring a CLA or similar service. I bought an M8 (a very, very different camera) in 2008 as a store demo. The shutter fell apart after arond 13k shots, in 2012. That's just my experience/anecdote, but had I bought a new one off the factory line I could have had the same thing happen, or I could have required major service within a few months.

If I could get a body with some sort of warranty for $6k, I'd do it. Preferably a year; I might be a bit more hesitant with 90 days or shorter.

As far as selling the M9, you'll get more from a private sale than you will as a trade-in. I'd say contact KEH, Popflash, etc and get some quotes on the trade-in; that way you know what your bottom dollar is; it will probably be about half of what they are selling for in retail used departments.

 

[Pioneer]

I am struggling with this same problem, but with the Monochrom, not the M240. My Monochrom savings account is getting close but it will take at least another year to reach the point where I can afford a new one.

Every now and then I see a used one that is less expensive and I wonder if I should go for it? There are obvious advantages to buying new, but once in a while I am very tempted by a used one's price point. These things are very expensive and a $1,000 USD savings is pretty tempting.

So far I have held out for the new one...but will it last? Maybe I should buy used and then keep saving assuming that I may need that additional $1,000 or so for "warranty" repairs?

 

[lumiere]

I am struggling with this same problem, but with the Monochrom, not the M240. My Monochrom savings account is getting close but it will take at least another year to reach the point where I can afford a new one.

Every now and then I see a used one that is less expensive and I wonder if I should go for it? There are obvious advantages to buying new, but once in a while I am very tempted by a used one's price point. These things are very expensive and a $1,000 USD savings is pretty tempting.

So far I have held out for the new one...but will it last? Maybe I should buy used and then keep saving assuming that I may need that additional $1,000 or so for "warranty" repairs?

Thanks, Pioneer, for sharing your experience. I have also contemplated the possibility of buying the Monochrome instead of the M240 but I am too new to the Leica experience and rangefinders in general to seriously consider the Monochrome. I too have seen a few used Monochromes (Camera West, PopFlash and Dale) that seem to be ~$1000 less than the new models...you are right...perhaps that difference can serve to pay for potential issues associated with a pre-owned digital Leica...

 

[hepcat]

Thanks, Pioneer, for sharing your experience. I have also contemplated the possibility of buying the Monochrome instead of the M240 but I am too new to the Leica experience and rangefinders in general to seriously consider the Monochrome. I too have seen a few used Monochromes (Camera West, PopFlash and Dale) that seem to be ~$1000 less than the new models...you are right...perhaps that difference can serve to pay for potential issues associated with a pre-owned digital Leica...

You know, it really depends on how much you're willing to gamble. The odds are in your favor that you won't have any problems, but of course any particular body can have issues. I've never bought a new Leica, and saved nearly $3k on my private-party-sale M9-P over a new one, before the M240 was introduced. Buying used from a dealer may have benefits though.

I'm so pleased with my M9-P though, that I won't be looking at M240s for a very long time. The M240 doesn't offer enough over the M9-P for me to be interested though.

 

[thegman]

If it's a big saving, from a dealer then, perhaps. But for a $6000 camera, a 1 year warranty is pretty stingy, and hardly inspires confidence.

 

[funkydog]

The advice to buy used from a reputable dealer but to sell privately is counter-intuitive and self defeating. If one can't trust buying from strangers then who's gonna buy the camera that you're selling to fund the new acquisition from a dealer?

 

[YYV_146]

I'll recommend Popflash (have no connection with them, but several-time customer)

They have the M in stock at around $6300 with warranty, which IMO is perhaps a good alternative to certified refurbished Ms. I can confirm that their warranty is indeed Leica-approved, as one of the lenses I bought from them needed readjustment.

 

[ReeRay]

Buy it. I waited a long time for the 240 to become available in Thailand and couldn't get any dates for delivery. Then last year a used model (2000 actuations) landed on the dealers counter. I paid nearly new price but I had the camera I dreamt of.

Never regretted it. My first digital M and fabulous. Beyond all my expectations.

Don't dally, they're worth all the bucks.

 

[johnmshaw]

Sell the M9 yourself , you will get more
If you buy a used 240 buy a Mack warranty , that will give you peace of mind

 

[__--]

...I am evaluating the possibility of upgrading from the M9 to the M240. I would appreciate guidance with the following...

Not all of us consider this to be "an upgrade." While the M240 has some improvements in the robustness of the rangefinder and in the possibility of using an EVF for longer lenses, some of us prefer the color rendition of the M9 to that of the M240. To be fair, you should know that this is a subject of contention: many people who bought the M240 do not think that color rendition is an issue because they think that everything can be equalized in post-processing; others don't agree with this and feel that the rendition of yellows and reds is not only different in the M240 but also not as good as in the M9, particualry when in comes to skin tones.

My own view is that the M9/M-E color rendition is unique and is not matched by any other full-frame digital cameras.

—Mitch/Potomac, MD
Chiang Tung Days
[Direct download link for pdf file of Burma book project]

 

[Luke_Miller]

One of the factors that has kept me with the M9 is Auto ISO. Many Leica shooters do not use this feature extensively, but I have come to depend on it in many situations. With the M9 (and all of the other CCD digital Ms) one can manually set shutter speed and let the camera adjust ISO to give proper exposure. This capability does not exist in the M240. With the M240 Auto ISO works only when the shutter dial is set to the "A" position (aperture priority). A manual shutter speed selection disables Auto ISO. Leica has promised a firmware update that will re-introduce this capability as an option, but no one knows when this might happen.

I second the recommendation for Popflash. I've purchased an M8.2, M9 and Monochrom from them - listed as used or demo. All were as new with Leica warranty.