Ever bought a NEW Leica body or lens.

[Phil_F_NM]

Bought a new M9 back in 2010. Worst photography mistake I've ever made. Bad quality, bad customer service (probably because I don't spend enough money on new Leica as working photographers can't afford such gear all the time.)
Never again will I buy new Leica anything.

Phil Forrest

 

[Rangefinder M-P]

I bought a new M-P week before last along with three lenses and assorted "stuff," i.e., filters, EVF2, flash, etc. So far, I couldn't be happier with my purchase. That is, of course, unless my wife finds out about it.

Mike

 

[MIkhail]

I am reading some answers and thinking: there are people who know how to live...
🙂

 

[ayewing]

I bought my first Leica in the 1970s - a second hand M2 which I happily used for over 30 years. My first new Leica was a M9 which I did not like nearly as much as the old M2. I sold the M9 and bought a new M240 which I like much more than the M9. I am not tempted by the new M10. I have a mixture of new and old lenses. Like many others as a young man I could never afford new Leica equipment but now that my family has grown up and are self sufficient I have been able to indulge myself with new Leica cameras and lenses.

 

[AZPhotog]

In October 2013 I obtained via ebay from Germany a SUMMICRON 90mm f2 brand new, unused "Mint in the box" lens. It is from 1964, first version, and I paid just over $1100 US for it. It had apparently been stored away post-purchase.

These 90mm f2's were all Canadian made, by the way.

When I received it, it did indeed appear to have never been used, not any discernible wear markings on the mount area. It did have a loose filter ring with no slots for a spanner wrench. It was sent off to Sherry Krauter who was quite impressed with it. I did not learn how she tightened the ring, but secure it now is.

 

[Moogie77]

I recently couldn't resist to get the 35 cron asph new. But the run-out model on a decent price for a new Leica lens.
I wanted one so much and the used ones haven't been much cheaper, so I decided to get a new one.
Still having the first roll of TMax 400 in the M6 and excitingly waiting for the results to come up by the weekend.
All other Leica equipment bought used.

 

[robert blu]

I have to say that when I visited the Leica Store in Wetzlar the interest was for a refurbished M9/262...but than after having seen and tried the M10 in my hands...I succumbed and with complicity of my wife I bought one...absolutely new of course 🙂
robert

 

[raid]

I now feel that I am "ready" to buy one day the latest Leica M model. There is a time for everything.

 

[mcfingon]

Yes, just yesterday I got an Elmar-M 24/3.8 for travel photo taking.

 

[Mute-on]

Bought a new 28 Elmarit ASPH II earlier this month for a trip to Japan. It worked wonderfully with my 0.58 MP, also purchased new (about 12 years ago ...) 🙂

 

[mkorabo]

Last week i was offered a very good deal on a brand new M240, i still have my name on the M10 waiting list and i am not sure what i will do when the call comes. So far the 240 has been outstanding.

 

[mdarnton]

I've had quite a lot of Leica gear over the years, a iiia, two iiifs, an M2, two M3s, two M4s and an M4-2, plus lots of lenses for them . Not a single piece--not a lens cap, even--did I ever buy new. For Leica film equipment I could never see a reason--it doesn't age poorly and seems to last forever, so I'd prefer to let the original purchaser take the depreciation hit. Once in a while I get the yen for a digital M, and if I do that, I'll probably buy a new one to maximize the time that it's relevant. And it does seem that recently digital changes are smaller and less fatal, so I might actually get a good decade or more out of a recent digital purchase.

But my M4s are now over 45 years old, and the IIIa is now about 80, but neither has obsolescence in sight, so digital doesn't look like a wise purchase, really.

 

[MIkhail]

God, no. Never. I am mere engineer at Ford motor co. And my wife is mere CPA accountant. We could never afford this dentist's toys new. 🙂

 

[Chris101]

New? Wow - oh God no!

I just recently brought myself to buy a Leica lens at all, along with a clean M4-P and matching 50 'cron from the same factory in Midland, Canada from about the same time of manufacture. I think the camera and lens may have known each other previously.

Do I want to buy new? Yup. I hear the new aspheric 35 'cron is the bees knees. And I have always found beauty and safety at f/2 or more. With faster lenses it is difficult for me to nail the thin plane of sharpness, by eye.

But the price tag has alienated me a smidge.

 

[victoriapio]

Yes purchased an M9 new back in 2009. It is to date the ONLY new piece of Leica gear I have ever purchased. Now that it is in for repair of the sensor, I am looking for a used 262.

 

[LightBender]

I love all of the Leica gear I've bought. None has been perfect, but what in life is. So, moving on here is the new stuff, not listing the used stuff 🙂

M8
M9
M240
M10.

Elmar 90/4
Summicron 75
Summilux 50 FLE
Summicron 35
Summilux 35 FLE II
Summicron 28 I
Summicron 28 II
WATE

And, at least that many used lenses. Also, four film M and LTM cameras. Four used R lenses. And, several LTM lenses.

All of it is fantastic in its own way.

All of it, added up together, doesn't even come close to what friends have paid for their Harleys or their boats or their cars or, for sure, their RVs. I use my cameras every day and have since I was a kid. Some of the best ways I've spent my stupid money. Of course there is family and kids that have come first... but, as for stupid stuff, no regrets. 🙂

 

[telenous]

Bought new a 75/2 Asph., and two demo condition lenses (35/2 Asph., 50/1.4 Asph LHSA). But I haven't bought anything new since 2008 and if I do buy anything at all it will probably be used like most of the Leica stuff I 've ever bought.

.

 

[jamesk8752]

Almost all the Leica bodies in my considerable collection were bought used, but my M240 was the exception - I bought it new from PopPhoto several years ago. I also have a few new lenses, although again, most were used. The price of new Leica gear is just so eye-watering that it doesn't make sense for me to buy new.

 

[Kent]

So far, all my Leica cams and lenses were used but most of them "like new". 😉

The first Leica I bought new, was my D-Lux (109) which I bought some months ago.

 

[Deleted member 65559]

Ah, the good old days. My first M2 (university days) used at $175 (canadian). A couple of new M4s (chrome & black paint) for $535@. Bought a new M6 titanium. The one I miss though is a black paint M2, bought on a whim (saw it in the window in Paris in the mid '90s) for $700.