How to choose MM?

ericzhu

ericzhu

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I intend to purchase Leica MM. I'm in China. The price of hong goods (from local authorized dealer) is about $8000. The water goods only costs $6660, but maintenance and repair service seems not guaranteed. How shall I choose? How to check the camera / what to notice when buying it? Appreciate your pro idears.
 
Scheelings said:
water goods?
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these are local terms in HK i learned early on while surfing local boards for 2nd hand gear.

"hong goods" mean imported officially and has warranty.

"water goods" means grey market items.

these terms are not known at all outside of HK, so i dont know why they are being referred to that here.

hope the OP can get his/her answer though.
 
I'm willing to bet that grey market is a US centric term not commonly understood by the rest of the world, at least not until people overseas started buying mail order from B&H.
 
funkydog said:
I'm willing to bet that grey market is a US centric term not commonly understood by the rest of the world, at least not until people overseas started buying mail order from B&H.
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that might be true, but i also heard the term grey market (or at least the 'grey import') term used in the UK to describe automobiles imported through unofficial channels.
 
Actually the piece you mention on LUF is speculation that over stocking could lead to dumping on the HK market, so not as you describe the situation at all.

To the OP, look for the hexadecimal Image ID number in the EXIF file of the last photo taken with the camera you are looking at, and convert this number using a free web converter to give the number of shutter actuations of the camera. You will then be able to equate cosmetic condition with use.
 
Anyone dumping so much money on a camera has some issues (yeah - me too but better half approved :D) but buying it w/o warranty that would be really stupid.
Basically knowing that due to the RF principle lenses and body need to be matched and therefore it's highly likely to require some service for best performance.
If you have some technician who is willing to open up a MM and do this RF and sensor adjustment, fine.
Just my 0.02 (insert local currency).
 
ericzhu said:
Is there any way to check the shutter actuation of MM?
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Yes. Take a photo. Use a program such as PHOTOME to examine the detailed EXIF data. Find the field called "Unique Image ID" which returns a value expressed in hexadecimal format. Convert that value to base 10 and you have the shutter count.

eg hex value 1F62 = 8034 exposures.
 
icebear said:
Anyone dumping so much money on a camera has some issues (yeah - me too but better half approved :D) but buying it w/o warranty that would be really stupid.
Basically knowing that due to the RF principle lenses and body need to be matched and therefore it's highly likely to require some service for best performance.
If you have some technician who is willing to open up a MM and do this RF and sensor adjustment, fine.
Just my 0.02 (insert local currency).
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Since when has the camera to be opened up for adjusting?:confused: If you follow the correct procedure you can do it yourself.
 
I'd go with the water goods, provided that you don't intend to put too much stress on the camera. Remember you can always service it with Leica for a charge, and IMO unless there are some pretty expensive parts that need to be replaced (sensor, shutter assembly) the repair will be much cheaper than the price difference.

Also, remember that once the warranty period is up, you'll still have to pay for repairs with a hong good. The choice is up to you, but I very nearly bought a M type 240 in HK when they were still pretty much unavailable in North America...
 
icebear said:
Anyone dumping so much money on a camera has some issues (yeah - me too but better half approved :D) but buying it w/o warranty that would be really stupid.
Basically knowing that due to the RF principle lenses and body need to be matched and therefore it's highly likely to require some service for best performance.
If you have some technician who is willing to open up a MM and do this RF and sensor adjustment, fine.
Just my 0.02 (insert local currency).
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+1. Totally agree with Klaus. Not logical to spend that kind of money and not have the warranty. I may take a chance with a mechanical camera, but not an electronic one. I own an MM too -- so I am not MM-bashing.
 
Leica will honor factory guaranty on any camera white or gray. It is just the importers that are being difficult. You can always send it to Wetzlar.
 
jaapv said:
Since when has the camera to be opened up for adjusting?:confused: If you follow the correct procedure you can do it yourself.
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I am OK cleaning the sensor on my MM from time to time which is 5§#"$%/& pain in the but compared to the M9.

My M9 was inspected and the RF and sensor position had to be adjusted to be in the middle of specs. Then my 1/50 and 2/90 had been 6-bit coded and matched to that M9 body. Although I consider myself pretty handy, I am sure I could not have done that myself. The same lenses are now pretty much OK on the MM.
 
Ummm… 6-bit coding has nothing to do with adjustment and lenses should -and are- never matched to a body but to a fixed value. From the fact that they had to be coded I deduce that you are speaking about older lenses and yes, focusing less precise in the film days. On a digital body the tolerances are more narrow, so your lenses needed to be adjusted to the digital standard.
It takes me five minutes to get my MM sensor spotless - about twice or three times a year.
 
jaapv said:
Ummm… 6-bit coding has nothing to do with adjustment and lenses should -and are- never matched to a body but to a fixed value. From the fact that they had to be coded I deduce that you are speaking about older lenses and yes, focusing less precise in the film days. On a digital body the tolerances are more narrow, so your lenses needed to be adjusted to the digital standard.
It takes me five minutes to get my MM sensor spotless - about twice or three times a year.
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How do you clean MM sensor?
 
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