I know i shouldn't be shocked, but.......

[surlysimon]

check this out
leica MP
it is being sold by a reputable camera shop and if you look at the bidding history you will see it started at a reasonable amount.
no wonder Voightlander are doing so well with the bessa !

 

[BJ Bignell]

Yeah, but considering the age, it is beautiful...

Too bad it's been wasting away on a collector's shelf. At that price, it's probably going directly to another display cabinet. What a shame.

 

[pshinkaw]

Speaking of collections, take a look at this estate auction:

http://auction.igavel.com/ClientInfo.taf?_function=info&id=983&skip=1

-Paul

 

[JoeFriday]

that's a truly gorgeous camera.. imagine having the cash to buy one like that from a camera collector and right after he hands it over, you drop in a load of film and sling it around your neck.. the look on his face would be the first photo worth taking

 

[eclat]

hey, i'm pissed. that's selling for more than my GSN!!! :bang: :bang:

 

[TPPhotog]

that's a truly gorgeous camera.. imagine having the cash to buy one like that from a camera collector and right after he hands it over, you drop in a load of film and sling it around your neck.. the look on his face would be the first photo worth taking

Now that I like !!! 😎

 

[SolaresLarrave]

Man... Imagine if I put my M3 for sale...

Sure, the legendary MP: it's just a glorified M2! 😱

Sorry, I'm trying to compensate here... 🙁

 

[stet]

I give up ... what is that blade thing on the bottom?

 

[RubenBlaedel]

I think it is wort paying atttention to the bidders - run into one of these guys at another auction and you know what you are up against!
Arsenall is bidding - is that not the ebayer that have very expensive start bids on own auction when efter ebay offers reduced cost listings ??

 

[Fedzilla_Bob]

Clearly I don't understand how one MP commands so much money.

Amazing. Can someone explain this? It's nuts.

 

[Stephan]

Its an "original" MP i assume (didnt actually go and look, must stay away from the e-site for now), not one of the new ones... made donkeys years ago in very small numbers for photojournalists etc... (I'm sur someone can explan this better than I can 😛 )

 

[stet]

thank you, ManGo. I had no idea what that could've been, and the angle on the auction photo makes it dangerous! I honestly thought there was a pocketknife on the bottom plate. 😱

 

[canonetc]

Shocked over MP

Shocked over MP

Imagine all the starving photographers that could be fed with what it will sell for...
imagine how many Canonets, Bessa's, Zorki's and Leica M6's we could buy...
imagine all the film we could buy.....
imagine all the socks we could buy.....

All I can say is...... incredible.

Chris
canonetc

 

[DougK]

Pretty camera, but $15,000+? That's just insane. The sad thing is it will probably never see another roll of film through it. I wonder what Barnack would think about that?

 

[wlewisiii]

Doug, that's why I wish I had the money to buy one of the new Nikon SPs or S3s and have it be a daily user. Toss it in a bag and bang out roll after roll. With the first shot taken by it of the box it came in - crushed and in the trashcan... 😀

William

 

[SolaresLarrave]

Hey, this one's touted as a collectors' piece. I remember last year there was another MP, looking a bit rough, but selling for just $4000 (I can't forget it; that was the first old MP I saw...).

So, hold your checkbooks, gentlemen, and remember Steve's (Gandy) advice: always buy bargain condition.

I guess he meant KEH's bargain...

Still compensating... kinda succesfully 🙂

 

[Stephan]

Imagine all the starving photographers that could be fed with what it will sell for...
imagine how many Canonets, Bessa's, Zorki's and Leica M6's we could buy...
imagine all the film we could buy.....
imagine all the socks we could buy.....

All I can say is...... incredible.

Chris
canonetc

Socks... too true...

Besides, for the price of this thing i could get 3 or 4 "new" MPs "a la carte"... or 2 and 2 Noctiluxes 😱 😱 😱

 

[Jason_K]

Clearly I don't understand how one MP commands so much money.

Amazing. Can someone explain this? It's nuts.

I'm not an expert, but according to Mr. Gandy's site MP #200 was made in 1957 as part of a batch of 489 cameras.

http://www.cameraquest.com/leicanum.htm

I'm still not sure that makes it worth $15,000.

 

[RML]

It looks nice but it's still just another Leica. I can't see the reason of it being worth that kind of money, really. But maybe I'm just dense. 🙂

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

It looks nice but it's still just another Leica. I can't see the reason of it being worth that kind of money, really. But maybe I'm just dense. 🙂

And a Van Gogh is just another Van Gogh, after all, it's just paint on a canvas, right?

Seriously, what you're witnessing is people with bottomless funds coveting a name with a serial number, so they can show it (if they're eccentric) at their next Arbusto fundraiser party, or worse, put it in a box and hide it in a closet...after all, it is considered an investment...and let it rot for lack of exercising the shutter and winder, etc. Many of these are Pacific Rim businesspeople who have too much money burning holes in their pockets. These are not regular shooters like you and I; these people don't go and buy Bessas because it makes financial sense, but because there is no financial prestige behind it. Sad, but it's those people that make it so difficult to the real passionate photographers to acquire even a lens cap for less than $20. You're seeing Capitalism at work: supply and demand. Collectors demand Leicas a lot more than they would ever demand a new Bessa. Leica made a great name for itself; they inflated it.