Learning Leica lingo to appraise my gear?

[Guth]

Hi All,

I'm new to the forum and I've signed up here so that I could search for information about how to "search for information" on my Leica gear. I realize that sounds a bit odd, but I'll try to explain. When I was younger I was much more interested in photography. Back in the 1999 - 2000 timeframe I purchased a Leica M body and a number of lenses. I didn't really pay much attention to what Leica was up to after that. I primarily used the Leica to capture a good amount of my son's early years on film. Then a lab managed to botch four rolls of film. My overall interest in photography had already started to dwindle as well. So at that point I more or less tucked the Leica away and stopped using it.

Fast forward to today. I've decided that before I make any decisions regarding the fate of my Leica gear the first thing to do would be to try and appraise its value. Imagine my surprise at what all has developed within Leica's M system over the past number of years. My mind is officially boggled. I had imagined that I could visit places like ebay and a few websites of Leica dealers to see what my camera and lenses are typically selling for. Instead I find myself sifting through a large number of listings that I am clueless about. I am simply overwhelmed with all of the many different variations produced since I last paid attention to any of this stuff ("6-bit", etc. ?).

As far as my gear is concerned, the camera body is a M6 TTL and the lenses are a trio of Summicrons (35mm ASPH, 50mm and 90mm APO ASPH). The camera and lenses are all of the regular black variations (not the black paint). Looking at the boxes for the lenses, it appears that they all have part numbers beginning with 118. I've tried searching ebay using the part numbers (or what I think are part numbers) and that seems to pull up numerous other variations. I also tried searching for Leica M "pre-digital" but that doesn't seem to do the trick. Even trying to search through this site has proven to be a bit confusing in this regard. Is there any terminology (i.e. Leica lingo) that is used to describe items from this era? Any advice on how to go about this task would be greatly appreciated as I simply had no idea things had changed so much since the early 2000s.

 

[krötenblender]

Hi,

maybe the website referenced in this article is helpful to you:
https://petapixel.com/2017/11/09/website-tracks-market-value-used-camera-gear/

 

[splitimageview]

you've already got what you need:

m6 TTL (options are black or chrome, and viewfinder magnification, 0.58x, 0.72x, 0.85x, look at the front of the viewfinder window for this.)

then you've got 35/2 asph, 50/2 summicron-M, 90 summicron APO ASPH.

some ebay listings will have the part numbers: the 90 is 11884, the 50mm is 11826, and the 35 is 11879. These are all for the black ones.

 

[davidnewtonguitars]

You have done pretty well in the first sentence of your second paragraph.
Model names, M6ttl, lens focal length & f-number & name.
If you have experience with Ebay in selling, look at completed auctions or listings on the exact item you have, and you'll have a reasonable idea at what your camera and lenses have brought in the recent past.
Auction items bring less than the regular "buy it now" prices, but those are asking prices not what they changed hands for.
Condition is everything, and a statement of condition and history of repairs & services helps.
An item that has no return policy is a crap shoot for the buyer and usually brings less money.
Look here in the classifieds for some other asking prices.
Good luck selling!

 

[Guth]

Thanks all for the comments.

The Bokeh Market site mentioned in the PetaPixal article would appear to be exactly what I'm after but sadly they don't seem to have any of my specific pieces added to their database at this time.

As far as searching using the info that I already have is concerned, the camera body seems pretty straightforward. However when it comes to researching the lenses I get a lot of results for items including phrases like 6-bit or 6-bit compatible. I'm pretty sure that my lenses are neither. I'd imagine that these newer lenses appeal to a larger number of users as it seems that they are also compatible with the digital camera bodies.

 

[Timmyjoe]

Your lenses are compatible with the new digital bodies, it's just that they aren't coded, so the camera won't automatically know what lens is mounted. You, or a future buyer, could have them coded, or they could just use them as they are, which is what I do.

Best,
-Tim

 

[flagellum]

You could also try Collectiblend for some more general info. eBay is probably a better resource of what you could potentially get, but Collectiblend will give you a sense of price trends over time.

 

[giganova]

Don't worry about it too much, you are doing a great job already! Just make sure that the item titles are correct (e.g., "Leica M6 TTL") so people can find your auction. Often, bidders love that the seller is not a professional who lives off Ebay, but a true users who sometimes doesn't know the correct name of the items. Saying "First Owner" will be a big plus in selling your gear! Selling the items separate (and not as a bundle) should give you more money.

 

[aizan]

ah, the vocabulary problem. you're always going to get imprecise search results on ebay (have fun searching for "nikon f"), but you can use a boolean search to limit your queries. type a minus sign followed immediately by the word you don't want, no spaces in between. "nikon f -f2 -f3" for example.

best place to learn the lingo is apotelyt.com, which has a lens chart.

 

[Guth]

Wow, great additional information all. Truly appreciated!