Leica item prices up again!

They are killing their distributors, especially the small ones. Oh well, I have all I need for right now and glad that I bought when I did.
 
Was quite surprised with the new prices too. Glad I bought mine when I did and on a Leica Day Sale too.

-annie
 
noct- $3800, 75 lux- $3500, 35 lux asph- $3200, etc. Maybe they've been like this for a while. Saw at B&H. popflash has also raised some prices. Maybe Leica should move production to Japan. :D
 
ywenz said:
where are you seeing this? A new M7 has always been $3500 or so at B&H, as it is now...
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Always? :confused: It hit $3500 on January 1. Before that, it was $3300, which it reached on July 1. A year ago it was $3000, which it reached on January 1, 2005. Before that it was $2800. That's an increase of 25% in a little over a year! :eek:
 
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At Japanese salaries that probably would make them even more expensive. They stated clearly that they would stick with Germany and Portugal.
 
Taiwan production then? Not too long ago noct was $2700, 75 lux $2600, and 35 lux asph was $2400- back in say 2002 or 2003.
 
jaapv said:
It is the dollar/euro thing...:(
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The runaway inflation at Leica is not a dollar/euro thing . . . It's a Hermes thing! :D

Seriously, this price scam has nothing to do with exchange rates, which have become more favorable for the dollar in the past year or so. Exactly one year ago the exchange rate was $1.30 & I seem to recall it peaking at $1.35. Today it's $1.19. Leica instituted a rolling price increase of every 6 months about 2 years ago. It's an interesting business model, given their financial woes, but not one that has succeeded anywhere else as far as I know.
 
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Hi There,

Leica's recent price increases are sure making the grey market items look attractive.
I just purchased a chrome MP from Tony Rose at Popflash Photo last week, not only was he a pleasure deal with, his prices are realistic!

Cheers,
kf
 
ywenz said:
where are you seeing this? A new M7 has always been $3500 or so at B&H, as it is now...
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I checked the most recent B&H catalog price to the current price on their website. Price for M7 body- only and M7 kit are up $200.
 
Huck Finn said:
The runaway inflation at Leica is not a dollar/euro thing . . . It's a Hermes thing! :D

Seriously, this price scam has nothing to do with exchange rates, which have become more favorable for the dollar in the past year or so. Exactly one year ago the exchange rate was $1.30 & I seem to recall it peaking at $1.35. Today it's $1.19. Leica instituted a rolling price increase of every 6 months about 2 years ago. It's an interesting business model, given their financial woes, but not one that has succeeded anywhere else as far as I know.
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I don't notice any significant price increases in Europe. Maybe it is Leica USA...
Anyway, their sales figures are way up,also in the USA so it doesn't seem to stop their customers buying their stuff and they are claiming to be out of the financial woods (See Januari's LFI-magazine)
 
There are alternatives out there that cost a lot less and if the price hike is too much, the R*A or the ZI (or used Leica) are sure to be there to pick up the sales. One new sale lost to Leica is one gained by one of the alternatives.
 
When I was a kid I remember my Grandpa (who actually did sell apples on a streetcorner during the depression) telling me a joke about a guy selling apples for one cent apiece, barely eeking out enough to keep himself from starvation, when another guy sets up a stand on the opposite corner, only his apples were priced at $1000 each. When the first guy questioned his new competitor's sanity, the reply was "I only have to sell one". Maybe that's Leica's logic. In any case they could double their prices every Tuesday and it wouldn't affect me because they already priced me out of range 2 years ago.
 
If one corrects for inflation, their prices are about 30% lower than 20 years ago. The first Leica I ever bought new, a M6 in 1989, cost me a whopping 3500,-- German Marks.....Having said that: In the stratosphere of Ferrari cars, Brequet watches (their current top model costs 1 million Euro), Leica's etc, the salesperson attitude is: If you have to ask what it costs, you can't afford it :D I guess that would rule me out, but I have some masochistic attitudes ;)
 
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Actually our wives and children should behappy we got into photography and not building airplanes or classic cars. Apart from my 2 Leicas, my many treasured and loved rangefinder cameras could all be replaced for $500 easily. As my friend Trevor says to his wife - hours of harmless fun!
 
Some of us are content with what we did years ago. I take the following from my equipment records:

Leica M4-2 body 3/11/83 $800
50mm f/2 Summicron 3/11/83 $470
90mm f/2.8 9/6/84 $365
35mm f/2 Summmicron 4/1/85 $475

They are still the only Leica equipment I own. Don't need any more. They may not be the latest models, but they do take pictures quite nicely. Of course, in another 22 years or so, today's prices may seem like a steal.
 
This may not make anybody feel better, but at last month's Barrett-Jackson classic car auction a 1970 Hemi Cuda (which probably sold new for under $5000) brought
$2 million!
 
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