Leica M6 out of sight

[zenza]

I might add that sales of CV Bessa's and the Zeiss Ikon camera's are also at ridiculous prices. Could I have predicted this I would have bought 10 each of these at issue and made a killing. Regardless both models are lovely cameras but not worth the asking prices we are seeing. Mr K, please reissue some of these models!!

Even crazier, I sold 15 rolls of Fuji Natura 1600 and straight up bought a Bessa R2 with the money.

 

[james.liam]

Yes that would seem to be true. Although the M3 is still fairly reasonable in price. Could it be that the lack of a built in meter, has chased the hipster crowd away?

Maybe, they do go for those compact P&S a lot. But when pricing out a 60+ year old M3, you are more likely to price in a CLA than with a 20 year old M6.

 

[Prest_400]

Another reason to stop buying-selling gear, and to use what you already own to take photos, spending your bucks at films and chemistry - and traveling. Don't feed the speculation.

Precisely. I've got a few cameras that do good and it's on my end, and the supply of film materials and processing, that has to improve and requires more resources.



It's also Medium format that has some interesting price increases. M6 and M7, as of Mamiya 6 and 7 have doubled on price.



RFF 20 prce index is a good idea. I would say that rather than speculation it's supply/demand of more users and less cameras. There's also an echo chamber effect as people ask for which specific camera and some of them are obvious choices. Entry level is usually answered with "Canon AE1, Pentax K1000" and those have become coveted.

 

[Highway 61]

At these prices I would just buy a Leica MP and be done with it.

Of course ! With the MP you have a more robust rewind shaft and a viewfinder in which the RF patch won't flare like crazy for whatever reason (I once was in a pub at night using an M6 and I ended up with guessfocusing...), all in all in a more refined and really better made body.

Speculation times with film RF gear are on the go :

https://www.rangefinderforum.com/photopost-classifieds/showproduct.php?product=55462

🙄

 

[Corran]

I imagine I'll keep my $800 M6 Classic 0.85x forever. I do need to upgrade the viewfinder. Might get the 75mm framelines removed.

 

[giganova]

I once read that if you want to see the current and future trends among young adults, you need to go to Tokyo and look what young girls are wearing. I went to the fashionable Ginza district in Tokyo and couldn't count all the young girls that were wearing M6 around their necks. Truly stunning!

 

[kshapero]

I once read that if you want to see the current and future trends among young adults, you need to go to Tokyo and look what young girls are wearing. I went to the fashionable Ginza district in Tokyo and couldn't count all the young girls that were wearing M6 around their necks. Truly stunning!

That is amazing:bang:It explains everything. I apologize to the hipster crowd.😱

 

[Jamie123]

I once read that if you want to see the current and future trends among young adults, you need to go to Tokyo and look what young girls are wearing. I went to the fashionable Ginza district in Tokyo and couldn't count all the young girls that were wearing M6 around their necks. Truly stunning!

Well, Japan just has a very avid photography culture so I don't think that always necessarily translates to the rest of the world. Also, todays young girls are future young adults so it's perfectly logical that they will carry on with some of their hobbies later in life 😀

 

[newsgrunt]

the M6 price jump is nothing. Look at what a used Mamiya 7 used to sell for, and compare to current prices. I'm crying when I think of what I sold mine for...

 

[GarageBoy]

So much for getting a second Mamiya 7 body - that 43mm of my dreams has stayed around $800-1000 though (same with the contax G 21 at around $500)

I like AE - but at the prices M7s are going for - plus my distrust of Leica electronics - I'll stick with a handheld meter

 

[froyd]

I just saw that Zi s go for $1700 or more! Good for the sellers if they can get it, but that camera is not worth it IMHO. I can see a $300-$400 dollar premium over an R2a, but not much more.

Charles had a good point earlier in the thread about the popularity of camera with buil-in meters. Let it continue o be that way! The Japanese girls and the hipsters can keep their M6 and leave M2-3-4 for the rest of us.

 

[IIIg]

Why wouldn’t the M6ttl also turn into an m4 if the meter goes out? It still is a mechanical camera. And the m7 has 125 and 60 as mechanical shutter speeds...

Will you be content with only those two shutter speeds?

 

[rfaspen]

My M6 is broken. Really broken.

So, I was looking seriously at M6 and M6TTL about 4-5 years ago. Typical prices were around $1000-1150 for M6, not much higher for TTL. I opted to put my photo budget into other gear. No regrets.

Now I see those M6 prices are much higher. However, I don't think we've reached the point where it makes financial sense to fix my broken M6 -- yet.😉

I used to own a number of those crazy-priced P+S cameras too. I sold them to RFF folks recently for very [apparently] extremely small sums -- I'm sure some you know who you are 🙂

 

[DanskDynamit]

I dont like using the "hipster" term in a pejorative way, many of us use Leicas and other brands, we buy and sell and not because of that someone is a "hipster".
About prices, I recently sold my Mamiya 7+65 for 2000€
I think prices are increasing because those who want to try or use film photography, they got tired of crappy cameras giving them headaches and a bad photography experience, so they go for the best, the best compacts are the only ones increasing, the best rangefinders and the best SLRs.
I'm not selling on eBay for all the scams we as sellers have to deal with but for the prices you have mentioned above I haven't found a new owner for my M3 on Facebook groups, you can still find M3's in ok condition for less than $1000

 

[traveler_101]

I think prices are increasing because those who want to try or use film photography, they got tired of crappy cameras giving them headaches and a bad photography experience, so they go for the best, the best compacts are the only ones increasing, the best rangefinders and the best SLRs.

Well Bessas are certainly up substantially - in fact a lot of film cameras are up because no one is producing cameras while substantial numbers of people now want to try film.

 

[benlees]

Crazy sellers market right now. Of course this is prompting people to reach into the cabinet, brush off the dust, and rub their hands in glee; and attempt to sell something they otherwise might not have. Lots of cameras on the market will mean you should be patient if you want to buy.

 

[nickthetasmaniac]

the M6 price jump is nothing. Look at what a used Mamiya 7 used to sell for, and compare to current prices. I'm crying when I think of what I sold mine for...

A T3 just came up in local classifieds for $3200aud.

Seriously.

 

[james.liam]

I once read that if you want to see the current and future trends among young adults, you need to go to Tokyo and look what young girls are wearing. I went to the fashionable Ginza district in Tokyo and couldn't count all the young girls that were wearing M6 around their necks. Truly stunning!

This latest generation of young have the attention span of gnats so expect those M6's back on the market once they move on to some new fashion accoutrements.

 

[aizan]

I feel a little bad for all the young newcomers to film photography. We've been seeing a market correction after many years of undervaluation, but some items have overcorrected so much that it's probably skewing who can buy them and who can't.

 

[Emile de Leon]

I paid $1600- for my brand new M6 back in 1988. At AAA photo in NYC. Not the best vendor..but the cheapest...lol..
Typically they were going for around 2K back then at Tamarkin and B&H.
So 2K is probably a pretty nice price for a camera that is in good usable condition and not beat up.
And about 62% off the price of a new MP....and if I were just getting into photography...and I had a choice between the M6 and the A73...at around the same price..
I would jump on the M6..for what it is..

People just got used to the 1K M6's...which was probably grossly undervalued...and dont like the 2x's correction..