Leica M6 out of sight

Some have said that burning a hole in the shutter of a rangefinder camera is a myth and issued a challenge. So I tried to burn cloth shutter material with a lens at infinity and f/16 on that one sunny day, but it didn't burn. Strange.

That’s because you had it at f16.
I’ve tested this at large apertures and it burns really quickly.

It’s also why Leica itself mentions this in the owner’s manual.
 
So I tried to burn cloth shutter material with a lens at infinity and f/16 on that one sunny day, but it didn't burn. Strange.

I tried burning wood with a teeny tiny magnifying glass, and it didn't work. But then I used a larger magnifying glass and it worked. I don't get it, but whatever.
 
I LOVE that Cal is a vintage hipster!
My son said that about me one day while I was photographing the scene outside an antiques shop on Portland OR. I can only hope to live up to the honor.

Sure. I was using my M2 that day. Don't get more vintage hipster than that!
 
Don't know if I would like to have my first car, but maybe my second truck ('73 Ford F-250 Ranger XLT) after replacing the 390cid V8 with an electric motor.


I think camera prices go in cycles, so one just needs to look in many places to find those bargains. It's the lenses that seem to never drop in price.


PF
 
Jesussss christ I bought a used but near mint body for £920 in 2012 and I'm looking at the prices on eBay now, I would not have been able to afford it lol.
 
As I was tempted to put it on ebay I reviewed recently “sold” items. Well, there are expensive ones, but I also see quite a few below 1500$. The lowest was silver classic M6 for 900 GBP (looks in exellent condition). So - it is surely possible to find one for a decent price.
 
Yes, the sold function really does highlight the reality that is needed at times.

My black classic M6 was bought from Caplans, the Pall Mall Leica Dealer, who had had it serviced, for £999 in October 2017. I sold it 6 months later for £999 on Ebay.

I still have the M3 I bought from them at the same time, to me it handles and feels like a precision beauty, something I never got from the M6.
 
£1127 in 2000 for a new chrome M6TTL from Classic Camera. Apparently £1900 now. Got a way to go...but I still use it.

The late chrome 50mm Summicron and chrome 90mm Elmarit (way too heavy) are long gone for a huge profit.
 
There is a certain sort of pointlessness about all this but at the same time a weird fascination...

A Leica III in 1935 cost around £35 (from memory) Apparently this would now be £2,458

If you bought your Leica III in 1965 for £35 (which I did) this would now be £697


...which proves nothing I suspect.
 
I recently sold some old M lenses -that I've almost never used- for an incredible profit, not to a user, but to a dealer. I guess he expects still higher prices in the near future.

Erik.
 
I purchased a new M6 (black chrome TTL version) at a cost of $1845 in 2000. Just a few years ago I was surprised to learn that minty examples of these cameras were selling for around that same price. I was seriously contemplating selling back then but started using the camera more often after spending time on this forum, finding a renewed interest in photography in the process. Checking the sold listings on EBay just now I see identical cameras nearing and surpassing the $3K mark. This is hard for me to fathom. Such purchases surely don’t represent someone merely dipping their toes in film photography for the first time. I enjoy my camera but I wouldn’t spend that kind of money to obtain one today.

I have noted in the past that a true milestone in the renewed interest in film photography would be the introduction of an all new film camera. That might get a little less hard to imagine as used film camera prices continue to escalate. But it strikes me that in actuality we are likely talking about a rather small quantity of film camera buyers overall. With the exception of less than a handful of current cameras on the market today to my knowledge their only purchasing options exist on the used camera market. There might never be enough film shooters active again to justify the cost of rolling out and selling an all new film camera making things a bit crazy on the used camera market. Instead of the value of Leica cameras continuing to rise so quickly I can imagine plenty of other largely ignored makes and models experiencing a renewed interest instead.
 
I think that more and more users of digital cameras feel now that photography on film is something special. Digital photography is plain, lowbrow and humdrum. Film is nostalgic and appeals to those beautiful 50s and 60s.


Erik.
 
I have a M6 TTL, I was thinking of having it repainted, viewfinder upgraded, and maybe changing the lever to an MP style. Giving the prices, will that increase its value or decrease?
 
I think that more and more users of digital cameras feel now that photography on film is something special. Digital photography is plain, lowbrow and humdrum. Film is nostalgic and appeals to those beautiful 50s and 60s.

Being an older guy I tend to forget that not everyone grew up with film photography. I imagine that as with many things in life it would be easy to romanticize shooting with film. I probably do so at times myself to some degree. It is also possible that some percentage of photographers might take certain things about digital photography for granted, helping to further increase the fascination with film. Either way, one never knows until they try it for themselves.

If I were able to create images as impressive as many of those you've shared here I would have no need to romanticize, lol.
 
Can we have a pop at retirees who blow their pension on new Leicas for keeping their price high yet ? Or for letting Leica think they can get away with Lenny Kravitz special editions ?

..... many of those
 
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