Leica M9 and M9-P prices $1.500 down!

nobbylon said:
Second hand prices of 8's and 9's are going to suffer again!
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I don't see M8 prices going down too much....maybe down to $1700-$1900 for a good one....right now about $2000-$2300 for a good one. M9s should dip into the $3500 area though....assuming the M10 comes in at about M9 pricing......$7k+
 
I think the price reductions are a good sign. Many were speculating that the M10 will be sold at 10K, but if it was the case, leica wouldn't need to discount the M9 beforehand.
 
GaryLH said:
It gets back to economy of scale. A special run for one customer (Leica) for an out of date LCD screen is going to cost a very pretty penny... So long as someone has those manufacturing components around still.. Chances are high that it may have been scraped already.. Even if that part was originally multi-sourced from more than a couple of oem vendors.
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Only if it's startlingly custom. Did these screens have some radical configuration? An ultra custom pinout connection that can't be refitted somehow? Even if Leica used some crazy space-saving design at the time, things like LCD screens have only gotten smaller and thinner and less consumptive. It wouldn't, I'm guessing (without knowledge of circumstance), be a staggeringly expensive feat of engineering.

These sorts of components tend to follow similar standards. It's just surprising, that's all.
 
rxmd said:
Maybe this says more about people's expectations and projections than about Leica. What would Leica have had to do to earn your trust, keep up the same price forever?
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I meant that Leica deserted the M8.
 
raid said:
I meant that Leica deserted the M8.
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They didn't "desert" the M8 any more than they deserted the R6 when Seiko stopped providing shutters... You can doubt their supply chain management of course, but in this kind of situation I think there was simply not terribly much they could do.
 
Dropped the whole R series..dropped the M8..but offering a trade-up to M9 at what price? More than discount or less than? Dropped all the toy models via Panny, many spares and parts no longer available for some M-cameras..Well it's more than 50yrs old..
Leica cannot keep our old Leicas going. Thank Goodness for all those outside technicians, who TRY harder.
 
Since we're talking about "discounts" - that link at the beginning of the article - please note in the comments section that this is not being offered by Amazon but, instead, by someone/some company in the "Amazon Marketplace". Caveat Emptor.

I checked B&H and the discount is as follows:
$500 off of the M9
$1000 off of the M9-P

I don't know any legit dealer that's currently offering either camera at a $1500 discount but that's not to say that it isn't possible or can't happen. :)

Cheers,
Dave
 
IEDEI said:
I don't see M8 prices going down too much....maybe down to $1700-$1900 for a good one....right now about $2000-$2300 for a good one. M9s should dip into the $3500 area though....assuming the M10 comes in at about M9 pricing......$7k+
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I was offered an M8.2 not an M8 upgrade, 20,000 trouble free shutter count 3 weeks ago for €1200 and have seen 2 standard M8's in the past 2 weeks for €1000 each. No warranty on any of them and all boxes with them etc.
 
I think the reason certain digital cameras hold value is down to the repairability of them. If Nikon or Canon or any other of the major manufacturers cameras break then chances are that because of the volumes involved a part should be available.
The problem Leica has is that it's a small volume manufacturer and consequently doesn't have the resources to hold spare stock like the major Japanese companies so when those parts run out that's it.
I also think that Leica have been caught trouser down on the M8 screen issue as the cameras were always sold on the back of marketing hype 'camera for life' sales pitch and I would think that more than a few will think twice about the integrity of any future promise made by them for any future products.
Perhaps they expect buyers to start their own inventory of spares for when they can't fulfill their claims of camera longevity.
The last thing that anyone perhaps thought when buying a Leica digital R/F was that within a relatively short life span, IF it broke down and required unavailable spares it would in effect be a disposable camera.
Whilst in the short term they continue to make money, sooner or later the reputation of being a camera for photographers will be swept aside and the only people buying will be the wealthy who can afford to treat them as disposable cameras. If when that time comes there is enough wealthy buyers to sustain company survival then for the company it's all ok. For the less wealthy photographer who wants to use Leica lenses I suspect he/she may shop elsewhere and Leica will disappear as a camera manufacturer of digital R/F.
 
nobbylon said:
I think the reason certain digital cameras hold value is down to the repairability of them. If Nikon or Canon or any other of the major manufacturers cameras break then chances are that because of the volumes involved a part should be available.
The problem Leica has is that it's a small volume manufacturer and consequently doesn't have the resources to hold spare stock like the major Japanese companies so when those parts run out that's it.
I also think that Leica have been caught trouser down on the M8 screen issue as the cameras were always sold on the back of marketing hype 'camera for life' sales pitch and I would think that more than a few will think twice about the integrity of any future promise made by them for any future products.
Perhaps they expect buyers to start their own inventory of spares for when they can't fulfill their claims of camera longevity.
The last thing that anyone perhaps thought when buying a Leica digital R/F was that within a relatively short life span, IF it broke down and required unavailable spares it would in effect be a disposable camera.
Whilst in the short term they continue to make money, sooner or later the reputation of being a camera for photographers will be swept aside and the only people buying will be the wealthy who can afford to treat them as disposable cameras. If when that time comes there is enough wealthy buyers to sustain company survival then for the company it's all ok. For the less wealthy photographer who wants to use Leica lenses I suspect he/she may shop elsewhere and Leica will disappear as a camera manufacturer of digital R/F.
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Not really, but you'll never believe otherwise.

Cheers,

R.
 
Fuji and then Sony really forced their way into Leica market. X100, Nex-7, Nex5 (with M adopter) and Xpro1, these cameras were bought by people who otherwise could have bought an M9 and easily an M8.

Fuji X100 will go down as the camera that took the largest chunk of Leica market because a lot of younger photographers went with it, those who otherwise were aspiring to a Leica.

And things are not getting any better for Leica. If Nex-6 is really an Nex5 with Nex7 EVF then it means it will work much better with legacy lenses. And then there is the Fuji XE-1 that could be another major pain for Leica... And then there is the Sony RX1, a complete wild card but also the perfect camera for someone who might buy an M9, but instead can get a RX1 at half the price with AF and all those other typical benefits of a modern digital.

Personally, I don't see what Leica can do, other than find a buyer.
 
zOMG leica's digital cameras have bad LCD screens that will likely break down and become irreplaceable, meaning you can't see your pictures immediately and have to wait a little bit, turning the M8 into...












Precisely every other Leica made in the past 70 years up until the mid 2000s.
 
Does it still take pictures? It's my understanding that the only way it (tangentially) affects image quality is in making it hard for the user to change ISO.

And speaking to that point, the menu structure is a memorizable pattern, so while it may be annoying, it can still be performed.

It's a little like a mercedes with broken massage seats and no radio. Not exactly as comfortable as one expected when they bought it, surely, but the thing still drives...
 
Roger Hicks said:
Not really, but you'll never believe otherwise.

Cheers,

R.
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Can you explain please Roger?
If a company has no integrity and cannot service or repair it's products then it's certainly not going to last too long unless funded by wealthy individuals who do not care about value or people buying into a myth! .......and they can probably only afford it once!
How are you honestly going to feel if your camera breaks and they have no parts? Maybe just throw another pile of cash at another?
It's just not acceptable to me for a company to operate like this.
It would appear, judging by some comments that it is acceptable for some others. Maybe their cameras haven't broken. I hope the majority who own them don't find out the hard way.
If Porsche had adopted this kind of mentality how long would people buy their cars for? not long I'd bet.
Same for the old Leica. Parts available and a solid product that had longevity. It's not the company it was and it never will be again.
 
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