My "M" Conundrum

[former member]

> You know there is no such thing as "too many" cameras, unless you do not have the space to store them.

I can get about 50 cameras in a 5-drawer chest. Have to use a different one for the lenses.

 

[back alley]

it is the Leica brand that has the ability to appreciate in value over the years.

i think there are others that also sell for more than they cost originally.

 

[Uncle Bill]

M3, M3, M3, M3,M3, M3

time to come over to the dark side Dave, there is no escape and resistance is useless. The M3 calling out for you.

Bill

 

[former member]

> i think there are others that also sell for more than they cost originally.

Yeah, those crazy Nikon collectors.... Priced an SP lately?

 

[dcsang]

Lemme 'splain some stuff to you guys 🙂

Once upon a time.. about 3.5 years ago, I had purchased a used M6 and Summicron 50mm for the UNHEARD of price of $1,400 USD. *sigh*.. I needed, however, shortly thereafter, to sell it in order to fund my SLR system. I was in the middle of switching from Pentax to Canon as I knew that, *shudder* for the digital realm *cough cough* I would need Canon's technology.

So.. I sold the M6 and 50mm for about the same price I bought it for.
While I used it, I couldn't help but think I probably should have hung onto it for longer than the month I had it - just so I could really see what it was like - and now.. well.. I wished I had kept it.

After getting the R3A, I've never had so much "fun" just shooting, mainly for a number of reasons - the light weight of the camera, the size of the camera allows me to carry it anywhere, and the joy of firing it off from the hip and using the DOF scale which I had sorely missed on my AF lenses.

So now that I'm "back" with an RF I don't think I want to let go.. yet I still yearn for that damn name.. that red dot of prestige... even though; in truth, I know that it will not make me any better a photographer... blast the corporate marketing departments!!! 😀

Cheers
Dave

 

[Ben Z]

Any and every time I decided to settle for a "reasonable facsimile thereof" of something I wanted, I ended up regretting it, selling it (at a loss), and buying what I originally should have (usually at a higher price than it was when I was first looking). Now I either get what I want or skip it entirely.

I keep chanting that same old mantra:
"I do not need a Leica M3 or M6"
"I do not need a Leica M3 or M6"
"I do not need a Leica M3 or M6"

But ya know.. it just doesn't seem to be working. I mean, I should be satisfied with my Bessa R3A with it being an M mount camera right? It's so much fun shooting with it; yet there is the siren, calling out to me, and begging me to venture forth and rescue her .....

Is there any way I can avoid being yanked into that comforting void?

Nervously,
Dave 🙂

 

[weisgrau]

You say "I do not need ...."

Of course you don't need a Leica M, but you don't need a Bessar or a Hexar either.
You WANT a Leica. What better reason can there be than that?

I agree with the previous statement that a camera is just a box on which you mount a lens, and the lens is the most important component, but what is wrong with having the best, sexiest, toughest rangefinder there is? Nothing is wrong with it.

Get a Leica and feel good about like the rest of us Leica users do.

 

[Jungle Jim]

In his BEST Darth Vader voice, "I, too, have fallen to the Darkside." After decades of SLR use, I have returned to the rangefinder. Life is too short not to appreciate something nice. And the Leicas are certainly very nice. Look at it this way Dave, if you get a Leica, you can move all of your lenses back and forth between the Bessa and your new toy!!

 

[Doug]

You know there is no such thing as "too many" cameras, unless you do not have the space to store them.

Too true! 😀

...it is the Leica brand that has the ability to appreciate in value over the years. Alll the screw-thread Leicas and the early M Leicas (M2, M3) all now sell used for more than they sold for new. Thus, if you had purchased a new M3 and used it all these years and now turned around and sold it, you could make a profit from what you initially purchased if for.

Yes indeed, prices fluctuate, and I think maybe I lucked onto a low point when I bought my M2 button rewind for $150 in 1967. Its value has obviously risen over the years, but I think it's a bit lower now than, say, 3 years ago. Still, a fine investment that I've enjoyed using for almost 40 years!

Edit: I guess I should add that $150 was a significant expense for me in 1967, much more than a week's wages, but every time I use it, I'm glad I made that sacrifice. Dave, you should probably just do it!

Geez I feel the mild beginnings of another GAS attack.... MP, MP, MP... M7?