Selling My Film Cameras for an M9 -- Wise?

Roger Hicks said:
Brilliant advice. Not invariably true, but true enough, often enough, to be a bloody good rule of thumb.

Cheers,

R.
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Originally Posted by alexnotalex
Go for it.
You might be disappointed, but it's better to regret things you did do rather than things you didn't.


Yeah, this is a good quote. Like it lots. Your a professional so this question is prob best answered by other pros in my opinion. But, from a hobbiest, I'd say go for it. Get that magnificent camera and keep an Ikon ZM as a back up if your inclined.

Think of the pictures you'll make! :D
 
I've quietly gone 100% digital in the past few months...sad to say. But digital photography increasingly offers options that actually suit my aesthetic needs, which was not the case just a few years ago. I say go for it.
 
I made the M9 leap last summer - best photo decision I've made. It's a wonderful camera. I'm now finishing selling off a few collectables but I'm keeping my M6's and some screwmount Leicas.
 
I ask myself a question: If price was the same (no money involved), would I trade my M6 for a M9?. The answer is WITHOUT A DOUBT and RIGHT NOW.

So for me it's clear. I don't do it because the price is not the same or even close, and there isn't any alternative (wish Zeiss or CV listened). I've returned to digital with a humble Canon G11, that gives my previous Canon 350D DSRL a kick in its butt in the IQ department. Digital has improved so much even in the las 4-5 years... I can't imagine how great the M9 is. I've seen pics made by it and they're stunning IQ wise.

Since I bought my G11, the M6 has seen way less use than before. I miss it, but developing/scanning/post processing has become a PITA for me too. The pity is that I LOVE B&W film looks, but the trouble is too much for me at the moment.

So, ask yourself that question and then go for the M9 :).
 
Is the M9 worth 7 grand? Yeah, it is. It's a shockingly good camera.

Should you sell your film gear in order to fund it? That's a harder question to parse. Especially the M2 that's been with you for 20 years - I'd have a tough time with that. But if it clearly comes down to an either/or... yeah. The M9 is worth almost any kind of gyrations that are necessary in order to get it.

It bottles up all the old Leica ethos in a blow-you-away-good digital body.
 
Vince Lupo said:
I have given Penn Camera a try -- the closest location is Reisterstown Road, which is about 30 minutes away from me. One hour round trip to drop off film, one hour round trip to pick up the film. A roll of 120 is $22 for process and print. Not worth it, at least for me. That was one of the things that pushed me this week.
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I have to make that long of a trip, longer if traffic is bad. I tend to time it for when traffic isn't bad, unless I *really* want the film back. :)

Thankfully I only pay about $12 for a roll of 120 with 5x5" prints. I think a roll of 120 or 35mm slides is about the same. I've moved to doing all my B&W developing and scanning, that helps a lot. Eventually I plan to get a dark room set up.

There is a place on the way to work that would send 35mm or 120 out to be developed, but I'm not happy with the results I've gotten when I had them do some for me.

A part of me wonders if there is a full frame digital Leica in my future, but even if there is, it's the distant future. For me I think one of the big issues will be the availability of colour film, as I shoot both B&W and Colour with my Leica (I'm primarily colour with the Hasselblad and B&W with Large Format). Costs like you're facing would definitely get me to give up the Hasselblad, or move to mostly B&W for it.

I recently read that it doesn't take long for Leica MP to be more expensive than an M9, and sadly I have to agree.
 
semordnilap said:
And as for platinum-palladium, I think I read an article a while back, maybe on Luminous Landscape, about printing 8x10 transparencies from digital files and doing P-P from those.
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Both "Black + White" and "Photo Technique", IIRC, have had articles on this recently. I believe there are also a couple books that touch briefly on the subject. Digital negatives have been around for a few years. I opted to go Large Format and start developing my own sheet film rather than do digital negatives.
 
Best alternate is to do the Leica Akademie and have a hands-on day if there's not a retailer close. That's what sold me on an M9. I did go out and buy an M8 and will probably pick up an M9 at some point.
 
Honestly, now is probably the best time to sell your film bodies. The longer you wait, the less you'll get for it. Values on most have been dropping. One area I've noticed this might not be true is with at least some Leica M bodies (I could swear prices have gone up the last year).

If you have any cameras with sentimental value, I say keep those. I also recommend keeping at least one, if not two Leica M film bodies as a backup to the M9. Definitely keep your Leica glass, you're going to need it! :D

For the other lenses, think carefully.
 
richard photo lab in LA is fantastic.
give them a shout.
might change your mind.

i use 2 m9's and i shoot lots of film as well.

i prefer film.
 
Brian Sweeney said:
>My M2, M5, Robot Royal 36, Contax II, Hasselblad, screw mount
>Leicas, etc (I will probably hang onto my Contaflex TLR and maybe a
> screw mount Leica that I've had since 1988). I'm going to keep all
>my Leica lenses, but I've pretty well decided to do this.

Of the film cameras listed here, which do you use most? Which will being the most income, and be missed the least? The Contax mount lenses require an adapter for use on the Leica, which runs as much as a Contax body. The M5 will bring more than the M2. The Hasselblad is the most expensive in terms of cost to operate, 120 film and processing is more than 35mm.

If you sell them all, prices of film cameras allows buy-back. But if you have a favorite, keep it.

With me- after collecting for 40 years, lots of film cameras.
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Definitely appreciate all of the replies -- I know there are positives and negatives (excuse the pun!) to going this route or not going this route.

I think the one camera I'll miss is my M2 -- I've had it the longest (over 20 years), and I've done my best shots with it. Plus, I had it motorized to take the M6 motor (which comes with the body), and it's a Canadian one, so I think it will actually bring in more money than the M5 (assuming of course they sell at all). But, I haven't really used any of these cameras in a while. If I wanted to sell the camera that would bring in the most money, then of course it would be my Contaflex TLR with its 4 lenses (including a converted 2.8cm f/8!). As far as 'income' goes (don't know if you also mean that to be as a commercial money-making tool), I don't use any of them for that purpose (at least not any more). I used the M2 and (to a lesser extent) the M5 as money-making devices when I worked for the AP and other news outlets in Washington back in the late '90s-early 2000's, but the D700 is currently taking those duties. Just the way things are going, fortunately or unfortunately (not sure which!). I think really it's probably a good thing, but of course now that the technology allows you to get the image quicker, clients are now expecting things quicker (and of course not paying you any more!), but that's a whole other discussion for another thread....

So I had a bit of any update on an M9: I'd really like a grey hammertone M9, but I have an opportunity to buy either a new black one for $6650, or a black demo for $6250 (no, not from one of those eBay scam sellers!). Worth saving $750 to go for the demo, and a black one at that?
 
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I would never buy a demo electronic device (and that's what an M9 is) based on the experience of my stepfather who alway buys demo models. Too much risk of people thrashing the thing.
 
Vince Lupo said:
Selling My Film Cameras for an M9 -- Wise?

After having had a very frustrating week trying to get some film processed in my neck of the woods (...)

Thanks in advance for your thoughts....
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Bad idea. Learn to develop it yourself; buy a scanner. I'm not saying not to "go digital". I'm saying "don't jump [the film] ship".

Trust me, once [currently Red-flag country's regime] starts getting a bit cocky, maybe in about a decade and diplomatic tensions flare, all electronics will go up in price. Well, pretty much everything, until the rest of the world re-learns to manufacture things for themselves. Yeah, I was laughed at and yelled at in 2000 when I said the bubble will burst, and a few years later that I looked in horror at the housing market ballooning...so I know I will be laughed at and yelled at when I say this about [currently Red-flag country's regime] going cuckoo.

Stock on film. Keep your well-built film cameras (go all manual!).

And keep your aluminum foil hat handy. Just kidding. ;)
 
Gabriel M.A. said:
Trust me, once [currently Red-flag country's regime] starts getting a bit cocky, maybe in about a decade and diplomatic tensions flare, all electronics will go up in price. Well, pretty much everything, until the rest of the world re-learns to manufacture things for themselves. Yeah, I was laughed at and yelled at in 2000 when I said the bubble will burst, and a few years later that I looked in horror at the housing market ballooning...so I know I will be laughed at and yelled at when I say this about [currently Red-flag country's regime] going cuckoo.
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Not quite sure why you're using the circumlocutions, but I'd be surprised if the current fad for revolutions didn't spread outside the Near East, and rather sooner than in a decade. I'm not laughing or yelling at you; I'm saying you're being optimistic.

Then again, I'm not sure how much that will matter when it comes to M9s. Cheapo consumer electronics, yes, but not the higher-end stuff. And it would be interesting to see how fast e.g. a free Tibet got into high-tech industries. With a 100,000+ Tibetan diaspora, many keen to go home, things could get very interesting, very quickly.

Cheers,

R.
 
Hi Roger -- using a digital camera (high end or not) implies the use of a computer. Once hardware prices begin to climb, people will begin to rethink about how "the digital age" has been taken for granted.

Some people swear only by the fork, others only the spoon, and others only the knife. I like to keep all for my table. :D


BTW, ten years is usually the time it takes for most people to figure out what just happened.
 
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