Selling my Leica....

You'll Buy It all Back

You'll Buy It all Back

I have seen this with my uncle, 4 years ago he sold his M3, M4 and M6. He sold his 28, 35 lux, 50 noct, 75 lux and 90 cron. He called me last week with advice about what body and lens he should buy and how much more expensive Leica stuff was. You'll sell the Leicas, but you always buy em back, even if it's 10 years later, sell somethign else, or just lighten the whole thing, it's not worth it.
 
Jim,

We all go through patches of dissatisfaction with our kit, pictures, life... Unless you need the cash for something non photographic, sit tight and take the pictures you love. If your situation is similar in 6 months, try something new

Best of luck

Marcus
 
don't sell it

you would just buy it back in the future...

my personal experience: since I bought my M6 and the last pre-asph 35 'cron, I've forgot my Nikon D70 in the cabinet, I re-used it yesterday for some family shots and close-ups, and ended up thinking seriously about a 90 elmarit 2.8 for portraits....

I'm not selling the digital stuff onlybecause I might need some quick digital lookups for some occasions.... but it is not in my heart anymore, all the room being occupied by that magic little blacktaped camera! 😉

and I can't stand the mirror move up noise and vibrations anymore! 😱
 
it is just a hobby for you, so do whatever you like.

the point is that M6 is not rare to find, so if you want to buy it back after a detour, it is fairly easy. If you are paid professional, then buy whatever fits your working needs.

That's simple.
 
Jim,

I am in a similar position. I own a Leica M6. I also have a digital kit for holiday snaps and my nature photography. A few weeks ago we decided to move to another place and I found myself more in need of funds than a camera. I sold one of my DSLR's, as well as a few Leica lenses that I had just purchased from fantastic people here in the classifieds.

I also put my M6 for sale here with no success so it is currently on eBay and going well - 4 days left, already at $800 with 59 watchers. I am positive it will sell for at least $1200.

So I should be happy right? Well no. The camera is sitting on my desk waiting the end of the auction and ready to be packed but every time I look at it I can feel the sorrow of seller's remorse. And it's totally irrational you know because I do not shoot that much, and I don't consider myself good enough to simply own a Leica.

But the thing is just irresistible. That camera is a joy to use, it's built to last 50 years, it's pure inspiration that's calling you to get out there shooting. So I am debating whether I should cancel the auction now. If I let it go until the end I know, I definitely know that I am going to purchase another one soon.

So think about it, if you sell your Leica how much are you going to miss it? If you are like me: a lot, I believe.

Cheers,
 
kxl said:
Unless you need the money for any other reason, I don't really see the reason for selling your gear. I don't buy the argument that having several systems is distracting. It's distracting ONLY if you bring all of that gear with you while out for the day; otherwise, you bring one system with you for the day or one a trip, and the others stay at home. No worries, no distraction.
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I just have to say that I agree with this remark completely. Changing cameras of from RF to SLR gets your juices flowing sometimes, when nothing else will. I just sold three cameras, but only because they were "dupes," cameras of which I had an extra example in case of emergencies. I realize now this was kind of stupid, so I sold, and at a loss, but they needed new homes and they needed to be used.

And to echo another comment, sell what you don't use. If you just are not going to use a camera again, period, let someone else have it. I had an old Yash sitting around, not worth the trouble to sell it. But I know a Flickr guy who broke his digicam last year, but took AMAZING photographs. I sent it to him because he didn't have a camera and couldn't afford to replace the broken one. He now loves rangefinders and used B&W film! His stuff is great. He's a student (student equals broke, I remember) who spent his free time volunteering at a hospital! He deserved a camera. He loves it and it gave me great joy to see he was using it. And using it better than I ever had! (okay, that part was annoying, I admit.) 😉
 
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Hi again,

First off thank you all so much for taking the time to respond. I knew I could count on you folks to help me out with this one.

A lot of the genesis for this was that I'm coming up short on funding to get started with the 8X10. One option that several of you mentioned was swapping the M6 for a Bessa, I haven't ruled that out completely but I think I'm going to be hanging on to the M6, although the AE functions on the R2A are tempting.

My M system is pretty complete as far as an M system goes. I have a CV 35/2.5 PII (I'm a 35 guy, 50 just doesn't work for me) and a 90/4 Elmar-C. I'll probably add a CV wide at some point either a 15 or 21.

I am going to sell some of my Nikon gear because I don't need to duplicate a lot of what I have with the M system in Nikon. I'm also going to sell one of my DSLRS. I don't need two, and I don't need a backup. If my DSLR dies I can still use some of that plasticy stuff with all the holes in it. 😀

Another thing this discussion has made me look at is the wisdom of the 8X10 system. It was a bit of an impulse purchase and it will still cost a fair amount to get started as I'm still sans holders, a sturdy enough tripod, spot meter, and film. I'm also concerned about the running costs of it. 8X10 film is expensive. I'm lured by the siren call of the 8X10 contact print though....

I still have some more thinking to do but thanks to all of you I feel better about the whole thing and have a better perspective.

Take care,

Jim
 
Jim, you can always wait, save money, use your other gear while you buy the 8X10 elements you want. In short, nothing has to be done quickly.

Let me add my voice to the choir that recommends NOT to sell the Leica. Keep it; it's not a white elephant and you like it. Why deprive yourself of a source of satisfaction?

Just wait, save, think long term. And take good photographs too! 🙂
 
jmooney said:
Another thing this discussion has made me look at is the wisdom of the 8X10 system. . .

Jim
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Dear Jim,

FWIW, I think you're going in the right direction -- and that 10x8 may not be 'better' than the Leica. You might care to look at the following for some more ideas on camera choice. On the large formats:

http://www.rogerandfrances.com/photoschool/ps large.html

On deciding how many cameras you need (and which ones):

http://www.rogerandfrances.com/howmany.html

Cheers,

R.
 
Jim, the way I look at it, you have a perfect combination.

Your M6 is a handy "light meter" and proofing camera for your 8x10. And the digital? why, it's for taking snaps of you using your M6 as a light meter when you shoot 8x10.

😀
 
Jim, best of luck with your decision. Fwiw, I've sold almost all my Leica gear over the past year or so. No regrets at all. Look at the photos you've taken that delight you and envision the ones you wish to take. I did so. Then I sold or bought accordingly. And I'm happy where I'm at.

Note to Tom: I'm keeping my Canon ltm 50/1.5 😉
 
It´s just a camera. There are lots of used M6 being bought and sold everyday. You can always come back if you want to.
 
I also sold off all of my Leica M gear - twice in fact.

The first time was maybe 5 years ago when I was convinced that I just wanted digital, when I couldn't see my need for parallel media.

So, I fairly recently bought a replacement M system.

It sat in the bag for months, seldom used.

I sold it all off again.

It came down to this - I was (and am) unable to see anything extra or special about my Leica prints to justify the price difference versus CV/ZM/G gear. I'm not a pro, or an artist (and have no interest in being either) and could stretch and call myself an "amateur". That does not make me a philistine, however....

Since it's not about money for you, or for me, I think that once that "is Leica worth it" phrase starts bouncing around in your head, it is clear the direction that you are heading. I will not pretend that I didn't like the tactile feel of Leica, but if I wanted to hold and feel nice things there are much more stimulating things to grab and feel.... I concluded, that in the end it was about the print and moved on.
 
Yes, been in a similar situation. I owned a Canon EOS 3 and a bunch of great lenses, a Leica M6 and a bunch of great lenses, a Nikon FM2n and a few good lenses... I now own the Canon with a few great lenses, the Leica with a couple of great lenses and a Ricoh GRDII. The Leica with a 50mm Elmar-M goes with me everywhere along with the Ricoh. I take more and better pictures and the Canon stays at home in the hopes of my finding a need for it (haven't shot macro in a while!).

As has been mentioned it's easy to be distracted by a slew of equipment, but only if you take it all with you. It's an awful lot more fun to own it all, but how much can you use of it, and how effective will you be, when you are carrying 15 choices in front of you?

Cheers
Ian
 
Last year at this time I had a Nikon D200 system as well as my Leica M with three lenses, and I was pretty much in the same boat as you trying to decide between the convenience and versatility of the digital SLR vs. the handling enjoyment and beautiful images I got from the Leica, even though I sometimes had to wait days or even weeks to see the final result of my efforts. Ultimately, I decided that I prefered using my Leica so much that I didn't want another system competing for my attention. I sold the D200 system and used a portion of the funds to buy another M lens. I took another $150 and bought a little Canon pocket digicam. Now, when I want to take pictures for the web or for immediate viewing (I have a three month old baby girl that family and friends always want to look at) the little Canon comes out. But for everything else, the Leica MP is where it's at for me now.
 
Update so far:

Thanks to some extra impetus from Roger's articles (BTW I am a subscriber and highly recommend it) I'm swapping the 8X10 for a 5X7. My reasoning is that I'll still get to make some beautiful contact prints but won't have to upgrade my tripod to use a 5X7 and the film costs are about 1/2 that of 8X10.

I'm still on the fence about the M system though, not so much for cost but that it's kinda of a niche item. More thinking to do.....
 
jmooney said:
Update so far:

Thanks to some extra impetus from Roger's articles (BTW I am a subscriber and highly recommend it) I'm swapping the 8X10 for a 5X7. My reasoning is that I'll still get to make some beautiful contact prints but won't have to upgrade my tripod to use a 5X7 and the film costs are about 1/2 that of 8X10.
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Oh, dear... It's always easier spending someone else's money than your own, and I apologize for spending yours! But I don't think you'll regret it.

Thank'ee kindly for subscribing (and for the kind words)!

Cheers,

R.
 
JM,

For what it's worth, sell the Leicas and go 4X5. Why, you can get enlargers for a song these days, lots of good stuff on the market and IMHO a bit more flexible than anything larger. More choices in way cool cameras, even SLRs.

B2 (;->
 
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