Leica LTM The dangers of nice wine and ebay.

[Brian Legge]

I just came across this after having a bit of wine:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rt=nc&nma=true&item=250745187821&si=%252FtRxqULJPJGbe%252B3foBayMb4NN34%253D&viewitem=&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWNX%3AIT

I know this one is a gamble but it was hard to pass up at that price. Particularly as I just sold a camera and my paypal account had a bit of cash in it for a change. :|

 

[Pickett Wilson]

I dunno. Looks a little dodgy to me. Pretty beat for a IIf.

 

[Brian Legge]

I know; I'm hoping it is just cosmetic.

Worst case, I take a hundred dollar loss on it (I can't imagine the lens and body pair going for less than $225 - if the body needs a CLA and the lens is in bad condition - but maybe I'm being overly optimistic which is rare).

I think I'm also hoping the case kept the lens from getting too scratched up. I already have a Summarit which is in bad shape but it was left mounted on a camera thrown in the back of a car for a few years. Fungus though... that would kill it nicely.

We'll see. Good chance I burned some money on this one.

 

[johannielscom]

Real late IIf though, well into the M3 production period. Don't think these are very common!?

Good luck on it! Youxin takes USD 80 for a CLA, he has done my IIIc and I have to see it yet but am convinced it will be nice. Fingers xrossed on the lens😉

 

[Keith]

The little Summaron fetches $250.00 to $300.00 in nice nick. I bought a very rough IIIf ages ago that came in a box that also contained a 35mm f3.5 Summaron that looked pretty horrible ... but turned out to be near mint glass wise after DAG cleaned it for $50.00.

The eBay seller hadn't even mentoned the lens in the description so it was a bonus to find it in with the camera ... mind you the camera really was a dog and required a rebuild by Youxin. 😛

They are very nice lens IMO.

 

[Pickett Wilson]

Well, we've all rolled the dice on cameras. Part of the fun! 😉

 

[Brian Legge]

The lens was a big part of the reason I gambled on it. My only LTM wide angle at the moment is a J12. I'm not especially happy with the lens; this could be a much better fit for me.

I figure I'll keep either my IIIc or the IIf (depending on its condition) and will probably sell the J12. That ought to recover a decent portion of the spending.

If the lens is in bad shape, well, watch for a similar listing being posted in January. 😉

 

[Keith]

The most likely problem with the Summaron will be haze ... mine didn't seem too bad but when I used it the damned thing flared quite badly. I gave it to a local tech who returned it because he couldn't get it apart ... apparently the front element is very difficult to remove and can break if you're unlucky.

The little Summaron will slaughter your J-12 in all areas! 😀

 

[Brian Legge]

Ha! If haze is the issue I'll likely be picking between it and my Summarit which gives me results like this:

I like my relatively sharp, modern lenses but I like having at least one character filled lens around.🙂

 

[lxmike]

Hope all goes well, I've done similar things myself, luckily only a few bad ones on over 773 transactions, I would have snapped it up at that price too

 

[Mablo]

Red wine and eBay is a fatal combination for my credit card account...

Nice find anyway!

 

[rover]

At least it wasn't cheap wine.

 

[LeicaFoReVer]

when do you usually drink? I will put some of my stuff on ebay for you 🙂

nice find by the way, it looks in bad shape but it may turn out to be a good deal.

 

[lxmike]

I think the body may clean up well

 

[Brian Legge]

Well, the camera is in decent shape. The shutter is definitely off and a bit inconsistent at 1/25 but the rest is okay. Cosmetically, the bottom is pretty rough and the plastic around the rangefinder/viewfinder window is in bad shape, but otherwise the body seems decent. Still plenty more cleaning for me to do once I figure out how to attack specks of of green corrosion on the bottom without getting too abrasive.

No haze on the lens and the front and rear element glass looks relatively scratch free. There is a fair amount of dust between elements but I'm not sure how much impact it will have.

I started a roll this evening but didn't have a chance to finish it. gut reaction though, I love the feel of this lens. The size is exactly what I've been wanting.

 

[capricho]

I hope the wine was good.