What is a black painted Leica M3 worth?

[kehng]

Hi
I have a black painted Leica M3 which was done by CRR Luton that I am considering selling with the matching black 50mm summilux and MR4 as a kit. The only problem is I don't know what the body might be worth as they rarely appear on the market. Mine is near mint and runs like a brand new M3... Any advice would be much appreciated.

 

[Roger Hicks]

The paint was done by CRR, or a BP M3 was overhauled by CRR?

Makes quite a difference to the price...

Cheers,

R.

 

[raid]

It sounds like the blackening was done by CRR.
Most likely, this is not a BP M3.

estimated value: $3000 for the set?

 

[rogerzilla]

There should be a small premium for the paint and the CLA (if recent), maybe $100-250 (or the same in GBP).

 

[kehng]

Yes.. It was black painted by CRR, fully CLA'd and rangefinder re-silvered for about £800. I think I paid £500 for the camera when it was chrome. I paid at least as much for the lens and meter too.

Unfortunately for me, my wife needs a digital blad (we've been hiring them for her but it is now happening more often than not) and I was going to help here out by making a sacrifice of some of my film stuff.

$3000 - 3200 is less than I would have hoped for so I may have to look at losing my complete Xpan kit too. Ouch.

 

[kehng]

Do you guys think it would be reasonable to advertise the kit for what I've paid for it? I suppose people can make their best offers from there?

 

[Mister E]

Any repainted M3 is only worth $2000 at most I'd say while a real BP M3 is worth around $9000 or more.

 

[Mister E]

Do you guys think it would be reasonable to advertise the kit for what I've paid for it? I suppose people can make their best offers from there?

Yeah that's resonable.

 

[rogerzilla]

The fact that the prisms have been fixed (I think Peter uses modern optical resin, which won't fail liike the original balsam) might be important to people outside the UK, where there is no-one doing this repair. It's the Achilles heel of the early M bodies.

 

[JayGannon]

Any repainted M3 is only worth $2000 at most I'd say while a real BP M3 is worth around $9000 or more.

Even if that, the last CRR repaint I saw was an M2 that went for 1400 euros.

 

[RichardB]

If a collector, I wouldn't even consider purchasing a chrome repainted M3.
As a user, I also wouldn't purchase the camera for various personal reasons.
You certainly can test the market by going for a high price and you may get it but I would be surprised if the camera sold for much more than chrome M3. It will be interesting to see what you get for it.-Dick

 

[Renzsu]

If a collector, I wouldn't even consider purchasing a chrome repainted M3.
As a user, I also wouldn't purchase the camera for various personal reasons.
You certainly can test the market by going for a high price and you may get it but I would be surprised if the camera sold for much more than chrome M3. It will be interesting to see what you get for it.-Dick

Well, if I was in the market for one, I'd certainly pay more for the repaint than the chrome one, if it was done well. I prefer black Leica's and paint over black chrome. I don't care if it's not original, but I wouldn't pay more for it than the price of body + repaint + CLA combined (maybe little bit more, for the convenience of not having to go through the repainting process myself).

 

[kehng]

I've put this camera in the classifieds now. If anybody wants to make an offer let me know...

 

[secksthoi]

Wait.. I noticed your repainted M3 brassed on the corners. I always thought it was still chrome on the bottom of the paint... That's awesome! I want to have my M2 black painted in that case, shoot!

 

[kehng]

Yes, Peter stripped the chrome to bare metal...
I thought I'd own this camera forever but alas.

 

[secksthoi]

Yes, Peter stripped the chrome to bare metal...
I thought I'd own this camera forever but alas.

Aw well good luck with the sale! Do you mind if I ask how much it cost you for the repaint? If you read anything about my past leica endeavors, I love black paint with slight brassing.

 

[kehng]

It's right here. Second row of the classifieds?

 

[kehng]

The paint job was about £550 but I had other stuff added on top of it as there were parts that were replaced and I had the rangefinder resilvered + the CLA. I think it was about £800 worth of work done to it. Runs like a dream now though