What to buy and where to buy it?

[clogwog]

I recently bought a never used/new Leica lens 90/2 apo-summ for a great price aud$1320 (instead of $3600 new) from a film production company which had used it as a film prop. The intention was to onsell for a profit and invest in a digital camera like a Nikon D70.(after previously owning nikkormats and nikon lenses) I now am having second thoughts; after reading up a little about Leica rangefinder and finding their new prices a bit to steep, I discovered a whole new world of rangefinder products of various quality and price.

The leica 90/2 would be the starting point for my collection.

In the future I would be intersted in an Epson R-D1 or other quality digital rangefinder.

My interst is in available light photography, doco style with fast lenses at wide open or near wide open.

Should I try to find a 2nd hand Leica M6 or M7 or buy a Bessa R2 or wait for the new R3a?

What about the new Zeiss Ikon?

Any comments about Konica Hexar RF?and/or are other rangefinders out there which aren't that well known that will take leica m lenses?

what lenses would you buy if starting out again?

Where is what cheapest US, Hong Kong, Japan?

The US looks cheaper than here in Australia and UK and rest of Europe looks dearer is this correct?

I'm planning a trip for later this year or early '05 so I could make camera shopping the first stop-over and return home with a camerabag full of gear.

Buying from ebay is something I'm a bit sceptical about but I would buy from overseas like Camera Quest for example, any other respectabl www.vendors?

Any input and answers to one or all of the questions is greatly appreciated

Thanks

Gerrit

 

[rover]

First of clogwog, welcome.

Wow do you have a lot of options, all of them good I would think. I guess I am wondering a few more things though. What type of shooting do you do? What type of camera and lenses do you use now? How much of an investment are you looking to make? Are you considering adding just 1 lens? 2? More? Will you be keeping your film body when you jump to digital?

Poke around here and at the cameraquest.com (very reputable dealer by the way) site to pick up some info and keep posting. You will get lots of opinions and ideas.

 

[iMacfan]

The 90/2 and R3a look like they are made for each other, to me. I know that the RF is fairly short, but if you are looking for a way to use the superb lenns that you already have with a fairly small outlay (in comparison), I can't see how you could go wrong.

David

 

[Sonnar Brian]

The Voigtlander's are hard to beat for price.

BUT a used M3 or M2 that requires a CLA can be had for a good price (~600 with the CLA). The trick is to find a good repair shop that is reasonable. Here in the US, I use Essex camera and have done so for over 15 years. They can repair the wide-variety of camera that I have flung at them.

This forum is also a place to pick up gear. The prices tend to be better than EBay as we know that our cameras will get used, and we do not pay the EBay fees. Jorge has put some Leica gear up here before, as have others. It is more like buying from a friend, one who has a vested interest in you using these fine cameras that they themselves ebjoy so much.

 

[Doug]

Welcome! Awfully hard to answer the question "what should I buy?" Getting a Leica is like choosing a BMW over a Toyota Corolla; both are of course quite functional. It's a matter of style and pride of ownership vs the budget!

Hexar RF and Minolta CLE are middle-of-the-road options, with the new Zeiss Ikon trying to pull in Leica customers. These, older Leicas, and the Voigtlander Bessas are all good choices depending on your preferences. Stephen Gandy's CameraQuest website is a great resource for your research.

I have an M2, a pair of Bessas, and a CLE. They're all excellent, but if pressed I'd say the tidy little CLE is my favorite of these.

For fast lenses and fast reactions for documentary and street photos... If I were starting over and had the budget, I might well choose a Leica M7. Long RF baseline for accurate focusing with long/fast lenses, and AE for quick responses in dynamic situations. Or the new Zeiss.

With shorter/fast lenses the CLE is just about as good. Same for the new Bessa R2a. But these days I mostly carry a Bronica RF645 or Fuji GA645Wi...