Where are all the affordable M2s in the UK?

[hans voralberg]

Carmathen also has a Xenon 50/1.5 for 350 quids, a tad on the high side but it's quite rare so might be of interest to someone 😉

 

[Never Satisfied]

Hi, I've got a pristine M2, just had a minor service you can have for 500Lbs, but I'm in Australia.

 

[SebC]

Well I had a little play with a couple of Leicas today, sadly no M2s.

One was a very early M3 DS, quite a nice thing, and I loved the film advance - so smooth and positive! I was surprised by the shutter noise, however; I think my Canonet is very close to it in volume.

Quick questions on the slow speeds: should the mechanical whirring be steady and end abruplty, or waver and sort of peter out? I think I know the answer to that... They seemed VERY slow too.

Among the other things I looked at was an M4-2, and I have to say, I think I preferred the finder!

 

[kully]

The slow speeds should whirr a little bit - I posted the same question when I got my first M2 🙂

Don't worry, I'm going to put up a beater CLA'd M2 in the classifieds in a day or so.

 

[Chris101]

I think they're here, but the same color as the background, so we just don't see them.

 

[januaryman]

Last year I picked up a user M2 for $465, serviced and sold by Youxin Ye. He does a good CLA on Leica's for not a lot a money. If you know who the seller is, ebay can be a source. You need luck and timing, though. I snagged mine over a long holiday weekend. I guess everyone else was on vacation. Good luck.

 

[NathanJD]

the little ping and bounce i get at 1/8 on my M2 is so cute! and the other slow speeds whir on a bit too

 

[MPerson]

Keep an eye on:

Collectable Cameras

Peter Loy

Red Dot

 

[SimonSawSunlight]

I bought my B/user condition M2 for 250€ some months ago. maybe you should have a glimpse on the german market...

 

[Lilserenity]

They are available, but it depends whether you have the patience to wait for one to come around. I have never used an M3 but after getting an M2, I can't imagine any other M for me (I've used an M6 and M8.2 recently) and handling wise, feel wise, frame line wise -- it's a stupendously good camera (as all M's are.)

I paid £300 for mine with 12 month warranty from a local dealer, MXV (www.mxvphotographic.co.uk I think) -- so they are about.

That said all I have seen lately is prices of £400+ from dealers with warranty, but on eBay anywhere from £250+

Personally I use 35mm and 50mm the most on any camera, and whilst 35mm is pretty much the focal length I would choose above all others if I had to choose one, I like the fact that on an M2 you can see outside of the frame on 50mm's on an M2 so you can see what is happening outside of the frame. It could mean the difference between a good photo and a fantastic one.

Mine's a lever rewind with no self timer, a true workhorse. Mine travels around with me for hundreds of miles on foot, so its a rugged camera for sure!

Vicky

 

[johannielscom]

To the OP: just stick a piece of gaffer tape to the frame lighting window of your M3 and use the whole viewfinder as a 35mm frame. It's pretty close, close enough for many shooters, including me.

When switching to a 50mm, stick the tape to the bottom of the camera until you need it again.

Easy as pie, and the M3 will serve you well when shooting 50's or 90's, better than the M2.

 

[januaryman]

To the OP: just stick a piece of gaffer tape to the frame lighting window of your M3 and use the whole viewfinder as a 35mm frame. It's pretty close, close enough for many shooters, including me.

When switching to a 50mm, stick the tape to the bottom of the camera until you need it again.

Easy as pie, and the M3 will serve you well when shooting 50's or 90's, better than the M2.

Sorry... that's "easy as pie" and serves you better than a great M2? "Laughing Out Loud" comes to mind here. An M2 is a great camera. The M3 is good, but to me, not AS good as an M2. At least with a M2 there's no gaffer tape needed! 😀

 

[SebC]

Well I kept looking and picked up a really nice M2 at a great price! Now I'm struggling to find a lens, but that's another story. Shame most of the classifieds here are US sales. Maybe I'll put a wanted ad up for a first 35 or 50mm. Thanks for the input all!

Seb

 

[NathanJD]

Well done Seb! Did you buy private or retail after? I hope you're happy with it! Mine has been treasured since the day it arrived and always will be. Lenses are available from all the same places as the bodies although I’d recommend keeping an eye out here and on eBay for something that looks like a bargain. I’d personally say go for Leica glass to compliment the Leica body but I love the old Leica look. as I mentioned earlier I have a Mk 1 Summaron 35/3.5 that is in need of a clean in screw mount with an adaptor and that cost me around £150, also a Mk 1 Summicron 50/2 that is in mint condition that cost me £280 and a Mk 1 Elmarit 90/2.8 in excellent user condition that cost me £170. As you can tell I love the vintage look. Depending on what you want to spend and what look you want then there'll be a lens out there for you. If you want to start off with something cheap in the 35mm range I’d recommend the Summaron, it's a great little lens for the money. if you had a bit more cash to spare you could gun for the grand daddy of all the 35mm Leica glass and go for the 35mm Summicron - this, as I understand, is the one to aspire to. You can get hold of a user condition model for a pretty reasonable price.

Don’t forget that there's no import tax and duty between the UK and Europe so it's not all that bad and if you find a real bargain in the states it might well be worth the extra tax anyway.

Best of luck and I look forward to seeing the results of your purchases! 😉

 

[SebC]

I took a chance on an eBay purchase in the end. Low bid and I won! And I have to say, it's in better condition than a similar Leica I tried in a dealer that was almost three times the price!

As far as lenses, I'm a bit torn. For people I love the look of vintage 50's, although perhaps not as extreme as say a Jupiter 3 wide open (that gets a bit too soft for me). I also love the low contrast, muted pastel tones these can give on colour film.

But for places (landscape, architecture, days out) I think I prefer something that bit sharper and more contrasty - it seems a bit weird to, say, shoot a landscape with Velvia and a soft low contrast lens.

So I think I need a fairly modern 35mm (Voigtlander color skopar 35/2.5?) and a fairly vintage 50mm - but I'm not exactly sure what,

I've been looking out for Canon, Nikon, Zeiss and Voigtlander glass as well as Leica - may as well keep my options open. But been a bit slow on the uptake on good deals. Missed a 50/2 rigid summincron for ~£250 and a CV 35/2.5 for ~£160 🙁

 

[Dave Wilkinson]

Just parted with my mint M2!, yes a very, very nice camera, but I don't like to have them hanging around doing nothing!...for me, digital has just got so good, convenient, and cost effective! - that I no longer want to wait for someone (and pay! ) to process my results, before I can do something with them!, on a regular basis. Yes, I still like to shoot some film now and then, for the 'look', the 'messing around with chemicals', but mainly for the nostalgic pleasure of using my old cameras, and I shall continue to do so, as long as it's reasonably easy to obtain. Common sense prevails more, as you get older! ( or should do! ), anyway - back to that M2!, as I said very nice camera indeed, and you would go a long way to find one as nice as mine, but not the majic wand that we are led to believe, as a precision engineer, I DO appreciate build quality, and mechanical exellence, but have several other cameras that equal or even exeed Leica in this respect, ( I won't name them, for fear of starting another 'yes it is'..'no it is'nt' battle! ) so just my current views on the way my hobby is going lately, and certainly - if I was still being paid for my efforts on a weekly basis, my rangefinders and films would not even be a consideration.
Cheers, Dave.

 

[mr_phillip]

I took a chance on an eBay purchase in the end. Low bid and I won! And I have to say, it's in better condition than a similar Leica I tried in a dealer that was almost three times the price!

As far as lenses, I'm a bit torn. For people I love the look of vintage 50's, although perhaps not as extreme as say a Jupiter 3 wide open (that gets a bit too soft for me). I also love the low contrast, muted pastel tones these can give on colour film.

But for places (landscape, architecture, days out) I think I prefer something that bit sharper and more contrasty - it seems a bit weird to, say, shoot a landscape with Velvia and a soft low contrast lens.

So I think I need a fairly modern 35mm (Voigtlander color skopar 35/2.5?) and a fairly vintage 50mm - but I'm not exactly sure what,

I've been looking out for Canon, Nikon, Zeiss and Voigtlander glass as well as Leica - may as well keep my options open. But been a bit slow on the uptake on good deals. Missed a 50/2 rigid summincron for ~£250 and a CV 35/2.5 for ~£160 🙁

Sounds like you're bang on the mark with your lens options. The little CV Skopar's a cracking lens - I use a silver screw-mount version on my M2 and it's a great pairing (they look like they were made for each other too). As for a vintage 50, well you're spoilt for choice. If you hang in there though there's bargains to be had. I recently picked up a Dual Range Summicron from evilBay, mint in box with the eyes for £260. Again, it's a great pairing with the M2, and (to me at least) represents the height of Leitz design and build.