Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1997/02/14
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]From: photo@mich.com (C. Fitzgerald) Date: Fri, 14 Feb 1997 10:16:39 -0500 Hi, I'm curious what you on this list think. 1) What's your opinion of using Leica, versus collecting? Am I correct to assume my Leica equipment will 'depreciate', if the use shows, and on the other hand it will 'appreciate' if held and not used? In the United States, in constant dollar terms, most Leica equipment has not appreciated significantly since it was sold as new. Collectible cameras and lenses are simply not a very good long-term investment, partly because they are luxury items and they do not have any actual yield, unlike (for example) real estate in downtown Tokyo, which can be rented out. A Leica M4 bought new in the early 60's and kept in its box since then is an underperforming investment when compared to the S&P 500. A few rare items are decent investments, but even they aren't stellar. So it doesn't seem to me to make much sense to avoid using your equipment to preserve its value. If you're looking for an investment, you should sell the equipment and put the money in something that performs better. On the other hand, you might just enjoy having the equipment in your house and not using it, and I'm not arguing that that's a bad thing. Just be aware that doing so has a cost when compared to putting the money in something else.