Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1996/09/13
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]
At 08:33 PM 9/12/96 -0700, you wrote:
>Path: A.NCR.COM!bernard.k
>From: bernard.k@SanDiegoCA.NCR.COM (Bernard Kampmann)
>Newsgroups: rec.photo.misc
>Subject: What to get: Leica R4, R4s, R5??
>Date: Thu, 12 Sep 1996 08:37:13
>Organization: AT&T-Global Support Center
>Message-ID: <bernard.k.185.00089F11@SanDiegoCA.NCR.COM>
>NNTP-Posting-Host: gscws16.sandiegoca.ncr.com
>X-Newsreader: Trumpet for Windows [Version 1.0 Rev Final Beta #7]
>
>I am looking for a reasonable priced used Leica "R" body.
>There are quite a number of R4 ones for sale here in southern
>California, some more R4s and a very few R5.
>Concidering that I probably can live without some of the functions,
>I would appreciate any advise on the pro's and con's of the models?
>Anything to avoid? What would be a fair price in good condition?
>Will the R5 drop in price with the rumored introduction of a R ('8'?).
>Thanks in advance.
>Bernard
>
>
I would avoid R4's of all vintages but the very last. The R4 and R4s had
major electrical problems which Leitz couldn't fix for most of the
production run. Believe me, I know--I had three of them, the first of which
was repaired 5 different times by Leica USA, and the other two of which
failed. (To their credit, in the end Leica USA gave me an R4SP--but their
technical people confirmed what I had experienced and what the rumor mill
said--the R4 had many problems, through a sequence of several different
electronics manufacturers). The proof of the pudding here is the low prices
for used R4's as compared with R5's--after all, there is little significant
difference between the two, yet the R5 sells for twice as much! I strongly
recommend an R4SP (by then they got it fixed) or an R5--or, for the budget
minded, the R3, which, despite someone's post a while ago, was, from all I
have heard and experienced, quite reliable, with the exception of the motor
for the R3-MOT.
Charles E. Love, Jr.
517 Warren Place
Ithaca, New York
14850
607-272-7338
CEL14@CORNELL.EDU