Re: [Leica] Help Needed for Leica IIIf purchase!!!

[Guy Bennett <gbennett@lainet.com>]

Yannis,

The prices you describe are very high. The International Leica Price guide
lists "good" condition IIIf BD at $450 USD, and a Summitar lens for $150
USD. Add maybe $100 to each if they are are in mint- condition.

You might want to propose less money to your dealer and see if he'll go for
it, or post a Want to Buy ad here on the LUG on Friday. Some Lugger may
have the camera you want at a much more reasonable price.

Best of luck.

Guy


>Dear friends hi,
>
>I have recently joined the LUG as the result of my search on the net for
>information about the Leica IIIf, a camera which I intend to buy in the near
>future.
>
>I am an amateur photographer myself and my main photographic interests are
>in B&W photography. My photographic experience involves mainly SLR cameras
>and at the moment I own a MINOLTA T-101 (inherited by my father) and a NIKON
>F-70 (N-70 in the US) which I bought some years ago. I have a quite good
>knowledge of the SLR cameras and accessories' market since I have been a lot
>of times around looking for new or used pieces of equipment for myself or
>friends. However, I never had the opportunity, nor the money, to consider
>buying or even looking to buy a Leica camera, up to now. The increased cost
>of a Leica SLR along with the cost of a decent range of 2-3 lenses that
>would be required to complete my photographic needs did not allow me to
>"taste" a Leica before.
>
>About one and a half week ago I visited the local Autorised Leica dealer as
>part of my montly visit to the various second hand photographic dealerships
>in the city where I leave. There I saw and I fall in love almost
>immediatelly with a second hand Leica IIIf. Not knowing too much about the
>camera itself I stayed at the window staring at it trying to figure out its
>condition and its technical characteristics from what was written on the
>body and the lens. The camera looked realy clean and after a word I had with
>the dealer has been on the self directly from its original owner. The dealer
>showed me also the original receipt of purchase which dated back in 1950s,
>somewhere in Germany. I checked the camera and the condition of it seems
>really good. It is a Black Dial Model and comes along with a Summitar 50mm,
>f2 (I hope to describe it correctly)lense, which is in the same condition
>with the camera. The price the dealer asks for the set (body and lense)is
>795 British Pounds ($1,150).
>
>After my first encounter with the camera, I tried to find information about
>it on the internet and have managed to read some things about it on several
>sites. However, I have not the experience to understand whether the amount
>of money the dealer is asking for this camera is within a reasonable range.
>On the same window (of the shop) there were displayed two more IIIf's, one
>with Red Dial and Timer mechanism and the same exact Summitar lense, whose
>body and lense were showing evidencce of extensive use, priced at 450
>British Pounds ($650) ; and another one almost brand new, with a Summicron
>lense 50mm, f2 (hope to display this info right too!!).The price for the
>latter was 1,000 British Pounds ($1,440). Searching through the internet in
>sites like eBay, Jessops and other on-line shops I found the same camera at
>prices around 300-450 British Pounds ($430-650), some of which showed
>evidences of bad use, but some of them were pretty ok.
>
>I am really keen on buying the camera I found, even if this means that I
>have to live in a tighter budget for the rest 3-4 months. I just wanted to
>know from anyone that has bought such a camera in the past or is aware of
>the market (US or UK preferably) for these, whether the price of 795 British
>Pounds (about $1,150) is reasonable or not for the body/lense set of the
>Leica IIIf described above. I would also appreciate any comments on what to
>take into consideration before the purchase, or any information about the
>technical cahracteristics of the camera ( or even relevant internet sites).
>
>I am sorry if I have been too long.
>
>Regargs,
>
>Yannis.
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