Leica store in London

I'm going to London in a few weeks, and I'm thinking about buying an M6 while I'm there. Do you know any good

Leica/used camera shops in the city? What can I expect to pay for a ttl or non ttl M6? What are the prices in

London compared to other countries?

Forget the London stores. Buy a cheap M6 off of ebay. I've seen prices plummet, as the economy get worse. You should be able to easily find a black M6, in excellent to mint condition, for under $1000. Good luck.

In particular, stay away from this place -- prices are absurdly high!<div></div>

I second what Paul says above. I had a bad experience with a Leica I purchased from them a couple of years ago. It

had multiple faults and was returned twice under their guarantee - and both times they could not fix it! In the end, I bit

the bullet and sent it to Malcolm Taylor to repair - he did a fantastic job.

 

However, if you've got time to browse and want to try out a few goodies, then these stores have served me well in the

past:

 

Aperture Photographic

44, Museum Street

WC1A 1LY

 

Richard Caplan

25, Bury Street

SW1Y 6AL

 

R G Lewis

29, Southampton Row

WC1B

 

A relatively new one (which I've never tried) is:

 

Red Dot Cameras

68, Old Street

EC1V

 

Most of the above have websites detailing their prices - although I should imagine that a bit of haggling might prove

fruitful for you in the present economic climate.

 

Have a good trip.

The UK is a wonderful place to witness just how weak our US dollar is, esspecially against their high cost of living, which was high even before our dollar tumbled. Everything is expensive...and more so in London. It's very costly to just live in the city, and I can only imagine what it cost to maintain a small business. The anglophile in me wanted to purchase a camera momento in London as well, and I ended up settling on the film I purchased for my Minox, which averaged, ten dollars US for 36exp roll. I did enjoy visiting many fine shops, and I must have looked like a real cad walking out of Smythson's being so proud of the dozen wooden red pencils I purchased on sale for £12.

The UK is expensive and London dealers in particular have to cover the highest business costs in the country so this just makes it worse.

 

The price UK dealers charge also reflects the protection they have to give you, even for secondhand equipment.

 

The Sale of Goods Act 1979 (UK legislation) gives protection to consumers (some of which applies to second hand equipment being sold by declared dealers. To cover themselves on this issue, most dealers give at least a 6 months warranty on secondhand equipment and some even a year (you may have to negotiate)

 

You may think the warrantly is worth it.

 

I paid over the market price for a chrome M6 12 months ago from RG Lewis in London, however the camera is like new and I also got 6 months warranty.

 

Jonathan Harris is usually the cheapest dealer in London (www.jonathanharris.co.uk) however you will need to make an appointment if you want to visit him and he doesn't have any M6s at the moment.

 

£700 is about the cheapest you will find an M6 in the UK at the moment which I believe is $1200

Regards

 

Simon

Have a look at

 

<b><i><a href="http://www.reddotcameras.co.uk/" >Red Dot Cameras</a></i></b>. Prices are fair for London, and

service/attitide is much better than The Classic Camera (in fact Red Dot is owned by a disaffected ex-CC staff

member now working independently). <br><br>

 

<b><i><a href="http://www.richardcaplan.co.uk/">Richard Caplan</a></i></b> has some interesting gear, but prices of

many items do reflect the location (off Piccadilly - ie very central). <br><br>

 

I second <b>Jonathan Harris</b> - he is a great guy and I've never had any issues with him. <br><br>

 

Also, by-appointment only is<b>

<i><a href="http://www.peterloy.com/" >Peter Loy</a></i></b> - again Peter is a straight-dealing guy and similarly

I've never had any issues there either. <br><br>

 

If you have the time to get out of town - way into the suburbs - consider contacting <b><i><a

href="http://www.mwclassic.com/" >MW Classic</a></i></b> - they have much better prices than central London; their

gear ranges from "user" to "collector" and there are some great bargain items from time-to-time, but these get

snapped up extremely quickly. Again no issues with David and Mahendra. <br><br>

 

<b><i><a href="

http://www.jacobsdigital.co.uk/index.php?target=pages&page_id=stores&storeid=10" >Jacobs

</a></i></b> on New Oxford Street often have Leica items, but the staff are not particularly familiar with the

brand and prices are

sometimes quite high. <br><br>

 

AC

3 others worth checking:

 

http://www.kingsleyphoto.co.uk/

 

http://www.westendcameras.com/

 

(both on Tottenham Ct Rd)

 

http://www.lcegroup.co.uk/Branch.asp?Branch_ID=35

 

(on the Strand).

Aperture has been mentioned above and I have to agree. A great little shop with an awful lot of stock crammed in, and very helpful staff.

 

Also, handily enough, most of the above are within a few hundred yards of each other - Aperture, Classic Camera, RG Lewis, Jacobs, Peter Loy, are all very close. Nearest tubes are Holborn and Tottenham Court Road.

"I must have looked like a real cad walking out of Smythson's being so proud of the dozen wooden red pencils I purchased on sale for £12."

 

That is the funniest thing I have read in a while - just avoid writing with them if you can.

Hi there,

 

If you're looking for Leica in the UK, start with www.ffordes.co.uk -- it's a shop in Scotland which has a huge range of bodies and lenses. I

have bought almost all my Leica equipment from them and they are excellent to deal with, have good prices, and their quality is always

exactly what they say it is. They can send equipment to you next day wherever you are in the UK, so don't be put off by them being in

Scotland.

 

If you need an easy shop to find, there's Jacobs just next to Tottenham Court Road tube -- it always has a glass case of used Leicas and

sells new ones. (It's also a good place to find those rare-to-find Domke bags).

 

http://www.jacobsdigital.co.uk/index.php?target=pages&page_id=stores&storeid=14

 

And there's Jonathan Harris, who always sells excellent stuff:

 

http://www.jonathanharris.co.uk/leica.htm

 

Good luck!

Try Photo Design Studio in Woolacombe. Frank Foster is good to deal with and his descriptions are accurate (unlike Ffordes, whose descriptions are not accurate in my experience). When he says "mint-", the item is mint-. His prices are competitive. As an example, I received a late 6-bit coded 90mm F2.8 Elmarit in as new condition from him on Tuesday. Cost GBP475.

The same lens from Aperture, Ffordes, Classic Camera, Red Dot etc would have been upwards of GBP650.

 

Just to add, I am in no way associated with Frank Foster other than as a very satisfied customer who has spent over GBP4k with him in the past four weeks. Highly recommended

Another vote for Aperture on Museum Street. I always stop in when I'm in London. Unfortunately (for them) the most I've ever bought is a cup of coffee. Nice shop, nice service, nice stuff.

 

Maybe this isn't allowed, but there have been a number of M6's in the Rangefinder Forum classifieds lately. Probably cheaper than anything you'll find in London.