Renting a Leica in NY

I live in New York and am interested in trying a Leica out. Does anyone know of any rental places that stock them? I

know very little about them and figured the best way to learn would be to simply shoot. Any help would be greatly

appreciated.

 

Thanks

Lens & Repro http://www.lensandrepro.com/ , Fotocare http://www.fotocare.com/ , Calumet http://www.calumetphoto.com/ All

good places.

Give Photovillage a try.

 

www.photovillage.com

Actually if you can afford it a good way to go would be to buy a used one and give yourself some time with it. Then after

awhile if you don't like it you can sell it for about what you paid for it. Also, if you're in or close to the city they've got some great

photo stores like BH photovideo where you ought to be able to go in and have a sales person show you the camera so you

have a basic idea what it's about.

 

As far as metering for the film rangefinders, there are 3 basic choices. No meter, manual metering with the M6 or MP, or aperture priority

auto exposure with the M7.

I forgot Photo Village does rent. I love that store. Also try Photo Habitat over on Broadway a few blocks away.Both are very

intimate. You've also got to check out Kurland Photo on Broadway near Bond and ask for Craig. He's as good as they get, right

up there with Jim Lager.

I'd go with Photo Village- although Lens and Repro and Photo Habitat are also good suggestions. As for B&H, don't

bother; not only do they not do rental, but good luck getting anyone who knows what they are talking about to spend time

with you, especially if you aren't buying big ticket items.<p>But Ray is onto something. I just looked at the rental rates

in an old L&R catalogue, and it looks like you'll spend around $75 a day to rent an M6 and a lens. Meanwhile,

used prices for Leica gear are pretty stable. You could buy any body and lens you could want to try, (the best deals are in the

classifieds here and at rangefinderforum.com, or on ebay...) shoot until you feel like you really know how it handles, and either keep it or

sell for about

what you paid, give or take. Even if you sell for a bit of a loss, you should still

easily come out well ahead of what you'd spend renting- especially if you wanted to keep the kit for a week or more. This also brings

up the point that if you've never shot with a rangefinder before, it might be a good idea to hang onto it for a few weeks to

really get used to it.

Thanks so much for all your answers.

Renting Leicas in New York is absurd, as you pay 2 percent of the purchase price as the rental for a weekend. Thats around $350 for a M8 kit (at www.photovillage.com). The rentals are priced so they apply towards your purchase. I would think twice before renting, given the cost. Try and find something more reasonable. If you just want to burn a roll, you can hop over to my place and try out all my gear at no cost. I'm in NJ, across the river from NYC. Let me know.