original price of a 1994 Leica m6

Correcting the typo in my previous thread. Seeking info on the original price of 1994 Leica m6 and Summicron 35 f2.

1994 prices: New M6 Body $1850, New 35/2 Lens $980. Edited December 31, 2020 by m_allegretta

Here are selling prices in 1992 and then in 1996.

 

Just as today, it would have been difficult to find legitimate selling prices (from which you would actually receive the camera) lower than these from B&H.

BTW, one on-line inflation calculator has those 1992 US $2,497 as being

$4,627.74

in 2020 dollars.

Yikes! That's when I bought mine from Ken Hansen, same combination..I paid that much? Where did the money come from?

Yikes! That's when I bought mine from Ken Hansen, same combination..I paid that much? Where did the money come from?

These are "retail" prices. There is no way they actually sold for that much. Knock at least 20% off and you be approximating the actual sales prices.

 

The minimum advertised price ("MAP") of the MP when it first came out for sale in 2003 was $2,595. At the time a new M6TTL could be had for around $2,000.

Let me emphasize again, the 1992 and 1996 prices in the B&H ads were actual selling prices, NOT list prices.

 

You sent in your check for that amount and you got the camera back in the mail. If your money order was for less than those amounts, you'd be darn lucky to get much of anything, even an acknowledgment, from the vendor in Romania....o_O

$1,495 price for the 35mm f2 is indeed actually what I paid, in either 1996 or 1997. It was the first generation ASPH 35mm f2, Edited January 1, 2021 by Greg M

Let me emphasize again, the 1992 and 1996 prices in the B&H ads were actual selling prices, NOT list prices.

 

You sent in your check for that amount and you got the camera back in the mail. If your money order was for less than those amounts, you'd be darn lucky to get much of anything, even an acknowledgment, from the vendor in Romania....o_O

 

 

That's correct.

 

The advertised B & H prices were basically the "street" prices, as were the "call for price" examples.

 

As a Leica AG employee back then I was able to buy cameras, microscopes, etc. at a 20% employee discount, with an occasional bump beyond that. But I worked in the instrument division, which was based in Switzerland then, and had only a passing connection with the camera group.

 

But I still seem to have a couple R3's around here somewhere; maybe a IId, perhaps a DL2... ;)

Was that lid a

 

II (2) D

or a

 

lid?

 

The only lid I have still around somewhere seems to be a dime bag of catnipo_O

Let me emphasize again, the 1992 and 1996 prices in the B&H ads were actual selling prices, NOT list prices. ...

Leica must have lowered their prices at some point in that decade (I vaguely seem to recall this) because M6 prices were significantly lower by the time the MP hit the street in 2003. It was MAP priced at $2,595, which was higher than the M6TTL (higher by enough that my Leica dealer - Tony Rose at Popflash Photo - initially refused to stock them).

I bought a great M3 from Mr. Hansen when he was still on Madison Avenue. What a charming man! I paid $700 for the camera and a case. After I paid, he said, "Anything else?" I answered feebly, " Noooo." He laughed and said, "Are you sure?" So I got an MR meter also. As he wrapped it up, he said, "People are asking ridiculous prices for those things," and let me have one for twenty bucks.

 

BTW, I'm taking that set very soon to photograph/see the new part of Penn Station.

Just to show the value of money, I paid about $400 for M4 w lens in 1960s, new, in box from Willoughbys.

What really hurts is how little I got for my M6 when I traded it in on a Nikon D300. The D300 is now virtually worthless while the M6 holds on to its value.

M4-2, MR-4 meter, 50 Summilux, 135 f2.8 Elmarit goggles, M4-2 winder, Rollei 35S;$750 total; an old style photo shop trying to avoid bankruptcy;1980. Summarit 50 1.5 cast lens hood, $7.50 1982. Nobody back then wanted old Leica stuff. Garage sale Leica IIIc, good f3.5 Elmar 50 with cap; $25. Dad bought it in 1974. Rochester NY garage sales were a gold mine for old Leica cameras in the 70s and 80s. Not anymore though.