davidjmitchell Posted October 5, 2005 Share Posted October 5, 2005 Please can anyone provide a link that gives retail prices in USD / GBP for Leica bodies from 1954 onwards, ie how much did M series bodies cost when originally released. Have checked the archives without success. Many thanks in advance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h._p. Posted October 5, 2005 Share Posted October 5, 2005 Don't know of a link but from the Wallace Heaton Blue Books (prices in pounds, shillings and pence)... 1965: M3 134-17-6. M2 116-1-8. 1966: M3 142-0-10. M2 124-11-0. 1968: M4 169-8-8 During this period a typical weekly wage would have been from 10-25 pounds per week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ben z Posted October 5, 2005 Share Posted October 5, 2005 Al Kaplan is the guy to ask. He seems to have all those original prices catalogued, even the prices the dealers were closing them out for when nobody wanted rangefinders. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al_kaplan1 Posted October 5, 2005 Share Posted October 5, 2005 Not quite all...LOL, but I have some old catalogs. Here's a start: When the M4 was released it was the same price as the M3 - $288.00. The M2 was $200 without a self timer, $249 with one. Used screw mount Leicavits were around $25 but you'd pay double that for a used M 'vit. Used screw to bayonet adapters varied from $1 for Japanese ones of unknown make to maybe $5 for a really clean Leitz one. The Leica M2-R, now worth a king's ransom, sold for a list price of $375.00 complete with a D.R. Summicron, which Leitz was trying to get rid off. Ahh, when I think of the money I spent back then on women, 8-tracks and smokin' dope. And here I coulda been a millionaire Leica collector! But crap, man, that was "old technology" junk. The young guys were all buying SLR's, the wave of the future! Let me know what exactly you want a price on and I'll see what I can dig up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SCL Posted October 5, 2005 Share Posted October 5, 2005 My 69 catalog shows: M4 body $309.00 M4 body black finish $339.00 MDa body std baseplate $216.00 MDa body specl baseplate $229.00 Leicaflex SL body $483.00 Leicaflex SL body black finish $516.00 Leicaflex SL/MOT body black finish $591.00 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronald_moravec1 Posted October 5, 2005 Share Posted October 5, 2005 yea too have the money I made then, young and single. Spent 90% of my money on women and liquor and just wasted the rest. It`s really funnier than that, but I cleaned it up for thr forum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al_kaplan1 Posted October 5, 2005 Share Posted October 5, 2005 They were good days, Ron, that's for sure! All the girls were on birth control pills (or at least they told us they were...LOL) and AIDS hadn't arrived as yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troll Posted October 5, 2005 Share Posted October 5, 2005 You Yankee boys spent all your money on women, booze, and grass? I blew mine where any respectible Southern boy would -- on cars. (Women, hooch, and smoke was cheap in the South in them golden days.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul_sym Posted October 5, 2005 Share Posted October 5, 2005 Using a cost of living (U.S.) computation, a Leica costing about $300 in 1969 is now equivalent to $1585. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nemeng Posted October 5, 2005 Share Posted October 5, 2005 FWIW I have a list of 1964 prices, adjusted to 2003, in the Leica FAQ I maintain at:<p> <a href="http://www.nemeng.com/leica/013e.shtml"> nemeng.com/leica/013e.shtml</a> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larry_kincaid1 Posted October 5, 2005 Share Posted October 5, 2005 Al. . . "And here I coulda been a millionaire Leica collector!" How do you know history is not repeating itself with the (now) $2800 lenses and everyone climbing over each other to buy the latest digital camera? In 20 years, $5,000? $8,000 for the 50mm Summilux ASPH? And I suppose if history repeats itself, you are still spending to much money on dames and "such." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al_kaplan1 Posted October 5, 2005 Share Posted October 5, 2005 Larry, we ain't gotta clue in hell what'll be collectible in 25 or 50 years or when prices will nose dive. Fifteen or so years ago I could have sold all those boyhood comic books my mom tossed and retired. Today it's hard to find a comic book store. "Tech Stock" was the investment buzz word ten years ago and houses languished unsold. Now real estate property values are soaring. If I'd had a crystal ball back then I wouldn't have bought Leica III-A bodies at $29.50 each, or III-C bodies at $36.50 either. Nope. I would have gone around to all the dealers that couldn't sell "those cheap Japanese Leica copies", Niccas and Towers (a Sears Roebuck branded Nicca)for $10 each, and offered to buy them all for $5 or $6. I suspect that most of those "worthless" cameras got trashed to make way for The Great SLR Revolution on store shelves. Check Nicca prices today...LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now