Market for Leica R cameras/lenses - Down/Bad ?

[cdnguyen]

Leica R users - I'm a Leica R owner myself and wonder if you guys

seeing the same thing. Leica R lenses are not selling very well in

the used market including Ebay. My R lens ad gets very little or no

response at all. I would think with the new intro of DMR the market

will pickup somehow. Anybody buying R stuff anymore ? Your

thoughts ?

[diego_k.]

Its true, although the market is slow prices are holding. Its been a while since I am trying to sell an Sl2 and 35-70 zoom with no success.

 

I really doubt the DMR will change anything, whoever can afford it, will by all his equipment new from the store.

[Bill Blackwell Images]

Prices on film gear are pretty much dropping across the board. I recently paid less than half for some R pieces compared to what the market would bear just five years ago.

 

Leica M equipment is the only film gear (and a few other "collectables") I know of holding its value.

[derek_stanton2]

I just sold an R8, 50 and 35 Summicrons, via Ebay. But, the final sale prices for two of the three itens were at the low end of the range at which i was willing to sell. I was a bit surprised, but i probably should have sold a month or two ago, when the DMR was more widely discussed.... I have a feeling that the DMR market is close to saturation already. Those who were really interested pre-ordered, or bought close to the initial release. Now, i don't imagine there will be large numbers of adopters, especially with an impending M-digital.

[cdnguyen]

Derek - I had the same thing happened to me on Ebay. I put an R item with no reserve and I ended up selling for much lower than I thought i could get. I'm not buying any more R gear and if I do I will have to pay as low as I can get cause I know I'll loose my shirt when trying to sell it.It's ashame that it had to be that way..

[doug herr]

There are some lenses that have increaded in value recently, in some cases very dramatically. The 280 f/4 APO for example, was hovering under US$2000 a couple of years ago. Now when you find one used it's about US$3500.

[david k.]

I would agree, that only Leica M gear is holding value these days. In that regard if current design R glass is cheap, it's a great way to go for both film and digital.

 

Look at other SLR lenses that aren't compabable with DSLR's, the prices are ridiculously low.

 

Hasselblad lenses are at very low as well, and like R lenses are still "DIGITAL READY"...... there is good value out there.

[SCL]

As an occasional seller - the market does seem lackluster. OTOH, as a buyer, there are some terrific bargains out there I couldn't have afforded last year...and I've done some trading up as a result. I'm still seeing a lot of people adding Leica R lenses to their Canon bodies. I did see a DMR for sale on Ebay last week, but I think it is still way too early in the curve to see much of that action.

[max_fun]

Well, all I can say is that I've made use of this downturn to buy myself a mint condition R6 with motordrive for $650.

 

The problem with Leica gear is that most people can't afford the new prices, and so the only way to get people to buy them used, sellers have to lower the price to a level that people are willing to spend, which can very easily be half the retail price. This is in contrast to the used market for Canon/Nikon lenses, which is probably like just 10% lower than the retail price. This is especially true for the R line, which is less popular than the M.

[nemeng]

I agree Doug Herr's remark about some R lenses holding their value. Just try to find a reasonably priced 15mm or 19mm ROM Elmarit... (Sheesh - I could buy a used CAR for less!!!)

[paul_neuthaler]

If I were SLR shopping now, I'd grab a clean Leicaflex SL & a 90 ElmaritTR (in clean 2-cam condition) -- & I'd be the smartest guy in town! Both under $600.00.

[vinay_patel]

Like most collectors I have only an idle curiosity when it comes to R, which might well account for one reason the prices of used R lenses are so much lower than M lenses even though they're as much or more when new. I agree there are a few R lenses which haven't been hit by the doomsday machine. I wasn't aware the 280/4-APO was one but I'm not surprised. It and the modular teles were/are limited-production items and rather scarce, so it doesn't take much demand to keep the prices inflated. The 15mms (both of them)and the current-type 19mm and 28mm have also had a resurgence in demand as a result of internet chatter from people mounting them on Canon digitals. Other than those, the rest of them are in good supply and the demand comes from general R users, of whom there aren't very many. I agree, and from my sources within the dealer network, the DMR has about reached its saturation point and few if any new ones are expected to be sold from here on out, with the exception of demos. Also from the dealers, only about 5% of DMR purchases were matched by sales of new R9 bodies, i.e. 95% of DMRs went either to people who already owned a compatible body or purchased a used R8 to mate with it.

[walterh]

Now that you mention it - yes there are some very good lenses for very low prices available. Can you put these lenses to use on some Nikon or Canon body?

[ellis_vener_photography]

<I>Can you put these lenses to use on Canon bodies?</I><P>Yes but you need an adapter . I'm not sure there is an adapter for Nikon bodies. The problem is, once you get beyond the wide angles you just don't gain that much in optical quality to make up for the loss in AF and full range of metering compatibility.

[alvin_hear]

<a href="http://memebers.aol.com/dcolucci/b.htm">Leica R Lens Price Guide</a>

[walterh]

http://members.aol.com/dcolucci/b.htm

 

Alvins link.

[steven_moseley1]

Hi all.

 

I have been buying & selling most of the 1970's - 1990's manual focus SLR systems as a serious hobby for some years and doing this on ebay and the web for a couple..here are my thoughts..

 

1. The R system is generally fetching low-ish prices and has been for a little while, even some of the well thought of lenses like the present 28/2.8 ROM can be had for little money. This is an indication of the old age rules of supply & demand, so clearly the R system is not in so much demand. The fact that still quite a lot of Leica sellers are unrealistic about prices is also stifling the market for R items. The point about high new prices and sellers unwilling to lose LOTS of money is well made and rings true.

 

2. It is quite untrue to say only Leica M items are holding value..there are items in all the major MF SLR systems that are doing well: The Contax C/Y items are doing best of all, almost the entire lens range is holding value, or even going up in some cases. Also the Contax accessories are doing well, the Contax upturn is because of DSLR users (especially Canon EOS) buying adaptors and using current 'hyped' lenses, also the Contax demise gave lots of publicity which increased demand. On this point, Leica R lenses are being used far less on DSLR's simply because they cost so much more than Contax/Zeiss ones, remember Canon users are used to paying Canon prices!

 

3. There are quite a few selected items in the Olympus OM range, also Pentax K and others which are also holding value and a very few are even rising in price. It is mainly scarce accessories, exotic, scarce, fast and specialist lenses and a few other items. The Zuiko 21/2, 28/2, 50/1.2, 90/2, 100/2 and others are doing very well and in the Pentax SMC-K range, the 18/3.5, 20/4, 28/2 and the Pentax SMC-A* lenses such as 85/1.4, 135/1.8, 300/4 are all doing very well. There are also similar items in Nikon F, Canon FD and Minolta MD also fetching good money. It is generally lenses & accessories though, almost all camera bodies are falling in value. The reasons are that the remaining users of these systems are increasingly looking to upgrade their lenses due to exotic lenses becoming much more affordable. This is actually increasing demand for items which are scarce, so values hold or even rise. The DSLR users are using some of the Zuiko lenses, so ultra-wide lens prices are good.

 

4. Love it or loathe it, ebay now dictates prices around the world. A few years ago, you could sell almost anything on there and get good money, but ebay use has hugely increased in the last two years, mostly due to TV advertising and this has brought so many more items to the market, so the supply & demand situation has changed because of this. This has caused a polarisation in the ebay market in the last two years, with common or un-loved items dropping in price a lot, or even becoming un-saleable, whilst it has driven up demand for the scarcer items, so prices have held.

 

5. Certain web sites, forums and lens test sites have increased in 'hits' over the last 2-3 years and certain lenses are getting lots of hype and this has also increased demand for some items.

 

It is certainly not just Leica being affected here...

 

Cheers Steve.

[walterh]

The only Leicaflex lens I miss (dont know much about the Leica lenses so there may be better ones, but I liked it) is the 180mm F2.8. Great lens. (The 50mmF2.0 was good too but at that time I thought 50 was mostly boring.) So just for the fun of it I could get tempted to put it on a Nikon film body. Would not miss the AF with this lens, I still remember the nice focussing.

[cdnguyen]

Walter - the R lenses wont work on your Nikon. only on Canon bodies with EOS/Leica adapter. I agree leica 180mm is pretty good.

[guy_mancuso]

I bought everything already the reason the market is soft. LOL

 

I beg to differ on hardly worth it after the wide angles , go try a leica 180 F2 apo and 280 f4 apo, 90 f2 and 100 macro. These are killer lenses and also i agree try to find a 15 2.8 and a 19mm hard to find at a resonable price. Also look at some of the long glass that Doug shoots that cost less than 1000 bucks. His shots will knock you eyes out.

[jtk]

$$ for Canon LTM cameras (eg P and 7) have skyrocketed.

 

Canon P bodies that you could have bought for $150-250 a year ago are now readily $400 and some of the lenses are running $300-600 (eg 35f2 and 100f2).

[brent chadwell]

What I would like to know is why people pay all that money for Leica lenses to use on Canon DSLR's. Canon's L primes can already out-resolve the sensor of the 1Ds mk II. Unless you are shooting film, and enlarging to 16x20, you won't be able to tell the difference between a Canon L prime and a Leica lens. Not to mention having to use stop down metering and manual focus.

[guy_mancuso]

Color, Contrast, Saturation, Micro detail, tonal range and what I like to call it Mojo as in three dimensional look

[nels]

I got my mojo right here.

[barry_calero]

Which ever way the wind blows.....is my expression. I just bought a Leica R3 with 35/2.8 & 135/2.8 Elmarit lens. I was just messing with ebay and a little wine, BINGO><><><><><><>< I 'hope'... it brings more happiness than my ex-wife. BARRY.....California Bay Area