Mint IIIg value?

[rmeskill]

<p>So I just picked up an absolutely spotless IIIg on Craigslist. Came with an equally spotless collapsible Cron-I've never seen a LTM Cron with such a perfect front element before. I took it for a spin on one roll and the fast speeds came out spot on, on the slower ones the shutter stuck on some of the shots. Not unexpected having sat in a box untouched for the past 40 years-shutter itself looks good, no pinholes, will just need a CLA to get the slow speeds back in order.<br>

That said, I'm not much of a collector, I prefer to use my gear, so I'm trying to get a feel for what this is worth to see whether it's better to keep it or sell it and grab some more user gear to go with my Ms and let a LTM collector appreciate it. I'd love to keep the thing, but I have a feeling it's worth far more to a collector to put behind glass than it would be to me. Plus I don't want the first scratch to cost me hundreds...<br>

I'll post pictures later, but in a nutshell this camera is absolutely pristine-looks like it never left its everready case for the last 50 years. Even the push-on cap for the Cron doesn't have a single scratch.</p>

[robert_hooper1]

<p>The Leica IIIg was teachers pet just a few years ago and a mint IIIg might even have gone for $2000 at the height of the hysteria. For whatever reasons, the IIIg has been dethroned and now prices are much lower.</p>

<p>I would say your camera could go for about $800 to $1200, and the lens, $300 to $500. Put it on bay with that in mind. Be sure to provide sharp, close up images of all sides of the items. </p>

[aplumpton]

<p>You might also advertise it here. It might interest a collector but also a user, if its lack of use has not crippled it. As Robert says, the IIIg is less sought after now than before, but perhaps listing the two items as well as the package may be interesting. There is also Rangefinder Forum or the Leica Historical Society of America (LHSA). See also Antiquecameras.com for another idea of its current value.</p>

[SCL]

<p>However you choose to sell it, I wouldn't advertise it as mint...that is really reserved for items exactly as they came from the factory, both in cosmetics and in mechanical condition. You might choose to say "near mint cosmetics". In some circles the "mint" description goes so far as to never have been opened from its original packaging or once packaged, never to have been touched by human hands (as in coin collecting) - just as it came from the mint.</p>

[exabetal]

You could use "mintish". It's the most used description on eBay to indicate the seller thinks it's a pretty

nice camera. That's often a bit optimistic ;-)

[JDMvW]

<p>Relatively 'used' ones seem to be going now one eBay for around US$800 up to $1200. A presumably real Swedish Army Leica went for about 2000.</p>

<p>Half your intended market would probably gag before they read the rest of the description if they saw "mintish," or still worse, "minty" used. If you do decide to sell, give lots of pictures, good ones, and it will speak for itself.</p>

 

[josh_carr]

<p>If you sell them together and they really were bought new at the same time (check if the serials are from the same year), advertise them as "matched". You'll get more for them sold separately though - you may need to get a rear lens cap and a body cap to help.</p>

<p>I had a fairly clean collapsible 'cron and I didn't like the photos much (the bokeh is horrible), so I'd definitely sell the lens. Likewise, you can get a good user M2 *and* an M3 for the price of a mint IIIg.</p>

[christopher_a._junker1]

<p>Back in the mid 50's my Dad bought his friend's very early IIIg that was used for racing photography. Many hundred of rolls had gone through the camera and it looked it on the outside. However just before Dad bought it Leica had CLA'd it and functionally it was fine. Originally it came with the Elmar 50 3.5, not a Summicron. I inherited the camera and still use it. My second IIIg is from the last production batch and saw extensive use by a photography student who sold it to Dad for Nikon F money. Again a user that I had CLA'd. Originally it came with an Elmar 50 2.8. If mine are average examples, the build quality throughout t IIIg's production run remained very high. Although both of mine are still carelfully used, the 50 years shows, at best their condition rates very good+. As to the lens, your Summicron may or may not have been made in the same year, often they were made in batches and then sold in subsequent years, you really need the sales record to see if it originally came with the body. If you are not into Leica LTM collecting or use, Josh C. is correct, better to sell the lens separate from the body, especially if the body needs a CLA and use the money to buy M series equipment. Perfect Summicron LTMs are very hard to find as the front element glass is soft and often damaged, a collector will be interested in yours. Good luck with your find.</p>

[steve_levine]

<p>The IIIG is the most sought after of the Barnacks. It was the final screw mount camera model, and finally combined the VF and RF into a single window. A nice clean sample is always worth good money, with a matching Summicron the collectors will drool.</p>

[aplumpton]

<p>I hope that Ryan is able to find a user for the IIIG and maybe a collector for the Summicron. The IIIg is too good a camera to be left sitting on a shelf and probably a user will be ready to pay as much as a collector. In any case, with the better performing modern lenses in screw mount (Leica's few modern examples, including an aspherical 35mm, as well as the many of Cosina-Voigtlander), the IIIG and Leica's longevity should make a good trio.</p>

[christopher_a._junker1]

<p>Throughot the IIIg production run, the rangefinder and viewfinder used two viewing oculars. The left side rangefinder ocular magnified the viewed image and has a correcting lever so the photographer, even without glasses could bring the object into sharp focus. Unlike all previous Leica LTM bodies, the separate IIIg viewfinder provided automatic parallax correction and etched brightline framing for the 50mm focal length lenses. Inside the same window are four etched triangles that corner frame the 90 mm lens image. Due to the parallax correction and bright line viewfinder and the new flash and electronic flash shutter sync speeds, the improvements put the IIIg in a class by itself. For good reason Leica LTM users and collectors will pay a premium over earlier Leica LTM bodies. </p>

[rmeskill]

<p>Thanks all for the input. Still not quite sure where to start on the pricing of both of them-I'll probably just post them separately here and see what offers I get. Depending what I get out of them I've got my eye set on another M body and maybe a lens or two. They're both absolutely gorgeous which is why I picked them up, but not being a LTM collector/user they'd be lost on me...</p>

[josh_carr]

<p>LTMs are lovely and very pocketable, but Ms are way easier to use and give you access to lens technology after the 1950s (except for CV lenses, of course, but that depends on why you like Leica; for the bodies or the lenses).</p>

<p>The advantages of not messing about with accessory VFs for the common focal lengths and the parallax correction clinched it for me.</p>

[Uhooru]

<p>i think if the slow speeds aren't spot on, it's simply not mint, IMO. But it sounds pretty nice anyway.</p>

[rmeskill]

<p>Listed it in the classifieds. I realize $1,500 is probably a bit high, but it's a gorgeous camera and I'm willing to entertain reasonable offers. Haven't posted the 'cron yet-they're a beautiful matched set but the question is if people would be more likely to buy them as a set or individually...<br>

<img src="http://photos.ryanmeskill.com/P1060011.JPG" alt="" /><br>

<img src="http://photos.ryanmeskill.com/P1060012.JPG" alt="" /></p>

[josh_carr]

<p>It is a nice one. Note the "incorrect" ASA/DIN scale; the standards were changed a few years later so 100 ASA = 21 DIN, 200 ASA = 24 DIN etc.</p>

[aplumpton]

<p>Correction. My mention of the used price guide should be suffixed net and not com. The recent suggested value is $750 to $850, but this is for a used camera in excellent condition and not a mint one (other than slow shutter speeds). This seems in line with recent completed sales on the major auction site of apparently similar condition bodies. I don't know how much more would be added for one that is in better than excellent condition. </p>