henry_ting2 Posted March 25, 2003 Share Posted March 25, 2003 Heard that there will be a price increase from Leica next month. Anybody know how much the increase will be ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
george_b1 Posted March 25, 2003 Share Posted March 25, 2003 I don't know the percentage; however, I checked Delta International's web page this morning, and they've already increased lens prices. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eliot Posted March 25, 2003 Share Posted March 25, 2003 They're already increased. New black M7 0.72 on Don Chatterton's website is $ 2495, up from $ 2350. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vic_. Posted March 25, 2003 Share Posted March 25, 2003 Rich Pinto of Photo Village informed me (2 weeks ago) that there are going to be a few price increases this year, and at the end of 2003 the price for M7's is expected to be around US$2,900. In addition, there are expected to be ZERO Leica Day discount prices or rebates. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
george_b1 Posted March 25, 2003 Share Posted March 25, 2003 OOPS! Delta has increased prices on some lenses and lowered prices on others. Supply and demand? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael_kastner Posted March 25, 2003 Share Posted March 25, 2003 (a) All I can tell you is what's up here in Leica land, and the euro going up and the dollar going down isn't in anybody's favour (not even Leica's). (b) Leica prices (again, at least here) ALWAYS go up every October 1st, and also every spring; sometimes on March 1st and sometimes on April 1st (no joke). © Over the last 12 months (here) the prices of Leica lenses have gone up at least 1% and at most 6%. But again, that type of thing happens EVERY year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oliver_s. Posted March 25, 2003 Share Posted March 25, 2003 Yup. Leica Camera AG positions itself as a manufacturer of exclusive boutique items and think they can come away with any price increase. They obviously believe customers will pay any price, and even want to lest the masses can afford luxu-, err, Leica. IMHO they're on the road to economic suicide. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve_barnett2 Posted March 25, 2003 Share Posted March 25, 2003 That will be the same economic suicide that the price of the M3 prompted in 1954 then? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob haight Posted March 25, 2003 Share Posted March 25, 2003 Worth and value are in the eyes of the beholder, but, I seriously doubt many people will see the sense in the M7 at $2900. The TTLs, a great camera, sold for $1995. The upgrade simply cannot be worth $1000. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandy. Posted March 25, 2003 Share Posted March 25, 2003 Have you ever wonder why the R8 and the R9 while having so much more "stuff" packed into the cameras, cost a lot more to develop, yet they are priced almost always a few hundred dollars below the (comparatively simpler) M7? Is it a classic case of supply and demand? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patricks Posted March 25, 2003 Share Posted March 25, 2003 Just another reason to look at competitors like Cosina/Voigtlander or Konica for your next body/lens purchase if you ask me... In times where more and more people are switching/moving towards digital and that type of equipment is falling rather drastically in price, Leica - again - goes their own way. How is this not going to hurt them long term? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jay_. Posted March 25, 2003 Share Posted March 25, 2003 <<Worth and value are in the eyes of the beholder, but, I seriously doubt many people will see the sense in the M7 at $2900. The TTLs, a great camera, sold for $1995. The upgrade simply cannot be worth $1000. -- Bob Haight>> I agree 100% Bob, but then how would you explain the number of people right here on this forum who are hot to buy the MP, which is in a number of ways a downgrade from the M6TTL, for $2600? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandy. Posted March 25, 2003 Share Posted March 25, 2003 Don't want to start a new thread on this - I just got a call from my dealer in Oregon soliciting sales for the MP. The model/derivative is being sold as "a la carte" - his words. Each component can be bought separately. Seems like the MP is not getting the reception the manufacturer has hope for. New twist and turns everyday... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
albert knapp md Posted March 25, 2003 Share Posted March 25, 2003 A bad omen for the boys in Solms. They are upping the price probably due to the fall in the $$ all in the setting of a persistent recession in this country. To make matters worse, there is a healthy second market for all RFs that can only but weaken the primary market. You are right, why buy an M7 for $1000 more than a M6TTL. Glad I got my M7 last year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jay_. Posted March 25, 2003 Share Posted March 25, 2003 <<I just got a call from my dealer in Oregon soliciting sales for the MP. The model/derivative is being sold as "a la carte" - his words. Each component can be bought separately>> Leica evidently figured a good way to dump all those b.p. 35 and 50 lenses they have left over would be to force the can't-wait-another-second-for-the-MP fondlers to buy a kit with the two lenses. Nice try. If they made a 90 in b.p. too it might work, but otherwise the outfit's a 3-legged horse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m_bailey Posted March 25, 2003 Share Posted March 25, 2003 I've always been curious, and someone mentioned it here, so I'd love to ask -- what did the M3 debut at price-wise in the 50s, and what's that equivalent to in today's dollars? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sl Posted March 25, 2003 Share Posted March 25, 2003 Morgan -- the combined original price new for my black paint M2/3s was less than $900, a conservative estimate would value them at over $10,000. I am a daily user not a collector and I do not care how much I beat them up, they can take it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henry_ting2 Posted March 25, 2003 Author Share Posted March 25, 2003 Leica could have AND would have a huge demand for the MP if they can just have some marketing commonsense. A used (mint) M6 classic can be had for about $1400 and one would have to shell out more than $1100 for the MP, which is really an M6 with some cosmetic differences. I think the entire MP marketing launch is screwy. How in the world could the MP be advertised as a profession model and yet even traditional Leica enthusiasts, which is the real market for Leicas, would hesitate to pull the trigger. Granted Leica is a niche market where there's no volume in business, but just by reading this board, there are a lot of people here wanting an MP, but are not brain-damaged enough to buy it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kristian dowling Posted March 26, 2003 Share Posted March 26, 2003 Trust me, Leica know their market, and they're making pretty solid decisions, based on market know-how (research + analysis) and a lot of experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chip l. Posted March 26, 2003 Share Posted March 26, 2003 "...I seriously doubt many people will see the sense in the M7 at $2900. The TTLs, a great camera, sold for $1995. The upgrade simply cannot be worth $1000." But if the M6TTL's were still in production (not the MP), then their price might have increased to $2400 to $2500. I really do think the prices are due to the sinking dollar, and maybe inflation in Germany an Europe. Maybe someone from the others side of the Atlantic could shed some light on inflationary factors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oliver_s. Posted March 26, 2003 Share Posted March 26, 2003 Chip, inflation in Leicaland is moderate, i.e. currently in the 2 to 3 per cent p.a. range. (How it might change if the war continues much longer no one can reliably predict.) Admittedly, the Euro has become more expensive in relation to the Dollar recently, but I assume that Leica price increases are due to marketing and nothing else.<p>To explain what I meant with the "road to economic suicide": When the M3 was launched, it was an excellent, reliable tool for a huge variety of photographic objectives. You could hardly buy a 'better' camera in those days, and Ernst Leitz GmbH was a strong competitor in the photography equipment market in those days.<br>Some years ago, Leica Camera AG decided to retreat into an economic niche, namely the one of exclusive luxury products. They're firmly set in it now and unable to leave it again. It may have been a reasonable decision then, and the only one that allowed their survival. But staying in it decreases their chances to survive in the long run; they'd be better of leaving it again, but by increasing prices they're doing precisely the contrary--they reinforce the corporate image of a maker of exclusive items for an elitist market. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandy. Posted March 26, 2003 Share Posted March 26, 2003 Henry, if we are high-jacking your thread, I am sorry. I have also been informed by my Japanese Leica source that the price for the exclusive MP6 is ~ JYen 700,000. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henry_ting2 Posted March 26, 2003 Author Share Posted March 26, 2003 Now we all know the Japanese economy has been in the tank for the last 10 years. Luxury items once being consumed to no end in Japan is not what it used to be. Perhaps by jacking up the price, Leica can offset the drop in volume....a double edged sword indeed for that kind of rationale. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chip l. Posted March 26, 2003 Share Posted March 26, 2003 Did find an old list price catalog from 1953 for Leica. The M3 was not yet listed. But the IIIf with a Summincron was listed at $393! Using a cost of living calculator that works out to $2600 or so today. FWIW. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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