And if you're looking for a bargain at a considerably higher level than the Sony in the previous post, Focus Camera tells me they have three factory-refurbished Leica M camera bodies for sale at less than $6,000 each, which is less than you can get the camera for anywhere else at the moment. Check it out.
Mike
(Thanks to Isaac)
Original contents copyright 2014 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.
(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:
Paul Richardson: "This is indeed good news. Now it's only three thousand dollars overpriced."
Mike replies: You could always wait and buy a Leica T.
Do not tempt me.
Posted by: David Boyce | Tuesday, 29 April 2014 at 08:13 PM
O.K. Let's see here. For $11,150, before tax and shipping, I can get a Leica M digital camera and a 35mm lens.
Not a problem.
Who buys this stuff and do they really know how to use it?
Posted by: John Krill | Tuesday, 29 April 2014 at 08:39 PM
Wow! Only $6,000 for a body that will be worth $600 next year.
Fuji is a much better buy in so many ways.
Posted by: Jim Holmes | Tuesday, 29 April 2014 at 09:06 PM
For one second I thought it is a bit expensive for a Leica M...3. I do not know why. The few post affected me and for that split second I am back to old days where Leica M meant anything Leica M is including 3, 4, horrible 5, 7 ... etc.
It occurs after thinking about $6,000 that I recognized it is M ... oh that M.
I am younger than you but am I old already?
Posted by: Dennis Ng | Tuesday, 29 April 2014 at 11:47 PM
Hey enough gratuitous M5 hate!
At the time the M5 was well liked by news photographers, the spot meter was thought to be cool it had a hot-shoe, you could walk and change film at the same time, and the side lugs were nice if you had 2 or 3 around your neck.
Then most of the photographers who thought of them as just another tool switched to Nikon because that was what the paper bought them and Leitz was stuck with Leica fans and the government as their only rangefinder customers.
The M5 was the best camera in the M series , but unfortunately it was the worst Leica.
Posted by: hugh crawford | Wednesday, 30 April 2014 at 04:50 PM
@John Krill: "Who buys this stuff and do they really know how to use it?"
Answers: Me and yes, respectively.
I was extremely reluctant to get the Leica M(240). But with a substantial long-term investment in outstanding M-mount lenses I could not resist a good deal on a "used-but-like-new" M this past March. (I have been absolutely delighted with the M(240), btw.) But if only I'd have waited! This deal at Focus Camera is really sweet and would have saved me more-than-lunch money.
@Jim Holmes: "Fuji is a much better buy in so many ways."
No contest there. You betcha it is. Anyone looking for 75% of the Leica M gestalt (for < 25% the cost) should jump for a Fujifilm X-E2. A rangefinder it's not but it's sublime. I sometimes threaten my German gear by showing it what that Japanese gear can do for so much less.
Posted by: Kenneth Tanaka | Wednesday, 30 April 2014 at 07:10 PM
Oh so much fun to hate Leica ... yet so much joy to use one.
Posted by: Bernd Reinhardt | Thursday, 01 May 2014 at 12:23 AM
I'd kill for this camera. I own an M6 and I hate that I am slow to come to grips with it because I simply can't keep up with developing and scanning tons of film. I dial back my shooting as a result.
Posted by: BH | Thursday, 01 May 2014 at 08:58 AM