HU for the very very rich

[markinlondon]

Ffordes (UK) have an M6 "Ein Stuck" set with 35 'lux for (gasp) £101,532.

Good user outfit, anyone?

Seriously, can anyone explain why this is SO expensive?

Mark

[ClaremontPhoto]

Leica have been moving into the collectors' market for years.

[lubitel]

how much would a zorki go for if its stuck?

i got one :D

[BJ Bignell]

"Ein Stuck" in German means something like "one piece" (but not "one-piece", I think). Maybe it's unique, a one-off pair with a special inscription?

[bobofish]

If that's what they really go for, then that would have been a hell of an investment. I seem to remember them selling for around 30% more than regular M's a few years ago.

Come to think of it, I think I know somebody with an Einstueck. Now let's see if I can get them to trade it for my Canonet.

[c.poulton]

Information on the Leica M6 Ein Stuck can be found here: :) http://www.cameraquest.com/LM6Ein.htm

[BJ Bignell]

From photo.net:
The M6 Platin was platinum-plated and specially engraved vs this Hermes thing which is a stock chrome MP with $20 (being charitably liberal)worth of leather stuck on it. The HCB M6 was auctioned for charity. Other commemoratives--including the M6J which *did* cost Leica quite a bit to make--were a fraction of the cost of the Hermes. And they all commemorated something or other even if it was a relatively unimportant event. The two exceptions were the Ein Stueck and the Jaguar, both of which were obnoxious instant collectibles. I agree about the grey hammertone LHSA. It's a beautiful execution but I don't understand why it should be $1500 more than a stock MP when the LHSA black-paint was only $500 more than a stock M6TTL.You can read the whole thread here: http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=006Evh

Another summary:
...996 of "Ein Stück"...From here: http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=006KYc

It seems to be a collectible for the sake of being collectible. Buy it, quick, before I do. :D

[markinlondon]

Fascinated, I went and had a look HERE (http://www.cameraquest.com/minvest.htm) .

Seems like Mr. Gandy is as amused as the rest of us.

LOL, guys, but as there were 996 made I still don't understand the six figure price tag.

Mark

[markinlondon]

Amazing how the informative replies turn up as you're typing your own research results, innit? :)

Mark

[jaapv]

Is is waayy over the top. One-off dedicated M sets like the one for Mr. Havel etc. are being auctioned for about 100.000,-- $. That means that a Ein-Stuck would go for say 20.000

[markinlondon]

Is is waayy over the top. One-off dedicated M sets like the one for Mr. Havel etc. are being auctioned for about 100.000,-- $. That means that a Ein-Stuck would go for say 20.000

Exactly my feelings, Jaap. I mean, there are almost ten times as many of these as RPS sets which the same dealer is selling for £3500.

Collectors, who can odds 'em, eh?

Mark

[jaapv]

Nice work if you can get it... ;)

[Gabriel M.A.]

If it were 24K gold (and Leica has made 24K gold gear), then maybe, if it were signed by Liv Tyler, blessed by the Dalai Lama (...), and used by Che Guevara. Maybe then, and only then, it would reach (perhaps) a rarity status that would warrant that kind of money.

[SolaresLarrave]

Considering that this Leica was issued in the 90s (I remember having read so somewhere, maybe in Cameraquest), I now wonder about the price the Millenium M7 will reach in some 5 years.

Heck, let the rich collectors support Leica! :)

[markinlondon]

if it were signed by Liv Tyler,


Maybe if the price included Liv Tyler;)

Mark

[ian_watts]

Has anybody considered that the price is incorrect? £101, 532 seems a little too precise (I might have been interested if it was £101, 531). Looks like a glitch in the Ffordes database. My guess as to the correct price would be something around the £2.5k mark.

[dll927]

To make a long story short, it's probably for one of these types who will put it in a glass case, never contaminate it with a roll of film, and just sit and admire it.

At one point there was a story that the above-mentioned Gandy had an M4 that had belonged to Garry Winogrand. It was WELL used, and he was asking somethng like $100,000 for it. So maybe it's also who it belonged to.

[dll927]

Gabrielma mentions blessing and signing it. I've heard that one of the best ways to make a Leica worthless is to have your name engraved on it. That is, unless you're the Dalai Lama!!

[telenous]

Ian is right. That cannot be the price tag. May be they meant £1,532?

[dll927]

Another comment: Gandy mentions, among many others, the Anton Bruckner commemorative edition. Suffice it to say that Bruckner is a somewhat problematic composer to consider. For reasons known only to God, some of his symphonies, particularly the earlier ones, exist in several versions, and recordings can depend on which version the conductor chose.

There is nothing unusual about composers revising their works after trying them out. But the final version by the conposer is normally accepted as the 'standard' version. In Bruckner's case, not only did he himself make revisions, but later "editors" seem to have gotten into the act. So it can be a toss-up.

[ywenz]

I'll take my Leica and carve HCB's name on it and call it my homage to HCB. It will be one of a kind. Then it will be worth something..

[vizioneer]

Complete bullsh*t. I have a friend who offered to sell me his, as new, and complete in the box with Leica share for about $3800 if I remember correctly.

[vizioneer]

Here's one that went for 2900 euros on UK ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/LEICA-M6-Ein-Stuck-Summilux_W0QQitemZ7602906903QQcategoryZ711QQcmdZVi ewItem

[Magus]

Post deleted by posters request

[markinlondon]

Latest news. I've checked and it's still £101,532. If this is FFS it's taking them a long time to notice. I'd email Steve and tell him but that would spoil the fun ;)

Mark

[Gabriel M.A.]

Another comment: Gandy mentions, among many others, the Anton Bruckner commemorative edition.
This gives me a great idea! The John Adams commemorative edition! The 33.4mm Incognitux lens, where the aperture is inconsequential, and takes the shape of anything you think it should, but is never there.

And a "Leica in China" edition body, featuring a minimalist frame selector, which goes only right, but goes left, and has an assortment of only one frame, which corresponds to the 33.4mm focal length. Instead of a shutter button, you have to pat it as you foxtrot. Great for street shooting.

Just in case... (c) Gabriel M. Aguirre 2006 (you never know!)

[markinlondon]

This gives me a great idea! The John Adams commemorative edition! The 33.4mm Incognitux lens, where the aperture is inconsequential, and takes the shape of anything you think it should, but is never there.

And a "Leica in China" edition body, featuring a minimalist frame selector, which goes only right, but goes left, and has an assortment of only one frame, which corresponds to the 33.4mm focal length. Instead of a shutter button, you have to pat it as you foxtrot. Great for street shooting.

Nice one, Gabriel but I'm waiting for the John Cage model with the totally silent shutter :)



Mark

[Gabriel M.A.]

Nice one, Gabriel but I'm waiting for the John Cage model with the totally silent shutter :)
That shutter can only function for 4 minutes and 33 seconds! :p

[Madrigal]

That shutter can only function for 4 minutes and 33 seconds! :p

At random, even!

[markinlondon]

Update.

A form of sanity has prevailed and the price is now £4,999. I'm still not buying it :)

Mark

[Gid]

Update.

A form of sanity has prevailed and the price is now £4,999. I'm still not buying it :)

Mark

That's £96,000 off the initial price. I don't know if I can resist such a bargain :D

[markinlondon]

That's £96,000 off the initial price. I don't know if I can resist such a bargain :D

I'll try to restrain myself :)

Mark

[bob cole]

ever since it started, leica has had a penchant for issuing commemorarative cameras...the M6 Ein Stuck with the Summilux lens was created a decade ago when Leica Camera A.G. became a public company and listed its shares on the Frankfurt stock exchange. The Ein Stuck camera has a photo of a Leica stock certificate on the camera and comes with a share of Leica
Camera stock...it is designed for collectors, as others have said, and also as others have said, the price is either wrong or inflated. But there are lots of Leica collectors to whom a six-figure price is no big deal...Leica probably will come out with a few more commemmorative cameras every once in a while...regards, bob

[Scarpia]

Another comment: Gandy mentions, among many others, the Anton Bruckner commemorative edition. Suffice it to say that Bruckner is a somewhat problematic composer to consider. For reasons known only to God, some of his symphonies, particularly the earlier ones, exist in several versions, and recordings can depend on which version the conductor chose.

There is nothing unusual about composers revising their works after trying them out. But the final version by the conposer is normally accepted as the 'standard' version. In Bruckner's case, not only did he himself make revisions, but later "editors" seem to have gotten into the act. So it can be a toss-up.
As it happens not only am I a rangefinder afictionado I am also a Brucknerite and my son Anton is named after him. The reason for various versions of the Bruckner symphonies are revisions Bruckner made at the suggestion of conductors and publishers. Purists accept only his original version whereas others myself included tend to prefer the revised versions.
About 30 years ago or so a perfomance of the seventh symphony took place in Carnegie Hall. The purists and the revisionists waited for the point in the (I believe) second movement where a great climax is accentuated by a cymbal crash
in the revised (Vogel) edition but not in the Haas edition which sticks more closely to Bruckner's original version. The cymbalist played the crash and the purists started a riot which had to be broken up by the police who I'm sure were very puzzled by a riot at a symphony concert.
You would think this was a dispute over the merits of Leica glass vs. Zeiss glass.
Kurt M.

[nikonhswebmaster]

I used to build Leica web sites - I have all sorts of silly photos. Leica was basically an insane company during the commemorative period.

[Ken Ford]

Now *that* was a unique bump!

[Tom A]

On the other hand, it got a lot of people looking at their website!