Feb 1948

[colyn]

A new Leica IIIc with f/2 Summitar sold for $448.00

A used Leica G with f/2 Summar $239.00

A used Leica F with f/3.5 Elmar $169.00

A used Leica (chrome) D with f/3.5 Elmar $169.00

A used Leica D with f/3.5 Elmar $145.00

At Penn Camera in New York

[M. Valdemar]

Yes, but $10,000 per year then was considered an excellent middle class salary.

Cameras were MUCH more expensive then when viewed in that context.

[colyn]

Yes, but $10,000 per year then was considered an excellent middle class salary.

Cameras were MUCH more expensive then when viewed in that context.

The post was for trivia not price comparison.

[ChrisPlatt]

I doubt they were moving many Leicas; in 1948 the US was in the midst of a postwar recession.

Chris

[colyn]

I doubt they were moving many Leicas; in 1948 the US was in the midst of a postwar recession.

Chris

I wouldn't be born for another 5 years, my dad worked for the Texas & Pacific Railroad, and my mother was in nurses training at Tulane University. They married 2 years later..

I have been told things were a lot better by the time I came along..

[endustry]

I understand it's beside the point but $448 in 1948 dollars is equivalent to $4117.45 in 2007 dollars. A new MP sells today for $3,995.00. Of course you don't get an f/2 lens with the MP.

[LeicaTom]

Wish I could find a vintage used camera list from the postwar era with a IIIC K on it.......I know Leni Riefenstahl bought her`s from Leitz NYC in 1951 and then brought it back to Leitz in Germany for it`s refitting to IIIF conversion, but I don`t know prices, I would suspect somewere around $400 (1951) money

*Wish I could find an original Leitz conversion pricelist for older cameras to IIIF flash sync and additional mods*

Leica`s in relation to the economy were NEVER cheap - only during the postwar era did cameras reach an all time low and only for American GI`s in their day by day trading on the black market

But Leica`s just like Luger`s had the premium at the top of the list of priorities for "bring backs"

Tom

[MISH]

my father bought his first camera in 1948, a Perfex fifty-five, not quite a Leica but I am sure that would have been too much of a luxury for him even if he could have found one
I still have the Perfex but I surer wish he had bought a few Leicas to pass down to me