View Full Version : Reaching out to friends in Norway to help me buy a Leica!
If you saw my thread about trying to buy a Leica in China, it has not gone well. Prices are too high and it has been difficult to find one that is suitable without missing parts or something.
Well....as luck would have it my friend is here from Norway making sculpture (you may recognize the name, Ola Enstad, he has sculptures placed all over Norway) and he has a friend coming here next month. The idea is maybe I can find a better Leica body in Norway and have his friend bring it over for me.
So if anyone in Norway would like to help that would be great. We are looking for websites that sell these things, maybe there is someone on this forum in Norway that is looking to sell their M body or lenses. Im sort of shopping at the moment so not totally sure what I will purchase. Thinking of keeping the amount under 7200 NOK so I am looking more in the line of M6's. If there is an M7 or MP out there somewhere I would entertain that idea as well. M6 TTL is my preference (I like the bigger wheel and LED layout) but yeah, anywhere I can look online at Norwegian sales of these things would be very great.
By the way, if this post seems weird, it is. Where I am currently located in the world is not a good place to buy used cameras, and Leica is a word existing only on Panasonic point and shoots and on the occasional camera of foreign visitors to the school here so I have to make a bit of a stretch here to acquire one. If this seems desperate, it is.
By the way, I prefer black :angel:
ZebGoesZeiss
03-12-2008, 07:32
Best place in Norway is foto.no, but there is only one M6 there at the moment, and that is from a guy who wants to sell it together with a 50mm and 90mm. Probably in the "expensive" end of scale. As for prices, the M6's usually goes for 6500-7500, with TTl's demanding around 500-1000 more. I did see a M7 priced at 10000 a while back, but that one sold in hours. MP? I think ErikFive here on RFF sold his MP for about 15000.
As for stores, the only place I would recommend is Antonio Stasi in Bergen (http://www.antoniostasi.com/) - he is a true gentleman, one of the last. His prices are rather good actually, I've seen M6's for 6-7000.
From this you can safely assume that you will pay a premium buying this sort of thing here in Norway, at least compared to the US.
I'm currently in Norway (Oslo), and I do have an M6, but I'm keeping that! :D
Thanks for the links, normally I would be thinking price premium too, but the recent rise of the Chinese Yuan has helped. However small the difference, it will help. Leica prices in China are truly astronomical so one has to make due.
By the way, my friend Ola is from Oslo too.
As for stores, the only place I would recommend is Antonio Stasi in Bergen (http://www.antoniostasi.com/) - he is a true gentleman, one of the last. His prices are rather good actually, I've seen M6's for 6-7000.
His website, as for as I can see, seems to only provide info about his store not any inventory he has? I will have my Norwegian friend fire a email off to him tomorrow to see if he has anything in stock. Fingers crossed!
ZebGoesZeiss
03-12-2008, 08:30
His website, as for as I can see, seems to only provide info about his store not any inventory he has? I will have my Norwegian friend fire a email off to him tomorrow to see if he has anything in stock. Fingers crossed!
Yes, it's only contact information. He does however answer quickly, and his stuff is always checked out and comes with 3-6 months warranty. Ask your friend to post an ad at foto.no as well, I've never bought Leica there myself, but there are plenty of M6's in Norway. I guy I know has scored some amazing deals there, usually from 50 year old men who foolishly believes that happiness is 2kg's of Canon/Nikon :D
Fantastic. I will shoot him an email then. Short warranty is a plus. I can live with a M6 but an M6 TTL would be a plus since I intend to use the thing a lot. M6 seems to be the best value now too. Lets just hope hope hope.
I can put out a add on foto.no asking for a M6. MP and M7 is out of reach I am afraid as long as you dont want to spend more than 7200. Black TTL is prefered?
I was hoping you might jump in here! As for the 7200, that is kind of a limit I set for myself as it equates to 10,000 RMB. I will go over as long as it is within reason but as there is a decent looking M7 here in China for 12,000 NOK I would like to try to avoid going out of control and blowing a lot of money :) I am tempted by an m7 or mp....I would entertain prices though.
Anyway yes M6 black TTL .72 finder is preferred.
Thanks a lot!
No problem :)
I have seen a couple of black M7īs for 10K NOK. Would that be of interest? I can put that in the ad as well.
Oh yes indeed! A black M7 is my preferred choice but I thought I would not be able to find anything decent that I could afford. If the price is 10K then yes I would be very interested and would actually prefer that. So much for my price limit :angel:
btw, same specs, .72, black, all that
I have a friend here in Oslo who is also a friend of Antonio in Bergen. He might be selling his M-6, I will try to give him a call tomorrow...
For how long is your friend here? I might have some more connections, but cannot recall right now...
I have a friend here in Oslo who is also a friend of Antonio in Bergen. He might be selling his M-6, I will try to give him a call tomorrow...
For how long is your friend here? I might have some more connections, but cannot recall right now...
My friend the sculpture lives in Oslo, he is Norwegian, he is here in China making some works right now. His beloved is stayed behind in Oslo this time and im sure she can help make calls or anything in her free time. Then the sculptor has a friend that is coming here next month to visit him and check out china, so then it would be a simple mater of just throwing it in her carry on.
Got to love RFF for this reason, people will help people.
I sent an email to antonio asking if he has any used M6's, 7's or mp's, also if he had any leica 50's or 35's in stock. Hoping to here back from him. My friend says he should be able to understand the english in my email, so fingers crossed some more.
Andrew Sowerby
03-13-2008, 03:09
Good luck with your Leica search, Colin! Unless you're used to older Leicas, I think that an M6TTL is the way to go (or M7 :)). I had an M6 classic that was absolutely beautiful and smooth as hell, but that small shutter speed dial that turns the wrong way drove me nuts. I bought an M6TTL, which is a much better shooter for me!
thanks andrew, that is the idea, the so called classic m6 is my last resort, have to settle, cant find anything else choice. I would much rather have that larger dial, or an m7. The only thing that would allow me to tolerate the small dial is an mp, and that....is just a dream
Antonio is a great guy. There weren't any M6 and newer at his shop last week though ;)
sorry for OT - what camera do you use now Avotius?
Antonio is a great guy. There weren't any M6 and newer at his shop last week though ;)
Lets hope he had them stashed away somewhere! Do you recall seeing any Leica 50's or 35's there?
ps. I guess the best bet would be to just call him, maybe my friend there can call him and ask for me, I sent him an email but who knows.
Not much of Leica glass - elmar 90, and a couple of CL lenses IIRC. Hope to pop there later today, will have a look.
sorry for OT - what camera do you use now Avotius?
I use an R2a. And yes its a great camera, but I have a few problems trying to focus it with my Zeiss 50 Planar sometimes, one of the main reason to upgrade.
Not much of Leica glass - elmar 90, and a couple of CL lenses IIRC. Hope to pop there later today, will have a look.
hehe, if you happen to pop in there today could you take a look for me? I am also looking for any sort of older 50mm Leica lens for the vintage feel, also maybe a 35 f2 asph :D gas...
I use an R2a. And yes its a great camera, but I have a few problems trying to focus it with my Zeiss 50 Planar sometimes, one of the main reason to upgrade.
i just wasnt sure if you use bessa or ZI. i was watching bessa r or r2 and canon p for months but they are always above my budget. :( now when i hear about problems focusing planar - i know i would have probs with j8. it seems that P is the only solution for me.
i just wasnt sure if you use bessa or ZI. i was watching bessa r or r2 and canon p for months but they are always above my budget. :( now when i hear about problems focusing planar - i know i would have probs with j8. it seems that P is the only solution for me.
well my problems focusing it are few and far between, I have had M body gas for a couple years now and can afford one at the moment so that is another reason. But carefully focusing I can get good results with the planar, but beyond that every one more shot I get is worth it as I shoot a lot in low light and being really careful and pedantic doesn't suit some of the situations I am in, so there is that extra security there.
I know he had a 50mm DR cron in great condition (tried it on my M4), but it wasn't cheap, in ballpark of 4-5K NOK or so.
eh....the dr has mounting problems on my r2a, not a good choice for me, plus too expensive...
guess he didnt answer his email today, probably just going to have my friend call him
Checked with my friend today, the M6 he has is not TTL... He would ask 6000 for it, so I guess you should try other possibilites first?
I also use an R2A, in fact I use it most of the time. Planning on getting an R4A as well.
Checked with my friend today, the M6 he has is not TTL... He would ask 6000 for it, so I guess you should try other possibilites first?
I also use an R2A, in fact I use it most of the time. Planning on getting an R4A as well.
Thanks for checking for me. I sort of had my heart set on a m6 ttl or m7 but I will keep it in mind if nothing comes up. I really do appreciate the help though. The price seems good. How is the condition of his camera? You wouldn't happen to have any other information about it would you?
Ok, I was there today.
He expects a bunch of Leica M gear on comission, but in 2-3 weeks: right now there is not much equipment of interest. The DR Summicron is sold as well, so was the Elmar. Leica gear seems to sell fast :)
Ok, I was there today.
He expects a bunch of Leica M gear on comission, but in 2-3 weeks: right now there is not much equipment of interest. The DR Summicron is sold as well, so was the Elmar. Leica gear seems to sell fast :)
oi....I guess it will be difficult to get anything from him then. I have an update, the friend will be coming here in two and a half weeks. So I have about a week to find something or I will have to look somewhere else.
I tell you the world it trying to keep me from having a Leica. Call me paranoid but I know its true.
So here is what has happened so far:
Way back in the day (almost 3 years ago now) I sold my Mamiya 6, I was fed up with the lousy build quality of that camera and was not going to take it anymore. With the money I was going to buy a Leica M6 and some sort of vintage lens. That never happened for personal reasons.
Then about 10-12 months later I was back ready to get the same set, that didnt happen for reason the same as above. I was ready to get a MP that was for sale here in the classifieds, nice clean black paint MP, 1800 dollars. Whens the last time you heard of a deal like that?
Then about 10-12 months later I was ready to buy again, this time gunning for a M7 and some sort of lens. As you can imagine, that didn't happen either for just about the same reason as above.
Then I got this nice job that paid well and I was able to save a large chunk of the money I was making. I started saving up and got myself a really cheap old Leitz 50 Elmar redscale for 90 bucks. I sold one of my canon camera's and was ready to buy a Leica body. Again I was not able to and ended up with a Bessa because I couldnt stand it anymore.
Then I was working a lot and made enough money to buy an M7, during all this time I had also been scoring big scholarships and some bonus money here and there. I was ready to buy something, my salary from the last two months would lock that in no problem. I would have more then I needed and was ready to do it. Then the place I was working for went all s**t hole and they decided to not pay anyone their last two months salary. Out came the lawyers and day after day of 9 am meetings across town and appointments at government offices where the people had all been paid off. The place I worked was fined over a million chinese yuan and the labor department took this fine then told us we were on our own. Can you say bribe? The colorful language I can use right now thinking about it.....you would think I was homicidal. One of the canadians who worked there lost his home, and his wife, and kids, an english man lost his house, and a american guy lost his mind (just about).By the way, the place I used to work had over 300 employees, we all stopped working at about the same time, there were newspaper reports, tv, everything, we got nothing in the end. The place I used to work continues to be open but with a very sore reputation, I made sure of that with all my contacts in the media. I hope they tank and the boss does something to his head of which I should not mention here.
So.....after recuperating and managing to live rather thin for about half a year I am almost back on track. I got my balances taken care of and all things are good now. My current line of income, working with a Norwegian sculptor on his work is going well. The pay is fantastic, 20,000 chinese yuan a month, for two months. Way more then I need to survive here for a year. Also I have 25,000 yuan worth of scholarship coming. Im set until well after graduation and until I find myself another line of work. I have a nice sum burning a hole in my pocket and am ready to finally bite the damn bullet and buy a M body or modern Leica lens.
So looking in the states, found some interesting deals, was ready to go and stick it on the old and very much empty credit card, then the old man says I cant, he thinks it too much trouble for me to wire money to America to pay off my credit card. So I end up loosing out on a nice M6. Then there was the nice old M2. It was not the exact camera I wanted but it was so cheap that it would be more then nice to hold me over for a while. Again, same line of interference as I have always had. Then a really great M6TTL showed up, then passed as ususal. Then I started looking around for things here in China, pickings were slim but there was some ok stuff. Guess what line of interference I got again? Now I am looking for some Leica stuff in Norway. Not much luck there. The store I emailed never replied to me, my friend emailed them in Norwegian, still no answer. So then they called his store, the guy in there acted as if they had no idea what we were talking about. "Leica? Leica? What? Nikon doesnt have an M6...."
Ya know.....I think I should just sell off my cursed rangefinder gear and go back to SLR's, cheaper, easier to find, and not so much of a f'n headache. Regardless if the driving force in my life the last 3 years pushing me to go to a dead beat job with the smell of death on it and working stupid hours and putting up with all this crap was a M Leica. Seems like I have wasted way to many brain cells and way too much time thinking about it. If I go to the states this summer with and there is no M Leica in my hand im just going to sell off all of my rangefinder gear on here. Lots of deals too.
what story!!! I hope it will pay off when you get a M in the hand somehow so you can cry of enjoyment after all those long years :)
PetarDima
03-17-2008, 07:43
I hope we will soon see your leica M autoportrait here on RFF :)
yesterday I saw this http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/2008/03/just-posted-zei.html, and again, I must say> RF camera is wonder!
wontonny
03-17-2008, 07:45
Anyway yes M6 black TTL .72 finder is preferred.
Thanks a lot!
good luck finding a black .72 ttl. cant find one. anywhere.
Man I feel bad about grabbing the recent m6ttl you had your eye on in the classifieds! Good luck in your search.
pm olsen!
if that doesn't pan out, why not ebay?
Avotius, u probably already know all this but if not, do surf the DCHome forums' buy and sell section. The occasionally have decent leica deals across the pond from you. Or do a day trip to the used shops in hk, loads there and prices aren't half bad.
Man I feel bad about grabbing the recent m6ttl you had your eye on in the classifieds! Good luck in your search.
hah indeed, I finally figured out how to get the money to the states and you stole it from me! haha, just kidding, how is it though?
hah indeed, I finally figured out how to get the money to the states and you stole it from me! haha, just kidding, how is it though?
I'll let you know when I receive it. I bought it for my girlfriend. She's been bitten by the Leica Bug also.
I'll let you know when I receive it. I bought it for my girlfriend. She's been bitten by the Leica Bug also.
oh no....I have a gf who is also a photog, she has a 5D but recently is using my Yashica GSN. I bet she is going to try and pinch my Leica.....
oh no....I have a gf who is also a photog, she has a 5D but recently is using my Yashica GSN. I bet she is going to try and pinch my Leica.....
You better watch out. I have to keep prying my MP away from my GF. She thinks Leica's are sexy and cute.
You better watch out. I have to keep prying my MP away from my GF. She thinks Leica's are sexy and cute.
then im screwed
then im screwed
why not buy second M body later like m2 as much cheaper alternative? so you have this as a backup camera and no arguing with woman about sexy leica thing :D
M like Leica M6
03-18-2008, 23:52
At this time the exchange rate of the US Dollar has dropped a lot.
Instead of buying in Norway, where everything except rain is expensive, I would even skip Europe and buy from a trustworthy dealer in the USA. In this forum you will find many users that can help you find a good address.
grainhound
03-19-2008, 08:38
This may not help, but Igor's has a mint- M7 .72 at $1895. No connection, yadda yadda. http://www.igorcamera.com/leica_cameras.htm
wontonny
03-19-2008, 09:17
Man I feel bad about grabbing the recent m6ttl you had your eye on in the classifieds! Good luck in your search.
ah dont worry about it, i'm currently unemployed at the moment so i dont really have any inflow of money to back up a new leica purchase ahhah. there will be others!
The person in Norway that is helping me has something going on and at the moment is unavailable. Pity. Close but not cigar.
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