Value of User condition black paint MP3 kit

KM-25 · 01-23-2011

Firstly, I would normally do a search on ebay for this, but there is no recent history of this kit selling on the site.

I have thinking about how I might want to totally re-tool some of my gear, considering getting a lone M9 and new 35 lux, pretty much all I would ever need besides my lovely chrome M3 and 50 col in terms of Leica. So as much as I don't like to do it, my black paint MP3 kit might have to go.

So what I am wondering is what it might fetch. The body is in good user condition, some brassing and scratches on the back and a couple on top. The Leicavit has far less scratching and virtually no brassing as I rarely used it. The 50 is mint optics but starting to get beautifully brassed in having lived on the black M3 in my avatar for at least 400 rolls.

Of course I have the box and all the documentation but I honestly have no idea how much this might fetch...maybe more because it shot one of the last 5 rolls of Kodachrome ever on the day Dwayne's shut down the machine....

I know they were $8,000 new and seem to be pretty rare on the used market. I would take less than that but would like to at least get what it is worth...which I have no idea what that is so I am putting the feelers out.

Leica is not the only casualty in this re-gear as I might sell a few Nikon lenses too like a 200-400 VR I use mainly for an annual corporate event that I could otherwise have the client rent it for me.

I am going to try to keep it but I am also curious...

apodeictic · 01-23-2011

I dunno, you say $8000 I might be able to get like fifteen hundred bucks for it. I don't know how long it's going to sit around the shop for, I got overhead ok? Look I'll give $600 for it?

buzzardkid · 01-23-2011

Can we see shots to judge condition etc?

Ranchu · 01-23-2011

[quote=apodeictic;1527583]

That's pretty damn funny.

KM-25 · 01-24-2011

OK, I am going to posts some photos, but to be crystal clear, this is NOT for sale at the moment and it would be at least a month until I would even consider it. I don't want to seem to be violating the site rules as we all use the very effective classifieds for selling and buying things.

I really don't want to sell this as I know I will never get the chance to get another one and certainly not with history / marks I have personally put on it not to mention it's connection with my project and having done portraits of Anthony Hopkins with it the first week I had it.

Mods, I am posting these photos only to get an idea of what people think it could go for.

KM-25 · 01-24-2011

A few more including the shade and Leicavit which has a couple of hairline scratches.

What I would rather do is get some work going pretty quickly so I don't have to sell it like the rest of the Leica gear I am parting with and instead, use it for the rest of my life with Tri-X and then hand it down when I am old, all beautifully brassed the way a damn Leica should be.

KM-25 · 01-24-2011

Ooops, one more of the bottom. Good thing I did not use the body as much as the lens, it would be a fair bit more worn if I had. This camera has seen at least 200 rolls of Kodachrome 25 with either the 50 or a 35 lux on it. The shutter release was a bit notchy when I first got it so I had DAG make it super nice. The lens has always had a black E43 filter on it of which I even have a spare of...

Good night folks!

berlincontemporary · 01-24-2011

Isnt the classifieds section for posts like this?

KM-25 · 01-24-2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by berlincontemporary

Isnt the classifieds section for posts like this?

No, the classifieds are for things that are for sale, this is NOT FOR SALE!

rod64 · 01-24-2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by berlincontemporary

Isnt the classifieds section for posts like this?

So dazzled by the pictures, you forgot to read this comment by the poster

"but to be crystal clear, this is NOT for sale at the moment and it would be at least a month until I would even consider it. I don't want to seem to be violating the site rules as we all use the very effective classifieds for selling and buying things."

hexiplex · 01-24-2011

Wow, what a beauty. I hope you don't have to part with it. But you seem to (judging from your posts) be a professional photographer and I can clearly see the allure in being able to use the M9 for both work and play.

david.elliott · 01-24-2011

Not sure what it is worth exactly, but I think you might do better to sell it via ebay than on the classifieds. Nothing against the classifieds (I have stuff up for sale currently), I just think that for this particular kit you are more likely to come out with a higher sale price on ebay. Slap a reserve of a few thousand on the kit and wait for a collector of brassed black paint leicas comes along. Better yet, hope for a bidding war.

Ebay's fees suck though. :\

buzzardkid · 01-24-2011

Sure looks a beauty. I'd send the shots over to Westlicht and ask for an estimate. I've been over Leicashop and Schouten Select for you but cannot find an equivalent to determine price from.

Better not invest too much time, but get shooting and keep it! My Plain Jane M3 I converted to black myself and I'll never sell that, so I get the feeling!

Ranchu · 01-24-2011

Nice camera, needs more brassing, I'm thinking. Maybe sell it in a few years. : )

emilsand · 01-24-2011

Split it up, and I'd be surprised if it fetched less than $9000.

chris00nj · 01-24-2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by apodeictic

I dunno, you say $8000 I might be able to get like fifteen hundred bucks for it. I don't know how long it's going to sit around the shop for, I got overhead ok? Look I'll give $600 for it?

Can you do $800? Okay, I'll do $800. "Well, i was looking for more, but $800 should give a good start on the craps table."

They know very well when someone is going to sell regardless of what offer they throw out. I still love the show though.

chris00nj · 01-24-2011

I would call a few shops like Classic Connection or Leicashop and see what they would give you. I would take what they said and increase it by 30%-40%.

peter_n · 01-24-2011

I think that once the thing looks worn the "collector" value goes off it. Yours is a bit more worn than mine, the 50mm lens brasses very easily, the body less so. Mine has a big scratch on the back that came from the first owner's belt buckle so I got mine at a knockdown price.

I also have no clue what this is worth but I would hazard a guess at <=$7K, with the body & Leicavit at 3-3.5K and the lens the same because of the current shortage. I think it was RFF member turtle who had one of these for sale a few months ago and I can't remember what he was asking for it but I don't think it sold.

apodeictic · 01-24-2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by chris00nj

Can you do $800? Okay, I'll do $800. "Well, i was looking for more, but $800 should give a good start on the craps table."

"$800? Alright deal, I'll send you over to Chumlee to do some paperwork." haha that show is a guilty pleasure of mine!

Joking aside, that's a beauty of a Leica! And will only get more beautiful as it ages! Really want to get my M4 painted one day.

KM-25 · 01-24-2011

Thanks everyone, I kind of was thinking around $6,500 for the kit if I ever decide to sell it. I think posting the photos of it did that notion in though...it's just such a unique looking camera and ever since I saw them at B&H, thought it is the most gorgeous camera ever made, especially as the set.

I have to send the lens in to get a CLA re: dust and some play which will require a trip to Solms and the lock / unlock key on the regular base plate is loose so it hangs down, has been taped in place for the last few months, I am sending that in to DAG along with the M6 I am selling to get fixed.

I really do want to keep it so I think I am just going to work on that but at least I have a decent idea of what it could fetch if things get tighter in my life. Ultimately, I would like to get a black paint 35 Summicron asph since I like the 35 focal length on this body the most....wish they had made it .85 to go with the matching 50 but oh well...

As far as spending 12K on a new M9 and 35 1.4-II, that is going to have to wait and needs to be justified, so I have the new Nikon 35 1.4G on order in the meantime.

emilsand · 01-24-2011

$6500?
..........

Austerby · 01-24-2011

I would approach a Leica specialist and consult with them over a commission-based sale.

A lot of those people will be in touch with collectors and others who may be interested in a private sale without going to auction.

If I owned it I wouldn't sell it yet - that's a pension there in twenty years, potentially.

I would be surprised if you only got $6500 - that's only £4k and normal MPs go for around £2k alone.

peter_n · 01-24-2011

But this is just a normal MP that's a bit gussied up on the outside, it's really nothing special apart from the cosmetics. Once you bash it up a bit it's just another MP.

Quote:

Originally Posted by KM-25

Ultimately, I would like to get a black paint 35 Summicron asph since I like the 35 focal length on this body the most...

Just to reinforce the idea that you should keep it...

KM-25 · 01-26-2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by peter_n

Just to reinforce the idea that you should keep it...

Blast! You would have to show me that..

Headed out and about, MP3 in tow...

maddoc · 01-29-2011

Wow, wow, wow !! A 35/2.0 ASPH in BP on that camera ...

About selling a slightly brassed MP-3, I could imagine that the value (possible selling price) also depends a lot on the location, will say that selling the camera in Japan, Singapore or HK could easily fetch a premium over selling it from / to US... (Just food for thoughts)

Quote:

Originally Posted by peter_n

But this is just a normal MP that's a bit gussied up on the outside, it's really nothing special apart from the cosmetics. Once you bash it up a bit it's just another MP.

Just to reinforce the idea that you should keep it...