Any Leica Dealers in Eastern canada?

[dude163]

Hi all

Before I go crazy and drop 2 grand + on a Leica ,does anyone know of any place in Eastern canada that sells leicas so i can stop by and have a look and/or fondle one first?

And i also wanted to see what the lenses looked like , i figure atthe very least I can try Leica lenses on an EOS body with an adaptor

Cheers

Robert

[PaulC]

Yes, you can get an adapter for Leica-R and presumably Leica-S lenses, but not for the rangefinder lenses because they are mounted too close to the back of the camera to leave room for the mirror on an SLR.

There are flickr groups for Leica lenses, such as the summicron-R 90.

[Hari]

[rbelyell]

in additon to the negatives hari suggests, they also shoot black objects as magenta! to correct this leica suggests using a filter on their beautiful lenses!

i concur that perhaps one would be better off with an m4/3 camera and cheaper and i think better zeiss lenses...

if youre looking for interchangeability with your eos cam, i would strongly suggest an m42 and or contax auto cinfirm adaoter and some zeiss glass. many, myself included, feel zeiss glass just as good or better than more expensive leica r glass.

[F16SUNSHINE]

The M8/8.2 rocks!!!
If you complain about it you never tried it.

[dude163]

Hi all

I already talked to Hari on flickr, but basically I dont like video and live view, and I sold my rebel xt to my sistah!

I will still be keeping my KX as I lurve it, and Ill have to see what I do next, I search ebay/keh every day for leica gear, but its a lot of film and SLR gear ( like f16s excellent R7 deal) If I wanted to keep with the Canon system Id use my planars

I have no idea what my obsession with Leica is, but Ive wanted one since I was like 11 yrs old , and my father wanted one too and never got one, now he is 71 and starting to lose his mental acuity and memory, so I was thinking the least I could do was get a leica and let him have a go with it ,and if I have to sell it later on, at least Id break even

[dude163]

PS

Hari , thanks for those links, very interesting reading!

[scsambrook]

[scsambrook]

Robert - M8 prices have indeed come down, in the UK anyway. The M8.2 and the so-called M8-u, which is an original M8 upgraded to to what amounts to M8.2 spec, haven't depreciated so much, which actually makes the M8 by far the best value. When the M10 eventually appears it will almost certainly be significantly more expensive that the M9, which will tend to drag up the used prices of the earlier models.

There is no real need to buy the new Leica-Solms lenses, as the older Leitz lenses are superb, so long as they're in good condition. My 45 year old 35mm f2.8 Summaron "whups" my Cosina-Voigtlander 35mm 1.7 Ultron at equal apertures - i.e at full aperture the Summaron beats the Ultron working at around one-and-a-half-stops down from wide open.

The M8 has its quirks, but mine has never shown any problems and is a delight to use. By far the worst thing about any M series Leica is that the pleasure of using it tends to make you less happy with whatever slr or dslr you also own. For shooting with lenses from ultra-wide to 90mm, at ranges between 3 feet and infinity there simply isn't a better photographic experience. If it fits your photographic requirements, then go ahead and take the plunge. Not cheap, I know, but good value in the long term.

[rbelyell]

[scsambrook]

Reading rbelyel's post of 6.55pm . . .

Some/most of the Leica forums (or 'fora' as the folks there seem to like calling them) are well populated with photographic hypochondriacs, regurgitators of others' complaints and people who want their cup of coffee to wash itself up and make a fresh brew in half an hour. Plus some other ladies and gents who correctly point out the limitations of the M8/M8.2/M8u, and some who've had real problems with individual cameras. I'm pretty sure I know what F16sunshine was thinking when he made his post - if you actually use the camera there is very, very little to complain about.

The magenta-black issue only seems to occur with certain few materials, such as synthetic black fabrics, and is handled by the IR filters. The problem blacks then do come out as black, and the non-problem ones come out black whether you use the filters or not. ISO settings over 640 can indeed produce noisy images, especially if under exposed, which seemingly can be mitigated by post-processing.

If anyone plans on shooting man-made fibres regularly, or habitually working in lighting situations that require ISO settings over 640, then the M8 probably isn't the best tool to get. As I said in my earlier post, " if it fits your photographic requirements then go ahead ...". Whatever gear we buy has to be reasonably fit for the purpose we intend to put it to. The Leica digital rangefinder cameras have some enormous virtues and also some significant limitations, just like most other specialised technological artefacts.

The worth or value of the 'pleasure' of using the camera can't be quantified, but it is real to many owners. I bought mine because it was the only digital rangefinder camera that would take my existing outfit of lenses, not because I was a Leica 'fanboy'. To be frank, if I could have got a digital Voigtlander of similar specification at half the price I would have gone for that without any hesitation. But then I'm probably not a typical Leica owner, at least not typical of the forum contributors who rack up thousands of posts agonising over seeminlgy tiny (and sometimes major) issues.

So, dude163 will doubtless be doing his homework and rbelyel is quite right to flag up the issues he mentions. Happy New Year to everyone

[dude163]

[dude163]

1 month later, still havent found another deal as good as the 1800 CDN $ one

he who hesitates is lost!

[scsambrook]

Hello to dude163 ! Keep on looking for that M8, maybe the CDN$1800 was untypically low - UK prices from Leica dealers seem to be around £1600-1800 sterling just now for M8s in really fine condition. I think the prices for near mint cameras have almost certainly bottomed-out, although 'scruffy' ones will probably sink a bit further in value. Leica brand lenses, however, seem to be getting dearer as time passes. Good luck with the search !

[dude163]

Thanks

[dude163]

Ok Im slowly getting there, some action on my Planar 85mm on ebay finallly, so that should garner me 600+ now I just need to keep researching to find a reputable used leica dealer with one for sale

does anyone know how much it would cost toupgrade a m8 to m8u spec?

or does leica not do that anymore?


I know it appears Im being wishy washy about this , butthe main driving force is my fathers advancing age , when he was a kid he always wanted a Leica , but couldnt afford it, so he bought a Zorki 4 RF camera ( early 60s?)

Now that Im back into photography, I just thought it would be cool if I had a M rangefinder and popped by his place to freak him out, or next time we go out for a walk let him use it , especially since our family has noticed his mental acuity is starting to decrease ( he is 71 btw)

Thanks for all the help and assistance provided

[dude163]

I might have found a M8 2000kms away, Ill keep you guys posted