Used R3M's??

[Lamar]

Why are there so few Voigtlander R type RF's on the used market? KEH has none, One or two at Adorama and B&H. Ebay has a small selection but priced high enough where I would do just as well getting a new one. Are there no good deals out there? Am I missing something?

 

[Mark Fisher]

People bought those cameras after the advent of digital cameras. They wanted a film camera and the Voigtlanders are decent cameras so they keep them......plus I'm not sure how many of them are out there.

 

[hdeyong]

Supply and demand. If there's few available, and the demand is there, the price stays up. Oldest rule in trade.

 

[erikg]

Better to just get a new one and have a warranty. We should be happy that it's still possible to buy a decent 35mm new.

 

[summicron1]

those cameras have relatively small production runs .... I doubt they make more than 20,000 or so of any model, so people who own them are few to start with, and few of them sell. perhaps they like them?

Keep in mind that Leicas were relatively short production runs as well -- fewer than 30,000 SL2s, the M3 was one of the larger runs at perhaps 400,000. I doubt if even today the M serial numbers are much past 3 million.

Compared to that, Minolta and Nikon would sell a million or so SLRs a year.

 

[Lamar]

Thanks, all of that makes sense. Low prod, newer camera.......

 

[Pioneer]

I have no idea why there are so few but I suspect that the total number sold (in relation to cameras of all types) is actually very small. Couple that with the fact that most were bought by people who wanted to shoot film in lieu of digital, they are probably still in use. I know that mine are.

 

[wblynch]

Try Cameraquest.com

 

[rolleiman]

I endorse the above opinions. If dedicated film shooters buy a decent quality film camera, then the likelihood is they will hang on to it. With nothing better in that area being manufactured why sell?

 

[Lamar]

I guess that's testimony to a good camera.

 

[elekm]

They are durable cameras, although the rangefinder is prone to misalignment, and the earlier models with painted markings, rather than inscribed, didn't fare too well.

However, each model's quality of construction improved, and the cameras continue to be quite usable, despite missing paint and misaligned rangefinders.

I've had an L, R and R2 clone (Rollei 35 RF), and each has been a very nice camera. Predictable and for the most part free of mechanical issues. Meters are accurate and viewfinders are large and suitably bright.

They are good value for the money.

 

[Lamar]

I'm toying with the idea of getting an RF. I'm an SLR guy. Been shooting them since the 70's. I have a couple of Argus C3's though and that's as far as my RF experience goes. I'm working to get the RF's and focus calibrated on those now. One was my father's he bought in the early 50's and the other I got at Goodwill when I couldn't get my father's to focus properly. The one I got at Goodwill has focus issues as well. I've been working on calibrating the RF on these but it has been a challenge to say the least. Today I will be shooting my 4th roll of HP5 to see if my last adjustments this morning worked. When I'm done I will have spent more on film than I did on the camera....

 

[Lamar]

Off Topic -- Success. I finally got one C3 to focus. Now that I have it figured out getting the second one to follow suit should not be an issue.