Where to rent a Leica

[drgoose]

Hi everyone, I am considering purchasing a Leica RF. I have never shot with one and I would like to rent one for a week or so to see if it is my cup of tea. I have looked at borrowlenses an other similar aites but can't find a company that rents film Leicas. Does anyone know of auch a company?


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[Double Negative]

Did you check lensrentals.com or leicastoremiami.com by chance? Film is a hard one. Digital, sure.

 

[trythis]

You could just buy one and resell it as long as you buy one at a decent price.
But I would first ask if you have tried a rangfinder of any brand. If not, why not get something reasonably priced like a Fed and a cheap lens. As long as it works for a few months then you'll know you actually want a rf at all.

If you like the shooting style, maybe then its worth dropping thousands on a Leica. If not, you can resell the Fed, buy some more film and shoot with what you like.

sent from phone. excuse my typing.

 

[bdial]

EP Levine (eplevine.com) has Leica rentals, they are located outside of Boston.

 

[Mustafa Umut Sarac]

if you want a barnack , you can try with fed 1g or zorki c or earlier but focusing wouldnt be similar , so the pictures. Leica is smooth like a butter , mechanism is velvety smooth also , they are not same and you cant get the lens performance also.

Leica is not a ordinary camera you can test in one week , if you dont know how to look in picture , if you are not detail maniac , if you are not color and degrade maniac , if you shoot at dark and woman bones , skin blows relief , if that is not meaningful for you , if you dont force the camera and use ordinary , it gives ordinary results.

Its like buying the most expensive dutch oil paint and if you dont have talents , you mess up the picture.

Are you good enough , did you like what did you see or are you a brand maniac and want to own a mercedes when you are not knpwing anything about its engine and listening the engine dont tell you a story ?

you are thinking to buy a rolls royce and want to test it for one week , is nt it tragicomic ?

 

[Richard S. (rich815)]

You can rent one for free. Buy a beater user from Youxin Ye. Use it for a while then sell it for at least what you paid, I can almost guarantee that. Good used Leicas are holding their value well. Or even going up. My used 0.85 MP I bought used almost 8 years ago from Tamarkin for $1750. Can get close to $3000 for it now. Got a used beater M2 from YY for just over $300, easily can sell for that. $200 for a IIIf. No problem selling around that price. No need to rent, just got to come up with the "deposit" then pass on to the next person if you decide you no like-a.

 

[fotch]

:confused:

 

[Mustafa Umut Sarac]

200 dollars for IIIF , tragedy , holga price !

 

[mgb74]

You can rent one for free. Buy a beater user from Youxin Ye. Use it for a while then sell it for at least what you paid, I can almost guarantee that. Good used Leicas are holding their value well. Or even going up. My used 0.85 MP I bought used almost 8 years ago from Tamarkin for $1750. Can get close to $3000 for it now. Got a used beater M2 from YY for just over $300, easily can sell for that. $200 for a IIIf. No problem selling around that price. No need to rent, just got to come up with the "deposit" then pass on to the next person if you decide you no like-a.

Guarantee may be a strong word, but Richard has a point.

A local shop just started rentals (granted, digital). A Nikon D7100 they sell for $1100 rents for $180 per week. So about 16% of the new price per week. I have no intention of arguing for or against their rental price, other than to say it's probably typical.

I suspect you would need at least a week, maybe 2, to really get to know a Leica. So if you buy one, you have some room to sell it for less.

If you want to see if you using a RF, and don't want to take the plunge for a Leica, buy a good, CLAd Canon GIII. Personally, I think that will be a better tool for evaluation than a FED or Zorki (absent the interchangeable lens).

 

[John Koehrer]

Guarantee may be a strong word, but Richard has a point.

If you want to see if you using a RF, and don't want to take the plunge for a Leica, buy a good, CLAd Canon GIII. Personally, I think that will be a better tool for evaluation than a FED or Zorki (absent the interchangeable lens).

Strongly agree with this. Buying a Leica to see if you like rangefinders can be pretty expensive.
If you buy an unknown camera you may have to put money into to even have it work. That's not money you'll
get back by reselling the camera either.

Some here will disagree with that but YMMV.

 

[giannisg2004]

If there are places that rent gear and also sell it, where you can deduct the rental price from the sale price if you end up buying, that would be ideal.

 

[Richard S. (rich815)]

That's why you buy from a reliable seller. Both my Leicas from Youxin had full CLAs and work great.

 

[drgoose]

I appreciate all the answers provided. If I can buy a Leica from Youxin that is probably the way I am going to go.

 

[Richard S. (rich815)]

Sorry, corrections here. The M2 was $550 from Youxin, and the IIIf was $300. I had my price confused on the M2 with a lens I got around the same time, and the IIIf with a IIIc I sold. Still stand by my same theory....