Although there has been no official announcement, many Leica prices were increased at the beginning of July throughout Europe and the United Kingdom.
While the increases also affect accessories and lenses, the headline camera prices in the UK are as follows:
- M11, £7,600 (£7,500)
- Q2, £4,920 (£4,750)
- SL2, £5,920 (£5,720)
- SL2-S, £4,340 (£4,250)
Lens examples including the 50mm APO-Summicron-M which rises to £7,125 from £6,900 and the 50mm APO-Summicron-SL, £4,090 from £4,000. All UK prices include Value Added Tax at 20%.
Some dealers, including Red Dot Cameras in London, are maintaining old prices on existing stock, so there are temporary bargains to be had.
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Greetings, with the price increases I would hope that leica will start providing camera manuals. I luckily have a laser printer. I had to study my SL2 manual for hours before I could use the camera.. .I had to make a summary of the manual to use the camera. i guess if we paid more we would get a manual-my Fujifilm x100v came with a manual – maybe I paid too much. Or maybe, Leica needs to up their game.
Leica just announced record financials. I suppose they increased prices to have a new record next year.😂
Saw that. I’m planning to do a little piece on Monday to start the week. They must be doing something right. I suspect most of the profit comes from the M and Q models. The M, in particular, has always been the company’s trump card.
As far as I know 45% of Leica is still owned by the Blackstone group, I assume that they will want to get out at a certain point in time, there were already rumors of that a number of years back, now might seem a good time, raising prices while at the same time cutting R&D and product lines for short term gains and optimization might not always be the best long term strategy though…
Yes even back in 2018 when I last visited Wetzlar, Blackstone were trying to get out. Maybe the current results will encourage a buyer.
Nothing new here, the US even had 2 price increases last year and another one this year, or 3 price increases in slightly over a year, if Leica continues to raise its prices the way it has been doing over the last 5 years the M12 will cost $12K and the M13 $17K… totally insane…
And the M3 cost about £100 with an extra £20 for a lens back in 1954. With inflation in action again, your estimates are probably on the modest scale!
I suspect Leica’s marketing and comms people have been using the Leica branded “Mirage” invisible ink again!
My Lille holiday plan is on the wrong side of price hike. I am going to buy an M11 but will have to pay the increased price in a couple of weeks’ time. It will all be still cheaper than buying with VAT in the UK I suppose.
@Brian and all..on the note of new APO lenses and the hype, is there any significant advantage to the 35 M APO over FLE or even Zeiss distagon f1.4?
Greetings, not intending to be rude, but your question is too simplistic to answer quickly. I could provide a detailed response but it would simplify things if you clarify some things. As a starter, the Voigtlander VM 35/2 apo is technically similar in performance overall to the much higher priced Leica m 35/2 apo. The clear major differences are price, the Voigtlander is much larger and so more impact on viewfinder, the Voigtlander does not have 6 bit coding. In the nuance areas, the Voigtlander is better than the Leica in some aspects and the Leica is better than the Voigtlander in some aspects.
As for an F 1.4 lens, as far as I (and Diglloyd and the owner of the popular dearsusan blog) am concerned, the Zeiss ZM 35/1.4 blows all glass out of the water. The images are sharp yet not clinical. The sunstars are sharp and gorgeous especially on cars etc. The foreground and background out of focus rendering is creamy smooth under all conditions. The image is flat field and no distortion. The only negative I had with this lens over the Leica equivalent were it is much larger so impacts viewfinder more.
To be succinct, the Zeiss 35/1.4 was one of the few lenses that I sold and then missed and repurchased. One of the others was the Leica m 50/1.4.
However, I have sold my Leica 50/1.4 for the breathtaking, but larger, Voigtlander 50/1. I no longer miss the 50/1.4 – Leica please take note that your pedestal is getting less solid. I used to be a total Leica m glass believer, but other options are creeping in that I like the rendering better but, apples to apples in size, Leica in general achieves rendering brilliance in a smaller package.
I did own the Leica m 35/1.4 but the Zeiss in my opinion was a far superior rendering lens. The only reason to buy the Leica version was the smaller size ( which can be important to some) or you are prejudiced, or you want to impress others.
If you have more questions, do not hesitate to ask me or the group.
Hi, if you are a wee bit flexible on focal length and are determined to buy Leica or 6 bit coding, the Leica m 28/1.4 is a must buy lens. The sold mine and the repurchased it at great cost. It is not flat field but it can create unique images and the rendering is gorgeous- nothing is even close. If you have a nifty fifty, go for this 28. You will thak me… send money to ( Mike probably has deleted 🤣).
Hi Brian, you weren’t rude at all. 😀 My question was simplistic because I have yet to come across a picture taken by leica 35 M APO that has wowed me in a similar way to distagon , online and also when I had it. Your explanation answers everything I was after. Of course one has to carry a bigger and heavier lens compared to the Leica APO.
I briefly tried 28 Lux when I had an M240 but wasn’t happy with the vignetting. I might try that again when I get the M11… (I want it and have some money but I’ve never bought anything this expensive, so dithering).
Looks like I might have to send money to Mike instead 🤣
PS- voigtlander 50/3.5 is on my list as you suggested a while ago thought 40/2.8 seems tempting for size and the angle of view… I’m a 28 and 40 kind of guy.
Hi Mahesh, Mike does need the money due to webhosting costs and the increasing costs to charge a Tesla.
Personally, you have a lot of great choices but I would not choose a Leica apo 35mm as I do not see anything special about it other than size and 6 bit coding and there is a hefty price to pay for that. I spent the funds on the M11…
Brian, Can you please contact me by direct email? I replied to your email but my reply bounced, not able to deliver. That may leave you wondering why I haven’t replied about the article.
Mike
I guess the marketing team thought no one would notice 😂. I purchased all my Leica needs prior to the forecast North American price increase. After the price increase, I have been selling off my surplus Leica equipment. The old buy low sell high principle. My M11 purchase, a truly extraordinary camera, blew up my well thought system. I have just sold my SL2 as my M11 is now my high resolution camera. I am keeping my SL2-S as my sole l mount AF camera as it has breathtaking low lights light and low noise performance that suits my system needs. The M11 will also be my ideal colour camera for conversions to black and white.
My sl50/2 lens is looking for a new home as the artistic rendering of the somewhat large Leica 50/1.4 blows the 502 apo doors off for bokeh rendering contrary to Leica hype with no real life proof. C’est la vie. Both lenses are extraordinary, I just wish Leica would sell their individual merits based on fact. I finally had to purchase both as there were no real test cameras comparisons based on large apertures with various backgrounds, subjects, and distance combinations. I did this and could readily see the Dramatic difference for a lot of images even in the viewfinder. Hence, people should not repeat manufacturers hype without testing it.
Even though Leica has just had a price increase, their prices are not coming down so it is always a good time to invest – especially in glass. Whereas, when I sell any other brand, there is always a disappointing resale value even after only a year since introduction. Leica is an investment, assuming you were not one of the rare people, rare as hen’s teeth, that bought a Leica medium format system.
Brian I have long suspected Leica make very sure no one such as DP Review etc is allowed to borrow any of Leica’s lenses for test purposes, and I also think they know if they did the testers would immediately do back to back tests against such as Canon and Nikon etc optics then come to the damaging conclusion Leica were not so special after all. Meanwhile I am keeping my SL (Yes SL not SL” or SL2S) and will continue to marvel at such as my Panasonic 20-60, 24-105 and the various superb Sigma lenses I also use with, along incidentally with my also saving a shed load of money.
Don, you might be right here. DxOMark reviewed the Summicron-SL 35mm (according to Peter Karbe the best lens Leica ever made) a few years ago and although it performed well it did not do any better than the competition… There was a lot of criticism because DxOMark tested it on a Panasonic S1R, etc but you have to wonder, if Leica felt comfortable about the quality of its lenses and wanted to have them benchmarked against the competition they would happily lend DxOMark a body for a few weeks, right?