The GetDPI Photography Forum

Great to see you here. Join our insightful photographic forum today and start tapping into a huge wealth of photographic knowledge. Completing our simple registration process will allow you to gain access to exclusive content, add your own topics and posts, share your work and connect with other members through your own private inbox! And don’t forget to say hi!

Pricing used tri elmar 28 35 50

Ralph Eisenberg

New member
What would be a reasonable price for a putatively "virtually mint" conditon tri elmar 28 35 50 from a reputable local camera shop. I was walking by the other day, saw it in the window to my surprise, and thought "well this might be the time to try the M-9 with a generalist lens", even with my bad, aging eyes.

It is going for about 2800 €uros, and I guess that I don't have too much time to decide.
 

Paratom

Well-known member
Cant tell about the price (my feeling is that it should cost less?) but just recently used my Tri-Elmar again during vacation and found the combination of Tri-Elmar and one faster lens very usefull.
Changing focal length with the Tri-Elmar is quite a bit faster than primes but it still feels like shooting a prime because its 3 focal length (compared to a zoom).
I like the lens quite a bit.
 

jaapv

Subscriber Member
As used Leica M lens prices range from the absurd to the ridiculous at the moment and keep going up, this is a price to buy it.
 
Last edited:

mjm6

Member
There are two different versions of the tri-elmar, and one is more desirable than the other, so the prices may (should?) vary between models.

I can't give you guidance, on the pricing, but I did want you let you know that there are two models. A little internet searching should give you some more information on the versions.

There is a website that has some pricing information, but consider the sources of the information and the age of the reporting before you treat the data as absolute:
http://www.antiquecameras.net/leicamlenses.html


---Michael
 

Ralph Eisenberg

New member
Thank you all for the input. I was completely surprised to see this lens available and didn't wish to do anything foolish in regard to what is an important decision for me that has been on the back-burner for quite some time.
 

jaapv

Subscriber Member
Optically they are identical, but the first version is a bit more difficult to set up for smooth frame changing. Once that is sorted, there is nothing to choose between the two, except for the more modern styling of the second version.
 

j. white

New member
I owned a copy of the first version and can recommend it highly.

There are a few differences between the two versions:

The front diameter of the 1st version is 55mm whereas the 2nd version is 49mm. This affects to the amount of viewfinder blockage that occurs with the two wider focal lengths.

The 2nd version features a focus tab that the 1st version lacks. Whether one likes them or not is obviously matter of personal taste.

According to Leica that the focal length ring was updated in the 2nd version with stronger detents to minimize accidental changes to the setting.


-J.
 

Ralph Eisenberg

New member
Thanks for the instructive feedback, which I appreciate. The shop selling the lens is closed till 23 August, so I have some time before me to consider the wisdom of going in this direction.
 

GMB

Active member
I think these lenses come on the market fairly rarely. I bought mine some 4 years ago, while passing by a dealer in Brussels during my lunch break. I think it was about 1,700 Euros. The lens was in very good condition and with a 6 months guarantee. I subsequently sent to Leica for 6 bit coding.

IMHO, it is a fabulous travel lens. Every bit as sharp as the primes. On a recent hike I took a shot at 50mm which I printed cropped 58x110 cm. Looks great and I plan to use at my (first!) exhibition in a few months.

The only minor complaint I have is that the lens, at least at 28 mm, is liable to flare when shooting into the direction of the light.

And can't opine whether the asked price is right but my gut feeling is that it is not completely out of line. Unless Leica produces a successor, these lenses should sell well on the used market. There are many new M9 users (many of which come from SLRs and were used to shoot zooms), so the potential demand increases while supply remains limited.
 
Top