Which Leica do you have?
Leica cameras come from Ernst Leitz in Wetzlar, Germany. The first production model went on sale in the mid-1920s, and the families are easy to tell apart:
- Screw-mount Leicas (Leica I, II, III and their variants): small, chrome, the lens screws in. Made from the 1920s into the 1950s.
- M cameras, from the M3 of 1954 onwards (M2, M4, M6 and later): the lens clicks in with a bayonet, and you focus with a rangefinder.
- Reflex cameras: the Leicaflex and the R series, a different system with its own lenses.
- Compacts, such as the Minilux and the CM: small autofocus cameras for 35 mm film.
The serial number is engraved on the top plate, and on lenses on the front ring. It tells the year of manufacture, and it is the first thing a buyer asks for.
What decides the price
- Model and serial range. Some years and versions were made in small numbers and are looked for.
- The shutter. Do all speeds fire, and are the cloth curtains of older cameras free of holes?
- The rangefinder. Do the two images line up at infinity, and is the viewfinder clear rather than hazy?
- The glass. Haze, fungus, separation or deep scratches in a lens make the biggest difference to its price.
- Originality. Original paint, original parts, and the box, caps and papers if they are still there.
Wear on the outside matters much less than most people think. A used Leica that works is worth more than a perfect-looking one that does not.
Where you can sell a Leica
- A Leica Store. Leica holds buying days and buys used Leica products, often as credit towards new equipment.
- At auction. For rare and early pieces. The record belongs to a Leica: the 0-series no. 105 sold for 14.4 million euros at the Leitz Photographica Auction in 2022.
- A marketplace. Usually the highest price per piece, but you photograph, describe, answer questions and ship, and you carry the risk if something is wrong.
- A camera dealer. Quick and simple, though the price reflects the dealer's own costs.
- Unseend. One estimate for the camera and its lenses, paid in your own currency, from anywhere.
How selling a Leica to us works
Photograph the camera from the front and the top, the serial number and each lens against the light. You get an estimate; within the EU we send you a free label, and from outside the EU we agree the price first and arrange the shipping and the customs papers. When it arrives we test it. If it is as described, we pay. If something turns out different, we tell you and either agree a new price or send everything back free. Rare and expensive pieces are always judged by hand, by a person.
Before you send it
- Do not clean the lens or open anything; it often does more harm than good.
- Leave caps, cases and boxes with the camera.
- Take the batteries out of reflex and compact cameras.