Danilo,
The "normal" price meassured against what norm?
I have a 2004 price list here, and for love nor good money can i find a 201 F body in there. Would that not make it priceless? ;-)
Yes, the 201 F has been out of production for quite a while. I believe it has not been made since 1997.
Since then, the MF market has crashed (ask Hasselblad ;-)).
As a dealer you can still expect people to pay prices as if nothing happened. You can also expect to see pigs fly.
And that may be the very reason after all these years he is still holding an unsold, "new", 201 F.
Yes, it is "new". But who is buying new 201 F bodies today? Why, he should be paying you for taking it off his hands! ;-)
So let's take a look at what these thingies actually trade for nowadays (roughly):
- A realistic price for the body would be around US$ 600 - 650. Perhaps even as high as US$ 800, but only on a good day.
- A decent (used) film back can easily be found for somewhere around US$ 300, maybe US$ 400.
- The 80 mm lens for a bit more, about US$ 500... on a good day.
So i would say his price is too high by a factor 2. At least.
The 201 F is not just a bit different from the 501 CM. I, personally, wouldn't call that host of extra features "a small advantage".
But that ultimately depends on how much you want/need any or all of these extra features. So your assessment may be correct, yes.
The "normal" price meassured against what norm?
I have a 2004 price list here, and for love nor good money can i find a 201 F body in there. Would that not make it priceless? ;-)
Yes, the 201 F has been out of production for quite a while. I believe it has not been made since 1997.
Since then, the MF market has crashed (ask Hasselblad ;-)).
As a dealer you can still expect people to pay prices as if nothing happened. You can also expect to see pigs fly.
And that may be the very reason after all these years he is still holding an unsold, "new", 201 F.
Yes, it is "new". But who is buying new 201 F bodies today? Why, he should be paying you for taking it off his hands! ;-)
So let's take a look at what these thingies actually trade for nowadays (roughly):
- A realistic price for the body would be around US$ 600 - 650. Perhaps even as high as US$ 800, but only on a good day.
- A decent (used) film back can easily be found for somewhere around US$ 300, maybe US$ 400.
- The 80 mm lens for a bit more, about US$ 500... on a good day.
So i would say his price is too high by a factor 2. At least.
The 201 F is not just a bit different from the 501 CM. I, personally, wouldn't call that host of extra features "a small advantage".
But that ultimately depends on how much you want/need any or all of these extra features. So your assessment may be correct, yes.
and even more silent than Leica - The prices of the 500/501 CM are getting så low you can not go wrong DIRK wit a used Hasselblaad