Hi, what are some reputable dealers who sell M3's online? Thanks.

-- Adnan Abbas (adnan1976@hotmail.com), December 22, 2001

Answers

Adnan,

Tamarkin New York is an extremely reputable dealer, and they are located right next door to the Leica Gallery on the 5th floor of 670 Broadway, in Greenwich Village, New York (Manhattan). They are so reputable that they have a Japanese language website too. How's that for selling German cameras to the Japanese! And that from the USA.

http://www.tamarkin.com/

If you call them about what you see on their website, they are candid about the state of the equipment: the wear and tear, any blemishes, any dust or such things on lens elements. In short, totally reliable.

They have actually stopped me from spending unnecessary money. How's that for building a longterm relationship.

Best of luck. Let us know of your purchases and experiences.

-- Sikaan (Sikaan4@aol.com), December 22, 2001.

Hi Adnan, I'm not sure where you are but here in the UK I can thoroughly recommend Fieldgrass and Gale they ship all over the world and have given me first class service - good website too!

-- Giles Poilu (giles@monpoilu.icom43.net), December 23, 2001.

KEH.com is a decent place, so is www.classicconnection.com and kohscamera.com. I have purchased equipment from all of them, and they are usually pretty accurate in their descriptions and easy to deal with if you are not happy with the item. No matter who you order from, be sure they have a return policy without a restocking fee.(the 3 places I listed above have no restocking fees on used equipment) Also, no matter how nice the cosmetics are, plan on spending $200 - $300 to have it gone through and cleaned up and set back to spec. M3's are quite old now and many have sat arround for a decade or two without seeing a roll of film. Most common problems I see are a sticky shutter and hazy finder.

-- Andrew Schank (aschank@flash.net), December 23, 2001.

Some people have mixed feelings about him, but Don Chatterton is another who has lots of Leica M stuff. www.donchatterton.com

-- Josh Root (rootj@att.net), December 23, 2001.

I have had many excellent experiences, both trades and purchases, with Don Chatterton, and I definitely recommend him. I have also purchased non-Leica equipment from KEH and Midwest Photo in Ohio (ads in Shutterbug for all 3).

-- Robert L Jones (mail@visionsurgery.net), December 24, 2001.

Check out Marco Schouten in the Netherlands. I sent him money and he sent me a mint Leica so that makes him reliable in my book.

He also sells on Ebay. Prices may be different.

-- Fred Sun (redsky3@yahoo.com), December 24, 2001.

Adnan

I have had many dealings with Don Chatterton (Seattle area) and find him honest and reliable, never a bad experience. Jim Keuhl is also very good, as is Sam Shoshan (Classic Connection). Stan Tamarkin is another reliable sources, though his prices tend to be a little higher, his ratings for used equipment is always accurate. The few times I have had to return an item to any of these dealers, I had no problem getting a full refund.

-- Eliot (erosen@lij.edu), December 24, 2001.