[Clicker]

It seems suddenly Leica is building/opening a whole slew of store fronts suddenly...SF coming shortly.

Whose is buying all these new Leicas...???

When will there be a Toronto one???

[Christine Tham]

The nouveau riche from China are buying up Leica along with other luxury brands. Leica can barely manufacture enough to meet demand. I was considering a Summicron 75 recently, and the Leica store in Sydney told me there's a waiting list.

I was in Hong Kong recently, and almost every second person was carrying a Leica (usually compacts, but hey ...) Leica stores everywhere, in suburban shopping centres, even one in the airport. One could be forgiven for thinking Leica has replaced Canon as the market leader.

A lot of Chinese also prefer to buy their luxury brands overseas (added bragging rights back home) so I am not surprised to see Leica boutiques popping up all over the world, not just Asia.

[Doanh]

The nouveau riche from China are buying up Leica along with other luxury brands. Leica can barely manufacture enough to meet demand. I was considering a Summicron 75 recently, and the Leica store in Sydney told me there's a waiting list.

I was in Hong Kong recently, and almost every second person was carrying a Leica (usually compacts, but hey ...) Leica stores everywhere, in suburban shopping centres, even one in the airport. One could be forgiven for thinking Leica has replaced Canon as the market leader.

A lot of Chinese also prefer to buy their luxury brands overseas (added bragging rights back home) so I am not surprised to see Leica boutiques popping up all over the world, not just Asia.

So instead of saying "keeping up with the Jones" now we should say "keeping with the Chen" eh?

[Clicker]

Christine you've been to Japan, it's like Leica heaven there for used stuff, next trip i'm going to look more carefully and keep a small selection. I'm going to try and hook up with JC Hunter Jeremy or Tokyo Shooter, Dave he actual works near the hotel i stayed at two buildings across, just couldn't sync our free times it helps that they speak japanese.

[Christine Tham]

Christine you've been to Japan, it's like Leica heaven there for used stuff, next trip i'm going to look more carefully and keep a small selection. I'm going to try and hook up with JC Hunter Jeremy or Tokyo Shooter, Dave he actual works near the hotel i stayed at two buildings across, just couldn't sync our free times it helps that they speak japanese.

To be honest, I don't find used Leica prices all that cheap in Asia.

I get better pricing (ie. more realistic and in line with the guidelines) here in Australia. A few stores are keeping a lookout for me - when something good comes in, I'll have a look.