1493960

Leica

Leica M2 ST Black Paint 1075104

$31,995.00 Out Of Stock

Pickup currently unavailable at Camera West Rancho Mirage

This Black Paint Leica M2 was made in 1963 and comes from an official production batch of cameras. Jim Lager confirms this batch as 1075001-1075300, from which he has personally seen several cameras. This one has heavy patina and features a special rewind knob made by Marty Forscher that has a unique telescoping rewind lever. The rewind knob underneath was later changed to chrome, likely when this rewind knob was added. The strap lugs have also been replaced at least one time in its life. The current lugs are worn, but remain solid. Also of note is an old brass headed screw on the top plate, near the counter. This was said to have been on the camera when it was acquired from the original owner. The past owner reports having the camera recovered in leather by Leitz Midland back in the mid 1980's. The vulcanite on the film door is original and all else on the camera appears original.

 



This camera was retained by its previous owner from 1968 until 2023, when it was sold to us and has a long history of photography. The previous owner was said to have acquired this from Photographer Jim Marshall. The two met at the "No Name" bar in Marin, very early in the career of the previous owner, and became friends over their common love of photography. At that time, it came with a Zeiss 21mm and finder. The previous owner supplemented the set with several Canon lenses. All lenses belonging to the camera were lost in a theft in London in 1971. Luckily, the camera body was dropped off for service at a dealer, earlier that day. At this point the camera received a set of Nikon lenses and currently wears a Nikon strap. This was a working kit until the whole set was stolen from the owner's car in the mid 1980's. At that point, all of the vulcanite had come off and the camera looked pretty ratty. The owner's sister found the camera in a bush a couple of days later. They suspected that the thieves figured that it was worthless due to the extensive patina and lack of body covering. At that point, the camera was returned to Leitz Canada for service and body re-covering. The camera presently has not been used in the last decade and it could currently benefit from a basic CLA and rangefinder alignment, although it is usable in its present state. Normally, I would service a camera before presenting it to the public, but this one has had such an interesting life, that I choose to respect the detritus in the cracks and crevices and to keep it exactly as found.

Features at a Glance

Product information

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We accept returns within 14 days of delivery, subject to a restocking fee of up to 15%. This fee is not for profit, but to cover the costs associated with selling an item. Each return is evaluated individually, and we strive to minimize this fee. In many instances, we waive it entirely if the refund credit can be applied towards another item in the store.

Please note, all returned items must be in the condition in which they were shipped. If the items are returned in a different condition, we will not be able to accept them.

We highly recommend visiting us in person to experience our fine photographic tools before deciding which tool best fits your needs. Please note that our inventory is distributed among our three stores, and what you see online may be at any of these locations. Below are a few points that we’d like to make in order to meet your needs for in store pick up.

The location of each item is indicated online. For convenience, you can choose to pick up your item at any of our stores. Once purchased, the item should be ready for pick up within 4 hours at the designated store, although this might vary depending on the store's busyness and time of day. We request that you wait for a notification from us confirming that your order is ready for pick up, to ensure the best service.

If your chosen item is not available at your preferred store, we can transfer it there after purchase. If you want to pick up an item at a different store, select that store for pick up during checkout, or choose a regular shipping method and let us know your preferred pick up store via support@camerawest.com or by responding to your order confirmation email.

For any questions about in-store pick up, please email support@camerawest.com. We'll do our best to accommodate your needs.

We offer a concierge trade-in program for the gear you'd like to upgrade, cross-grade, or simply pass on to a new owner. This enables you to acquire the tools that fit your specific needs. The easiest way to trade is to bring your gear into one of our stores and meet with us in person. However, we also accommodate those who can't visit our stores. Our online process is both personal and simple.

To begin, fill out the form on our Trade // Sell page with the details of the fine photographic equipment or watches you'd like to trade in. One of our team members will then contact you to confirm any details we might need for an accurate estimate. We will provide an estimate that doesn’t only look at the value of your trade in but the whole picture of where you want to go. If the estimate is satisfactory to you, we can provide a shipping label for you to ship your gear to one of our stores for a final inspection and store credit. Finally, we apply that credit towards your new gear!

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