Answer

Film Leicas, yes, digital Leicas, no.

Film Leicas are timeless devices which might have been made 50 years ago and still work fine now. Taken care of, they’ll keep working for another 50 years. The build quality is exceptionally high. If you’ve never held a Leica, it’s easy to think Apple products are well built. If you’ve held a Leica, Apple products might as well be made of cheese by comparison. If everything was built like a Leica, we’d have stopped manufacturing anything, because everything we made 50 years ago is still working just fine now.

Digital Leicas however, are electronic inside, and they’re not going to last 50 years, most will not last 10 years. Electronics have a finite life, there is only so many times you can fire a capacitor, or switch a transistor before it stops working. However, unlike mechanical gears and cogs, in 10 or 15 years, the circuits are not being made any more, and it’s uneconomical to repair. On the other hand, any skilled camera maker or maybe watchmaker can make a new cog or gear.

A film Leica like an M3 is a true work of art, I found the M3 quite remarkable even compared to a Leica M6! Even compared to my Leica MP, a Leica M3 feels special and different.

Leicas are also good value in that they tend to be free of charge. I’m not joking. If you buy a Leica for $1000, keep it for 5 years, you can then sell it for $1000, maybe a bit more depending on the market, or maybe a bit less if you’ve added scratches and dings. Really what I mean is that a Leica for $1000 isn’t costing you anything, you can get that $1000 back any time you like. On the other hand, digital Leicas, like any other digital camera will plummet in value over the years.

Obviously using a digital Leica will save you money vs. a film Leica as you’re not buying film or processing, but that is a facet of digital cameras, not Leica cameras.

So for me, a Leica digital isn’t a particularly worthwhile purchase vs. any other digital camera. However, a film Leica is a stunning beautiful piece of history, and masterclass in how to build things.