Santa's Leica (1 Viewer)

[brocknroller]

Arthur,

If you're reading this, Santa called and he wants his Leicas back!

Here it is folks, the rare red Leica BN, found only at the North Pole, NYC, and Rancho Mirage, California.

Is the camera's color palette off? Do these look orange to you?

http://cgi.ebay.com/Leica-8x32-BN-RED-Trinovid-Binoculars-Boxed-/230536424738?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item35ad0aad22

 

[Pinewood]

Arthur,

If you're reading this, Santa called and he wants his Leicas back!

Here it is folks, the rare red Leica BN, found only at the North Pole, NYC, and Rancho Mirage, California.

Is the camera's color palette off? Do these look orange to you?

http://cgi.ebay.com/Leica-8x32-BN-RED-Trinovid-Binoculars-Boxed-/230536424738?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item35ad0aad22

Hello Brock,

I am barely awake, but mine seems a tad redder but not far from orange.

Let me know if this seller finds a sucker at that price, then I'll sell mine, which has gone unused since I bought an 8x32 Zeiss FL.

Happy bird watching,
Arthur :flyaway:

 

[dalat]

Wow, what a price. Seems I sold mine way too cheep.
Color comes out a little too orange on those pics, but not too far from the acutal color. You can use the red dot as red-reference

 

[edwincjones]

WOW-that will look good with the silver one!

edj

 

[Pinewood]

Wow, what a price. Seems I sold mine way too cheep.
Color comes out a little too orange on those pics, but not too far from the acutal color. You can use the red dot as red-reference

Hello Dalat,

I think that the seller is being very optimistic. My guess is that is not worth more than US$950. I recall that you asked 700 Euros about $950, depending on the going exchange rate, and met with resistance.

It is great binocular and it is hard to misplace.

Happy bird watching,
Arthur Pinewood :brains:

 

[brocknroller]

Here's photo of another "red" Leica. This one looks even more orangey.

http://ii.alatest.com/product/600x400/3/0/Leica-Trinovid-8x32-BN-in-Red-0.jpg

By comparison, the one on eBay looks more like "mandarin".

Color chart:
http://www.funhousetheatricalcostumes.com/kry-1108.html

When I heard about the "red Leica" I expected it to look closer to red than orange.

Attached is my personal favorite Leica color - green. I also like that it's not "two-toned" but all one color so the red dot stands out, which gives it more "cachet in the field".

 

[Pinewood]

Hello Brock,

Number 79 on the colour chart is the best match. I think mine is a litte redder than the photo from the web site.

Happy bird watching,
Arthur :scribe:

 

[NWBirder]

interesting color. is it intended for marine use?

 

[brocknroller]

interesting color. is it intended for marine use?

that would be this model:

http://www.company7.com/leica/lei42mlg.html

best I can figure is that these were made for the first manned Mars mission. a bit ahead of their time.

 

[Pinewood]

interesting color. is it intended for marine use?

Hello NWBirder,

I have read two slightly different stories. The first, that it was dedicated for store use for sales demonstgation. The second, similar story, is that they were lent to prospective buyers, who made a pro forma payment with a credit card. If they liked it, the sale was revised and the buyer bought a new one. If they did not like the binocular, the sale was reversed. If they never returned it, the sale was confirmed. I guess that no one wants to go bird watching with a store's binocular, except for trial.
Four and a half years, ago. a lot of them were released for sale, many on that electronic auction site, whose name I dare not write.

Happy bird watching,
Arthur Pinewood :egghead:

 

[garymh]

The red binocular was intended for loan by dealers to prospective purchasers as Arthur says. The idea was that if the binocular was not returned it would be instantly identifiable as Leicas property.

A few hundred were made and at the end of the promotion they were all supposed to be returned to Leica to be refurbished, have the red armour replaced with black and then sold off as ex-demonstration units. A number of them, however, escaped the process and are still in use. The unfortunate part is that if any of these red units are returned to Leica for repair in the future the armour will still be stripped off and replaced with the regulation black.

Leica also considered doing this with other models. I have a red Duovid 8+12x42 and a red 10x42 Ultravid. I have also recently seen for sale a red 8x20 BCA Trinovid. Only one or two of each of these were made for factory assessment before it was decided not to proceed.

Leica also considered other colours before red was chosen. I have at home an experimental set of yellow armour for the 8x32. I will try and post a picture later as well as the leaflet for the promotion which I have somewhere in my archives.

 

[Pinewood]

A few hundred were made and at the end of the promotion they were all supposed to be returned to Leica to be refurbished, have the red armour replaced with black and then sold off as ex-demonstration units. A number of them, however, escaped the process and are still in use. \

View attachment 288569

View attachment 288570

Hello Gary,

I do not doubt that the removal of the red armour was scheduled in the UK, but I bought mine in the States, where it came with a special guarantee for demos. So I suppose that it passed through Leica, USA's facilities before being released for sale. Of course, it may have been originally sent to dealers with that guarantee.

If it is never returned for repair, the red Leica will surely retain its colour.

Happy bird watching,
Arthur Pinewood :scribe:

 

[chartwell99]

Brocknroller - The all green Leica in your photo is, I suspect, either a late 1980's or an early 1990's Leica Camera GmbH version which became a green and black model after the company went public (Leica Camera AG).

 

[brocknroller]

Brocknroller - The all green Leica in your photo is, I suspect, either a late 1980's or an early 1990's Leica Camera GmbH version which became a green and black model after the company went public (Leica Camera AG).

Good to know. Thanks. This one sold for a ridiculously low price but I had just purchased another bin. Plus, I had my reservations because of reading about the Trinnies having too much pincushion. Too much of a good thing can be as bad as not having enough ("rolling ball").

 

[brocknroller]

Hello Gary,

I do not doubt that the removal of the red armour was scheduled in the UK, but I bought mine in the States, where it came with a special guarantee for demos. So I suppose that it passed through Leica, USA's facilities before being released for sale. Of course, it may have been originally sent to dealers with that guarantee.

If it is never returned for repair, the red Leica will surely retain its colour.

Happy bird watching,
Arthur Pinewood :scribe:

That's comforting to know, after reading Gary's post, I was beginning to think you had "nicked" yours.

Well, the red Leica is still for sale on FleaBay for $1,495. However, if that is too dear a price to buy for your dear one, consider this cheaper alternative:

http://www.adorama.com/AP1042PN.html

B.

 

[NDhunter]

That's comforting to know, after reading Gary's post, I was beginning to think you had "nicked" yours.

Well, the red Leica is still for sale on FleaBay for $1,495. However, if that is too dear a price to buy for your dear one, consider this cheaper alternative:

http://www.adorama.com/AP1042PN.html

B.

Brock:

That one is quite bright. I suppose it is not up to Leica specs.

Jerry

 

[John Dracon]

Gosh. Was I mistaken. When I saw my first red Leica BN, I immediately jumped to the conclusion that Leica was catering to women who like more color in their accessories than basic black. John

 

[brocknroller]

Gosh. Was I mistaken. When I saw my first red Leica BN, I immediately jumped to the conclusion that Leica was catering to women who like more color in their accessories than basic black. John

According to the Fashionista, red is only the #4 color trend for this fall, which may explain why that red Leica hasn't sold yet.

However, anorexia seems to be a timeless favorite in the world of fashion:

http://www.collegefashion.net/trends/back-to-school-fashion-guide-fall-2010-color-trends/

Brock Lauren

 

[NoSpringChicken]

However, anorexia seems to be a timeless favorite in the world of fashion:

I find those photographs genuinely worrying.:-C It's interesting to see that the number one colour is Olive Green. It's not often that birders are fashion trendsetters.

Ron

 

[mooreorless]

Walking skeletons