Justify the acquiring of a new Linhof Technika?

[Bob Salomon]

Not NOS, but new new stock. Not offered at B&H. Since Greg is in the U.S., Badger's where he can easily shop:

http://www.badgergraphic.com/opencar...gory&path=3_30

Anyone in Europe seeking the same thing might purchase here:

https://www.linhofstudio.com/product...ns-Rodenstock/

And for those working in larger formats looking for a new new lens, there's always this:

http://www.badgergraphic.com/opencar...ory&path=3_332

Most is gray market. Why wouldn’t you want to support an American dealer with a physical location and lots of employees rather then a one man warehouse that doesn’t support much in the way of local or state economy and sells product that bypasses the legal importer and whose gray products do not have US warranties?

Lots of dealers in the USA, besides this one, FotoCare, K&H, Camera West, Samy’s, Central, Dodd, Hunt, etc.

If they don’t have it they can special order, just like this gray market specialist!

[Jac@stafford.net]

[...] sells product that bypasses the legal importer and whose gray products do not have US warranties?!

How does a product become grey market? Legal importer? Hint of monopoly?

[David Lindquist]

If you go to the Linhof website: http://linhof.com/en/ and look at their current price list for lenses you'll see for analogue lenses these five Rodenstock lenses listed plus the 90mm Schneider Super Angulon XL. The website calls it a December 2018 price list but the PDF itself says it's valid 1 September 2018.

Peskily this forum auto-corrects "Angulon" to "Angolan."

David

[Keith Pitman]

So, Greg, have you decided?

[Bob Salomon]

How does a product become grey market? Legal importer? Hint of monopoly?

What monopoly, the legal importer has a contract with the factory to set up factory authorized service, pay to train repair staff at factory, maintain repair parts, provide technical support for users, purchase and supply factory product literature for customers, agree to maintain sample product to exhibit at trade shows and for dealer training, maintains adequate inventory to support dealer sales, supply product warranty in the distributor’s country, agree to budgeted purchases of factory product on a mutually agreed schedule, produce PR for press in distributor’s country, purchase agreed amount of product literature from factory. Pays all shipment costs from factory to distributor including required packaging, pays any and all import costs at border, pays all advertising costs in country’s publications, carries product liability insurance for product from the factory sold in country.

A grey market dealer does none of this, just sits back and disrupts the marketplace.

[Daniel Casper Lohenstein]

Why don't you spend 2k$ more?

Travel to Germany, to Munich, join one of the original Linhof large format photography workshops http://linhof.com/en/linhof-workshops-und-seminare/, visit the factory in Munich, buy the camera at the factory (as the sultan of Brunei once did - they offered him an additional and complete 2x3 Technika system for free, as a gift ... Germans love to visit the VW plant in Wolfsburg, watching their own Golf or Passat getting assembled)?

Offer yourself a trip to Oberbayern, Schwaben and Franken (Neuschwanstein, Königsee, Bayreuth - R.Wagner-Festival), visit all the locations Linhof promoted in their own magazine »Photo-Technik International« ...

What monopoly, the legal importer has a contract with the factory to set up factory authorized service, pay to train repair staff at factory, maintain repair parts, provide technical support for users, purchase and supply factory product literature for customers, agree to maintain sample product to exhibit at trade shows and for dealer training, maintains adequate inventory to support dealer sales, supply product warranty in the distributor’s country, agree to budgeted purchases of factory product on a mutually agreed schedule, produce PR for press in distributor’s country, purchase agreed amount of product literature from factory. Pays all shipment costs from factory to distributor including required packaging, pays any and all import costs at border, pays all advertising costs in country’s publications, carries product liability insurance for product from the factory sold in country.

A grey market dealer does none of this, just sits back and disrupts the marketplace.

[Greg]

Thanks to all for the feedback. Acquiring a pre-owned 2000 or 3000 Linhof Technika definitely the way to go. For me, weight is not a factor, the longest hikes I take nowadays are measured in single digit miles. "fine mechanics" as Dave stated also my Achilles heel, my first 4x5 was a Sinar Norma and still use one today. So now the search begins for one in mint condition.....
Greg

[Jim Noel]

There are at the most two people to whom you must justify the purchase - You and your spouse. The rest of us don't matter in this case.

[Greg]

Thanks to all for the feedback. Acquiring a pre-owned 2000 or 3000 Linhof Technika definitely the way to go. For me, weight is not a factor, the longest hikes I take nowadays are measured in single digit miles. "fine mechanics" as Dave stated also my Achilles heel, my first 4x5 was a Sinar Norma and still use one today. So now the search begins for one in mint condition.....
Greg

I'm still looking... Since my last post, last fall found one Technika that I very seriously considered buying, but the seller was not a photographer and couldn't answer my questions, plus "returns not accepted", so just backed off. Good thing is that all my 4x5 lenses now reside on OEM Linhof boards.

Is there a web site that compares the V, 2000, and the 3000?

I have a beautiful 82 page Linhof catalog that covers the V, but have no literature covering the 2000 or 3000.

Thanks

[Oren Grad]

Greg, the Linhof website still has the current brochure for the Master and 3000, and manuals for the Master/2000/3000. You can get them from this index page:

http://linhof.com/en/download-2/