The Leica “Is It Worth It” Test Nobody Wants to Run

Leica prices have climbed into a range where the purchase can quietly change how you think about every other piece of gear you own. If you have ever wanted a premium camera and then felt your brain pull you back toward rent, trips, kids, or retirement, this video hits that nerve.

Coming to you from Dave Herring, this blunt video lays out what Leica’s current pricing looks like in 2025 and how it shifted from a year ago. Herring narrows the conversation to the M and Q lines, not the whole Leica catalog, and he does not treat the increases like a temporary glitch. He walks through real list prices for bodies like the Leica M11 and its variants, then points out how fast “normal” Leica money turns into something that feels detached from day-to-day life. He also calls out the emotional part directly, including the itch to want a camera you cannot justify on practical grounds, which is where a lot of people get stuck. He keeps the focus on the decision you have to make, not on defending the brand.

The most useful part is when Herring separates “worth it” from “I can technically afford it,” then gives a few situations where the price can make sense. If the goal is native M-mount glass, his argument is simple: the look comes from the lenses, and the lenses were designed to be used on an M body. He talks about adapting M lenses to other systems and noticing a difference, then pushes the obvious follow-up: if you are paying for that lens character, the body choice is part of the deal. He also leans into the hybrid idea, where the same lenses can move between digital and film bodies like the Leica M6, which is a specific workflow, not a vague lifestyle claim. There is also a newer entry point he mentions, the Leica M EV1, framed as the lowest rung in a still-expensive ladder.

Then the video shifts into the reasons Leica is not worth it, and this is where it stops being polite. First, if you are not going to use the camera, the purchase is dead weight, even if resale value is strong. Second, if you crave tech-forward features, Herring says the M and Q lines will annoy you, because they are not built to win the spec race, and you will keep noticing what you did not get for the money. He contrasts that with buying other systems when you want modern performance, and he references his own time with the Leica SL2-S without turning it into a takedown. The more personal “not worth it” test is his “checkbox” idea: if a camera does not solve a real gap, it becomes a high-priced object that hangs around until you sell it.

Herring’s checkbox example gets uncomfortably specific, and it is probably the part you will recognize fastest. He sold a Leica Q2 because it stopped fitting how he wanted to shoot, then later realized he lost something the Q made easy: handing a camera to family so someone else can get real photos of you in the moment. That leads into his current wrestle between the Leica Q3, the Leica Q3 43, and the Leica Q3 Monochrom, not as trophies, but as tools that might get used differently than an M. He also draws a hard line on financing, basically saying debt for a hobby should make you pause, and his “buy used, buy patiently” advice lands like a practical exit ramp, not a moral lecture. Check out the video above for the full rundown from Herring.