Overpriced camera market

[GSNfan]

Do you think the camera market is inflated and the cameras are overpriced?

I'm speaking of all production cameras, which is 99% digital cameras of all form.

I was thinking about my own situation. I have two DSLRs which despite being "out-dated" from a market prespective are perfectly fine for what I do and should be fine for sometime to come... If I ever feel the need to 'upgrade' i can get a used DSLR with very little money that has almost twice the sensor performance of my current DSLRs when it comes to high ISO. I don't need to buy a new DSLR EVER, I don't shoot video, I don't make gigantic prints and ISO 6400 is fine for me.

The same applies for a lot of other photographers... And when it comes to P&S cameras, they are not worth it at all with phone cameras filling the gap and high-end P&S are not worth much with compact large sensors...

Speaking of large sensor compacts... It appears that large sensor compacts are sort of buffering this camera prices from crashing by introducing a new product line, but at the same time, with large sensor compacts killing entry/mid level DSLRs and high-end P&S its only logical that there will be a lot of them released in short intervals which will inevitably crash their prices as well... Does anyone remember Sony NEX5? Or is it so three months ago.

And in conclusion I just feel the surge in amateur photography when digital cameras became cheap and common is on the downside of its bell curve. People had their fun and most have lost interest and moved on. I say this by observation of a few amateur circles which i was part of, difficulty selling gear and abundance of used gear on auction sites... The commercial market for still photography is pretty much dead which will discourage those seeking to make money with still photography and PJ virtually being made irrelevant by easy video has taken the glamor out of still photography... But also the used market is full of digital cameras that work just as well and are pretty new... even those who keep 'upgrading' their DSLRs have reached a point when it really does not make any sense to buy a D7000 when the new $300 cheaper D5100 has the same sensor... As for family snapshots, camera phones and immediate upload to share with friends and family is the logical way to go about it and by next year the phones will have some serious sensors in them for photography.

How long before the camera prices dive down like computer hardware prices?

 

[Contarama]

Very interesting angle sir...the camera industry has been making money for well over a 100 years now. It has made so much money over the years that it has and has had a ton of expert marketing folks who will always milk the price point for the maximum profits and they are very very good at it. Overpriced? Probably so...at least from a consumer's perspective.

Study the used market if you really want to be blown away...there you'll get a first hand look at what the real game changer is - the internet!

The next thing to seperate people from their pennies will probably a full framed micro compact the size of a wristwatch that takes 4X5 3D photographs...🙄

 

[Neare]

I've noticed the price of certain film cameras is on the rise as well, quite quickly too.

 

[Keith]

Here's a question for you Jon!

Where lies the F6 price in Japan at the moment? Someone told me they'd seen them occasionally in shops over here for around $600.00!

I'd be very tempted at that price!

 

[ChrisP]

Neopan 1600

Neopan 1600

Really? Where and how? I think I can probably get an unopend brick around here for about $9 a roll. If anyone is in desprate need of the last stuff maybe I should look into this?


I just sold a 10 pack of Neopan 1600 35mm for the equivalent of US$120 😀[/quote]

 

[Keith]

I was told that price by a member who lives in Sydney. He'd walked into a well known shop and they had several apparently ranging form $600.00 upwards depending on condition!

This was six months ago though so it could have changed!

 

[HuubL]

This has been said for years already, people loose interest in following the yearly camera updates.

I've been shooting SLRs since the early seventies. Started with a cheapish but very able Petri V6 and I was thrilled when I had enough money to replace it a couple of years later with the Canon EF. When five years later the A-1 came out, I had to have that one because of its smaller footprint, lower weight, and microprocessor offering extended possibilities. Yet, the EF still functioned excellently. Next, Canon changed their lens mount from FD to EF to accommodate autofocus. Sure enough I picked up an EOS 10 in 1991 to replace the A-1 that was broken due to a Tokina lens that got stuck and couldn't be removed without the use of a hacksaw. The EOS 10 was an advanced model at that time, and I happily used it until 2002. So, in the time span of 30 years I bought four SLRs. Looking back and remembering the enticement and consideration that went into deciding if and what camera to buy, I was thrilled most by the EF. I vividly remember Canon's brochures on the EF.

Everything changed after the plastic EOS10. The digital D60 was fun in the beginning, but I still have bad feelings when a couple of months later the 10D came out for about half the price I paid for the D60. Two years later I bought the 20D and three years ago the 40D. They're all excellent cameras but they haven't given me the joy and excitement I remember of the EF.

That excitement returned when 5-6 years ago I got my first M4.... 🙂

 

[raytoei@gmail.com]

somewhat off topic: the 2nd market for film market is going crazy. the m bodies and lenses (ltm and m-mount) are shooting up in an irrational way.

 

[rxmd]

It's just too convenient to buy things on credit (and when the credit card is maxed out you get a second mortgage, or you sell some other bought-on-credit stuff to pretend that it's your own money you're spending). I wonder how much gear on RFF isn't really owned by the people in whose cupboards it resides.

 

[jedrek]

Do you think the camera market is inflated and the cameras are overpriced?

No, absolutely not. A current model entry-level DSLR costs about twice what an entry-level film SLR cost a few years ago. A camera that you never have to put film into, records HD video, can do bursts, has instant preview, etc. You have a huge range of choice in that price area, multiple cameras, manufacturers, etc.

People complain about photography being an expensive hobby. "Compared to what?", I ask.

How long before the camera prices dive down like computer hardware prices?

They already have.

 

[jsrockit]

How long before the camera prices dive down like computer hardware prices?

Never... there will always be a hot camera that will command big dollars and there will always be people who NEED the newest thing going.

 

[williams473]

It's all a matter of priorities. If photography is important enough to me, I will find a way to afford to own a tool that enables me to shoot. If it isn't I will complain that prices are too high, but neglect to notice I am sinking lots of money into a house, car, pizza etc. that I have chosen to be higher priorities than photography. Staying abreast of the latest and greatest in digital is a turbulant, expensive pursuit. And I'm not being condescending here - I've done it too - I'm still paying off debt on digital cameras I sold long, long ago, and continue to enjoy the more affordable film cameras which cost a fraction of the new stuff, I own outright, and do as good or better a job for my money.

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

Definitely.

I just sold a 10 pack of Neopan 1600 35mm for the equivalent of US$120 😀

F@rk. I had a small fridge full of 35mm, 120 film (B&W, C-41, E-6) and some 4x5 Polaroid boxes; I had so much and tried to sell some cheap, as I was moving from the U.S. to Frons. No bites. I then tried giving it out for free. Nothing. I was really ignored. I should have sold it at a reasonably high price. I was even selling some Hasselblad stuff for cheap, and even the one guy who tried to haggle the price down ended up not buying (I kept that gear).

Moral of the story: people pay more attention when something is expensive and want it even more then.

Gave all my film (kept a small box for myself that I could ship to myself among my other boxes) away to the guy who took my cats. Including all my JOBO drums and film processor.

 

[Pickett Wilson]

The thing that seems confusing to me is that it seems like old film camera prices are taking off, yet film sales from the companies that publicly list their financials are falling consistently quarter after quarter. What are these people doing with these old film cameras they are buying?

 

[xayraa33]

The thing that seems confusing to me is that it seems like old film camera prices are taking off, yet film sales from the companies that publicly list their financials are falling consistently quarter after quarter. What are these people doing with these old film cameras they are buying?

They are great fashion accessory on a neck strap for some posers 🙂

 

[Pherdinand]

The thing that seems confusing to me is that it seems like old film camera prices are taking off, yet film sales from the companies that publicly list their financials are falling consistently quarter after quarter. What are these people doing with these old film cameras they are buying?

they show them on internet forums, and talk about them, endlessly.

 

[Pickett Wilson]

Well, perhaps, but I can tell them from someone who has carried the things around my neck for decades that it leads to serious neck and shoulder problems. Just wear a gold chain! 😉

 

[Keith]

Maybe owning an old film camera will be like having an old Jag or an MG. Drive the Hyundai during the week but take the classic out for a spin on the weekends!

When the old SLRs like Olympus and Nikon start going through the roof we'll know something is going on! 😀

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

I'd say something out of the ordinary is going on when the prices for Argus cameras start going through the roof.

Some scam artists have been doing that with the Zorkis and to some extent some Kievs, so I won't count those 😀

 

[Keith]

I'd say something out of the ordinary is going on when the prices for Argus cameras start going through the roof.

Some scam artists have been doing that with the Zorkis and to some extent some Kievs, so I won't count those 😀

Ahhh ... Lomo!