The u43, NEX, M8, M9, RD-1, Nikon D3, Nikon D700 seems to have revived the legacy lens market.
Jupiter-3 prices might be my fault. The one on my M8 set me back $60. I'm afraid those days are over as well.
Jupiter-3 prices might be my fault. The one on my M8 set me back $60. I'm afraid those days are over as well.
shadowfox
Darkroom printing lives
Ahh. That makes sense.
The "normal" people nowadays do not consume film at all (they are all digital), but the allure of the desirable photography gears remains and the number of collectors also remains (or even increased).
damien.murphy
Damien
Felt the same way about digital slr's these past few years, and have no qualms about being used dslr's a generation or two behind the curve.
Of late though, I've developed a need for good high iso quality up to iso 3200, and in Nikon form that is the D700 at the cheapest, thus I may reverse my stance to date, and seriously consider buying a new dslr.
I agree, cameras seem overpriced, but then high quality cameras have always been pricey, ala Hasselblad, Leica, top end Nikons/ Canons, etc. Incremental increases in specs are what irritate me mainly, and upgrades worthy of the name are few and far between, for me.
Of late though, I've developed a need for good high iso quality up to iso 3200, and in Nikon form that is the D700 at the cheapest, thus I may reverse my stance to date, and seriously consider buying a new dslr.
I agree, cameras seem overpriced, but then high quality cameras have always been pricey, ala Hasselblad, Leica, top end Nikons/ Canons, etc. Incremental increases in specs are what irritate me mainly, and upgrades worthy of the name are few and far between, for me.
Brian Legge
Veteran
Wow, I had no idea prices were like that at the bottom. When was that? I timed this badly - I started getting into rangefinders about a year ago. I would have jumped on one of the 1.4/1.2s at a price like that.
Maybe the price increase is partly the fault of people like me, discovering rangefinders for the first time as prices made it easy to justify experimenting.
Keith
The best camera is one that still works!
Leicas are overpriced .... most other cameras are extremely reasonable by comparison.
Some people eat caviar ... I don't!
We use US dollars to plug the gaps in the floorboards over here ... we used to use Australian dollars!
Some people eat caviar ... I don't!
We use US dollars to plug the gaps in the floorboards over here ... we used to use Australian dollars!
back alley
IMAGES
These prices were 7 years ago for the RF gear.
The Manual Focus Nikon gear hit rock bottom when "AF" was all the rage 10~15 years ago. When the Nikon D1 and D2 came out, prices picked back up for F-Mount manual focus lenses. The D3 seems to have caused them to jump. Things are 50% to 100% more than some of the prices that I paid. AF-Nikkors, such as the 28~70 3.4~4.5 Aspheric have plummeted. That was a $400 lens when it came out.
porktaco
Well-known
where is MY goldurned 10 million dollar bonus
Field
Well-known
I find the aftermarket to the worst now. While it is true hardly anyone can actually afford to buy new gear; which I see as a bigger economy problem. It is absurd to think that you can buy a well functioning car for sometimes less than some cameras. My problem however is with the "information age". (I want to come up with an acronym for it later)
It is nearly impossible to find a good deal on an old camera, used. You can a steal of a deal on just used professional gear at times but... when it comes to something old and FILM you are pretty well out of luck. Maybe some of you consider Leica M2-4 to be inexpensive compared to a new one but... As a prospecting young person who would want a couple of different lens sizes they are very expensive. The only reason I have a GSN is because some lady took pity on me and sold it cheap enough I could afford it instead of the $170 on Ebay.
Where do I see the problem? Everyone compares their item to Ebay because everyone wants to make some money. Ebay unfortunately is hyper inflated by people trying to make money. Even Ken Rockwell (that velvia using chump) knows this. He said anything on Ebay for more than a few days is prices too high. He is correct. In the used world we are being subjected to the idea of what something is worth.
Remember Beanie-Babies? People put a value on them and everyone wanted to buy them. Now it is hard to give them away. If you hyper inflate by setting a "golden price" that is "objective" then you are subjecting everyone to that price once it becomes known that is what something is "worth". The reality is that nothing is worth more than what someone is willing to pay for it. You might squeeze a few dollars out more if you hold on to it but is it worth it?
An incredible amount of yard sales I go to (looking for cameras and clothes typically) these days have higher prices than ever. People want to make money off of their yard sale instead of cleaning house. It would be a good sign of healthy consumerism if it was not for the fact that 99% of it is CRAP. What are we doing to each other? Price gouging and preventing each other from having money to spend on other things worth owning so our next garage sale will have something of value in it. The funny part is that these yard sales with low interest stuff for $10+ usually have most of it left over at the end. People know they might do better at GoodWill for instance.
Cameras are maybe slightly more respectable than the $10 not at all interesting vintage dress... but really, what happened to passing on some good nature? People could still make some money for their old gear but it seems like there is no respect for the fact that the world is digital (even if we like film) or the hassle and expense of fixing old cameras with donors etc.
Another problem is that people don't know what they have they are charging the price for a special edition original when they have a remake that people consider of no value. This is a huge problem in the antique world. It is with cameras too, like charing a Nikon F2 at the F2AS price. The average person thinks it is all the same. I know a thrift store in town with a $299 price tag on a Minolta X-700 MPS with a 50mm f1.7 lens. Any given day people try to sell them on Craigslist for $80 and may not succeed. The girl at the thrift store happened to see some sort of Minolta with some lens (f1.2 or something) on Ebay way overpriced at some point and thinks that the one in the store is worth that or more since there is no shipping charge.
Thrift stores by the way are suppose to serve the community of people without lots of money; there should never be anything price at a true thrift store (non-profit) remotely near $300.
My recommendation is to stop breeding poor Karma and create more of an easy come easy go, get it to the person who wants/needs it.
If you want to make money price stuff at 75% of what the lowest buy it now price is on Ebay. Even if you do that, it better be a hot ticket item. If it is anything else you will be lucky to make it go away for any sort of a price. Luckily most good camera gear is "hot ticket" items.
This is such a growing problem I want to write a guide to the second hand world. I just have no idea who would read it. I guess I will just have to wait out everyone unintentionally becoming hoarders until they get tired of it...
It is nearly impossible to find a good deal on an old camera, used. You can a steal of a deal on just used professional gear at times but... when it comes to something old and FILM you are pretty well out of luck. Maybe some of you consider Leica M2-4 to be inexpensive compared to a new one but... As a prospecting young person who would want a couple of different lens sizes they are very expensive. The only reason I have a GSN is because some lady took pity on me and sold it cheap enough I could afford it instead of the $170 on Ebay.
Where do I see the problem? Everyone compares their item to Ebay because everyone wants to make some money. Ebay unfortunately is hyper inflated by people trying to make money. Even Ken Rockwell (that velvia using chump) knows this. He said anything on Ebay for more than a few days is prices too high. He is correct. In the used world we are being subjected to the idea of what something is worth.
Remember Beanie-Babies? People put a value on them and everyone wanted to buy them. Now it is hard to give them away. If you hyper inflate by setting a "golden price" that is "objective" then you are subjecting everyone to that price once it becomes known that is what something is "worth". The reality is that nothing is worth more than what someone is willing to pay for it. You might squeeze a few dollars out more if you hold on to it but is it worth it?
An incredible amount of yard sales I go to (looking for cameras and clothes typically) these days have higher prices than ever. People want to make money off of their yard sale instead of cleaning house. It would be a good sign of healthy consumerism if it was not for the fact that 99% of it is CRAP. What are we doing to each other? Price gouging and preventing each other from having money to spend on other things worth owning so our next garage sale will have something of value in it. The funny part is that these yard sales with low interest stuff for $10+ usually have most of it left over at the end. People know they might do better at GoodWill for instance.
Cameras are maybe slightly more respectable than the $10 not at all interesting vintage dress... but really, what happened to passing on some good nature? People could still make some money for their old gear but it seems like there is no respect for the fact that the world is digital (even if we like film) or the hassle and expense of fixing old cameras with donors etc.
Another problem is that people don't know what they have they are charging the price for a special edition original when they have a remake that people consider of no value. This is a huge problem in the antique world. It is with cameras too, like charing a Nikon F2 at the F2AS price. The average person thinks it is all the same. I know a thrift store in town with a $299 price tag on a Minolta X-700 MPS with a 50mm f1.7 lens. Any given day people try to sell them on Craigslist for $80 and may not succeed. The girl at the thrift store happened to see some sort of Minolta with some lens (f1.2 or something) on Ebay way overpriced at some point and thinks that the one in the store is worth that or more since there is no shipping charge.
Thrift stores by the way are suppose to serve the community of people without lots of money; there should never be anything price at a true thrift store (non-profit) remotely near $300.
My recommendation is to stop breeding poor Karma and create more of an easy come easy go, get it to the person who wants/needs it.
If you want to make money price stuff at 75% of what the lowest buy it now price is on Ebay. Even if you do that, it better be a hot ticket item. If it is anything else you will be lucky to make it go away for any sort of a price. Luckily most good camera gear is "hot ticket" items.
This is such a growing problem I want to write a guide to the second hand world. I just have no idea who would read it. I guess I will just have to wait out everyone unintentionally becoming hoarders until they get tired of it...
MC JC86
Negative Nancy.
Good advice for the most part. I usually only sell what I bought specifically to resell. For eBay everything starts at 0.99, regardless of what it is, always finds a fairly predictable final bid, save for the insane final bidding wars that sometimes happen. Other times, I will give away cameras to other photographers I meet who need something that I know they will use a lot more effectively than me.
Field
Well-known
I resell things sometimes. However depending on the nature of it I set my prices differently. Usually I just try to make something but give someone the deal of the month or year for them if I can. If I can I like to let them set the price so I know they can afford it (made $90 once doing that). Unfortunately none of that does happens with cameras much or at all really. I avoid anything that is not super low priced unless I need it for myself because I need to make a few quick bucks off it or give it away.
As an example of something I do is buy point and shoot AF non-zoom cameras like Olympus Stylus (my favorite so far, I use one) and give them to my more serious photographer friend. He wants to teach a class with them. My finance do not make this intelligent (even at $3-8 per) but maybe he will gift me with some equipment, or just it will make us better friends.