Your Opinion: Most Over-Priced Film Cameras + Most Undervalued Film Cameras?
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das
Well-known
Sorry, I meant to say "cool" rich people.
Tim Murphy
Well-known
Dear Paul,
I've bought two EOS Elans for less than $ 75.00 with Tamrac bags and an EF 50mm f1.8 with the depth of field scale and EF 28-80 USM original metal mount because I wanted a new eye cup for my old EOS Elan. I kept the bags and lenses and sold off the cameras and made some money. The EOS Elan original version is a great camera, only missing the ability to use IS lenses.
I stole a couple A2E's to solve that problem on Ebay. The A2E is essentially a Nikon F4S for pennies on the dollar.
Regards,
Tim Murphy
Harrisburg PA 🙂
David Murphy
Veteran
Undervalued: Rolleiflex 2.8A - a fantastic camera, but much maligned by those that don't really know it
Undervalued: Kodak Retina IIIS - amazing quality and superb lenses
Overvalued: Hasselblad classic film bodies - I can't believe how much the cost now!
Undervalued: Kodak Retina IIIS - amazing quality and superb lenses
Overvalued: Hasselblad classic film bodies - I can't believe how much the cost now!
The Spastic Image
Established
Another reason why I like the EF. Slow speeds for me are rarely used. High speeds get used a lot. Have to harness the moment my muscles will allow me to get the shot. And hopefully a second shot for insurance. Cerebral Palsy for me demands a Zen type of focused approach to gaining some semblance of momentary muscle control, then shoot! I find rangefinders easier to shoot at slower speeds like 1/30-1/60 of a second. Easier to shoot (and I love a 35 or a 50 mm lens of superb quality). I need enough weight I can hold it steady.
The Spastic Image
Established
I'll take a Canon better rangefinder over any of those Kardashian P&S cameras all day long.
wlewisiii
Veteran
The A2E was the best film autofocus Canon I owned. I'd say I liked my Canon T90 and my current Nikon F4 better but they're all in that same ball park and really fine cameras. When I shifted to Nikon I gave the A2E and my EF lenses to a friends daughter who was doing film photography in High School. I'm sure she's probably using digital by now but a couple of those lenses might still be in use.
Rayt
Nonplayer Character
Do you have any photos taken with the Rolleiflex 2.8A you can show preferably at 2.8 and f4? I have an Opton with good taking lens. At 2.8 is soft and dreamy. It sharpens up but never near the level of a 3.5 Tessar or Xenar. I don’t know if this is normal or I own one of the mismatched ones.
wlewisiii
Veteran
That Xpan sold to someone locally. Boggles my mind honestly, there are many other cameras I'd rather spend that kind of money on (a K3 Mk III Monochrome and a set of DA Limited Primes comes to mind... 😉 )
Meanwhile a mint Nikkormat FT3, Nikon FG & a Minolta SRT & a gorgeous Pentax Spotmatic sit without takers. Silly world.
Hilmersen
Established
The first over valued camera I thought of was leica m, but then I remembered that I had bought a new mp in 2022 and that it is my most used camera..... Sure it costs a LOT, but I wouldn't have bought it if really felt it was overpriced. I also have fuji digitals, and the depreation on those are just insane...so I guess they a more over valued.... I guess it kind of like with rolex (that I do not have)....which is acutally a cheap watch if you sell it, as you'll probably get more than what you gave for it - hard do beat that cost of ownership.
The Spastic Image
Established
Leave that for the Retina 1 series. Still great buys in top condition if you can live with scale focus.
rulnacco
Well-known
Undervalued? Hmmmm, this is certainly an arguable choice--but what about the Nikon F4?
I mean, nowadays you can easily get one in nice shape for under $300. And yet when it was released, it was possibly the best and most revolutionary camera in the world--with a price to match.
Yes, it is big and heavy--but not really much if any heavier than a DSLR. And it has the advantage of having a far better viewfinder--you can actually manually focus with it (after using a DSLR for a while, when switching back to the F4 it's like looking at a movie screen, it seems so big, bright, and clear)--plus a metering system that is 99% as accurate as anything out there today. And it will work with most of the lenses Nikon made throughout its history--it will even autofocus the G lenses, if you don't mind shooting them wide-open.
Can I go back to that viewfinder for a second? Interchangeable screens (and interchangeable finders), built-in diopter adjustment (and will take screw-in diopters for even more range and fine-tuning), focus indicator, a great meter showing you exactly what your exposure is for +/- two stops, shutter speed, aperture, and number of exposures visible, convenient switch to keep it lighted. Everything you *need* to see, right where it needs to be, and nothing at all to clutter it up. And you can even take the finder off if you want to shoot discreetly at waist level--and you'll still have spot metering at least. God I *wish* any digital camera made since had a viewfinder like that! Shooting macro was especially a fun experience with the F4--and my slides, whether shooting daylight or flash, were almost always perfectly exposed.
You can get one even cheaper than many crappy plastic point and shoots, and it will be much more durable, accurate and capable, and you can mount some of the finest classic glass ever made on the front of it. And firing it just *sounds* brilliant, too--I think most movie camera firing/motor drive sound effects were based off the F4, seems like.
It's just damn fun to shoot. And possibly the best bang-for-buck available today in the film world.
I mean, nowadays you can easily get one in nice shape for under $300. And yet when it was released, it was possibly the best and most revolutionary camera in the world--with a price to match.
Yes, it is big and heavy--but not really much if any heavier than a DSLR. And it has the advantage of having a far better viewfinder--you can actually manually focus with it (after using a DSLR for a while, when switching back to the F4 it's like looking at a movie screen, it seems so big, bright, and clear)--plus a metering system that is 99% as accurate as anything out there today. And it will work with most of the lenses Nikon made throughout its history--it will even autofocus the G lenses, if you don't mind shooting them wide-open.
Can I go back to that viewfinder for a second? Interchangeable screens (and interchangeable finders), built-in diopter adjustment (and will take screw-in diopters for even more range and fine-tuning), focus indicator, a great meter showing you exactly what your exposure is for +/- two stops, shutter speed, aperture, and number of exposures visible, convenient switch to keep it lighted. Everything you *need* to see, right where it needs to be, and nothing at all to clutter it up. And you can even take the finder off if you want to shoot discreetly at waist level--and you'll still have spot metering at least. God I *wish* any digital camera made since had a viewfinder like that! Shooting macro was especially a fun experience with the F4--and my slides, whether shooting daylight or flash, were almost always perfectly exposed.
You can get one even cheaper than many crappy plastic point and shoots, and it will be much more durable, accurate and capable, and you can mount some of the finest classic glass ever made on the front of it. And firing it just *sounds* brilliant, too--I think most movie camera firing/motor drive sound effects were based off the F4, seems like.
It's just damn fun to shoot. And possibly the best bang-for-buck available today in the film world.
The Spastic Image
Established
While it is nice, I'd rather have an F3 for a camera. Or an F2 best yet in terms of SLR's. I like not being too battery dependent.
wlewisiii
Veteran
I got a near mint F4 for $116 last month. Best purchase in ages. It's the perfect film camera to match my D810. Matrix metering with my AI lenses too. Plus it runs on 4 AA batteries, that's no small thing in the middle of nowhere.
I love love love it.
I got it with just the MB-20 battery pack. I've thought about picking up the MB-21 but they go for about as much as I paid for the camera! LOL!
Godfrey
somewhat colored
Back about 2012-2014, a few years after the R-system was discontinued, prices for R bodies went to nothing and the lenses went to almost nothing. Thats why i was able to buy 15-16 lenses at an average price of less than $300, any of which (pre-discontinuation) would have cost $1500 and up, and two of the bodies I had were simply thrown in for nothing. I sold all that gear except for a few specific lenses that i continue to use with the M10-R/M for 'rather a lot' more than i paid for it, at current fair market prices. It was a good investment for me.
Beyond that, I dont really look at the prices of film (or digital) cameras that much except when i'm looking to buy or sell a specific thing. Reason being that i have way more cameras than i have time to use, at which point the cameras themselves are somewhat valueless since they just sit in their cases unless i feel like making the effort to use or sell them. I figure i should start the program of selling off or giving away all the excess soon as it will likely take me a year or three to do so, and i wouldn't want my partner to have to deal with it all after i leave this mortal coil... but I'm still being lazy about it. 🙂
Most of the used film cameras I've bought over the past decade or so have come to me at what I feel is giveaway pricing. I wouldn't bother buying once-cheap and now expensive cameras at all.
G
Beyond that, I dont really look at the prices of film (or digital) cameras that much except when i'm looking to buy or sell a specific thing. Reason being that i have way more cameras than i have time to use, at which point the cameras themselves are somewhat valueless since they just sit in their cases unless i feel like making the effort to use or sell them. I figure i should start the program of selling off or giving away all the excess soon as it will likely take me a year or three to do so, and i wouldn't want my partner to have to deal with it all after i leave this mortal coil... but I'm still being lazy about it. 🙂
Most of the used film cameras I've bought over the past decade or so have come to me at what I feel is giveaway pricing. I wouldn't bother buying once-cheap and now expensive cameras at all.
G
Nitroplait
Well-known
Under valued:
In general: Nikon pre AI lenses and cameras. Pentax M42 cameras as well as lenses from M42 manufacturers.
Pro and semi-pro AF cameras from the 90’s.
Over valued:
Pentax K1000, Canon AE-1, Olympus OM-10.
P&S cameras like Yashica T4/5 or Olympus Mju II etc. Slow AF and poor manufacturing, from a durability perspective. Not remotely worth the current pricing.
Leave this plastic junk alone and buy a real camera.
In general: Nikon pre AI lenses and cameras. Pentax M42 cameras as well as lenses from M42 manufacturers.
Pro and semi-pro AF cameras from the 90’s.
Over valued:
Pentax K1000, Canon AE-1, Olympus OM-10.
P&S cameras like Yashica T4/5 or Olympus Mju II etc. Slow AF and poor manufacturing, from a durability perspective. Not remotely worth the current pricing.
Leave this plastic junk alone and buy a real camera.
hap
Well-known
Regarding luxury watches. Selling now like hotcakes and soaring prices for pre owned rolex, Breitling, etc
wlewisiii
Veteran
Yep on both sides. I buy Pre-AI lenses for silly cheap and have them converted and they're still cheaper than AI (much less AI-S 😉 ) lenses. Of course now, my F4 can use them unconverted if I'm willing to stop down meter, so there's that too LOL! The F4 itself falls into this category.
The AE1/AE1P was a great camera in it's day but the shutter on them has proven to be a serious problem - google "AE-1 Shutter Squeal" if you don't already know. They aren't worth buying now much as I loved the one I bought in Illesheim FRG at the PX in 1983. Loved my T90 too but they have shutter issues too.
The K1000 is decent but I gave the one I had to a 14 year old wanting to learn photography a lifetime ago when Fuji was still 2~3 bucks a roll in the checkout line at the supermarket and Walgreens did 1 hour dunk and scan. It wasn't worth "money". Still have the camera bag I got with it; that was damn useful for a small camera and lens kit.
Never cared for any OM's. Spent stupid money on a OM-1 and a 50. Hated it. Sold it fast at loss. Heresy, I know 😉
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