Buying cameras to use for as long as possible

[Roger Hicks]

Many of us buy (or have bought) cameras to sell at a profit, as well as cameras just to try, out of idle curiosity or nostalgia: I bought a 6x6 Ikonta last week for 10€.

But for the last 35-40 years, since I bought my first, second-hand Nikon F and my first second-hand Leica M at about the same time, there's been a separate category of cameras I buy just to use. Residual value is irrelevant, as they are going to be used until something indisputably better or more useful displaces them. I get my money's worth out of use, not out of buying and selling.

My Fs have never been displaced, as I've never found anything I like better, and old Ms have gone when they are replaced with ones I like better. I sold my first Leica, an M3, because I wanted a 35mm frame, and a year or two back I sold one of my M2s because two or three film Ms are plenty if you're just using them instead of collecting them. Quite honestly I'd sell the M4-P too, but it's in such awful condition I doubt it's worth much.

Who else buys (at least some of) their cameras with no eye whatsoever on resale value, just to use for as long as possible? Not just Leicas and Nikons: my Alpa, Gandolfis and Linhofs are out-and-out users, and if they get knocked about a bit in use, well, using 'em is why I've got 'em.

Cheers,

R.

 

[Dr Gaspar]

I do it. But I don't do it all the time.

Last camera to use I bought, was a Minolta SRT 303b.

 

[gavinlg]

Yeah I generally buy stuff to use - don't care too much about resale value. Generally if you buy the best you can afford you don't suffer anyway. If you're thinking about selling something whilst buying it you should probably skip it...

 

[Nikonsnapper]

I have never bought a camera for resale. I use all of my camera's and have given my son the last two cameras that I stopped using. I buy the very best I can afford. I always liked the Nikon F series and bought an F5 a couple of years ago.

 

[taskoni]

I thing the GAS is a bit of a problem once you buy more than you need with intention to use it all - then the user condition gear rarely brings the money spent back 🙂
Saying that I use my main 3 cameras (M2,Leica III, R7) regularly, but I can't say that for my Rolleicord and the X1, but they do different things so I guess I'll put them in to use one day.
Regards,
Boris

 

[pakeha]

I have just realised that i have been buying without any thought to resale value. It is a good question . I paid a little too much for a Minolta SR7 but i was really after the 1.4 lens.
The body is not something you would want to drop on your foot so i quess it is well made and will last forever?
I also have cornered[a little] the local market on Mamiya Z series SLR. 5 bodies brought, only because i realise no one is gonna make film cameras anymore so 5 bodies should last me untill my eyesight goes.
I quess the FSU rangefinders i have and TLR`S will realise more than i paid for them even with international freight considered but even they were never purchased with resale in mind.
I`ll leave them all for my boys to do what ever they wish with them.
mmmm, a well worn M4-P...go on how much?
regards
CW

 

[Moriturii]

I always buy stuff to use, bud I'd like to buy them such that If I'd like to sell it later I'd like to break even or even make profit. I've never bought something just to sell and make profit.

 

[pobe]

I did think about resale value when I bought the Canon P I had for a few months - thinking that I might want to go for a Leica. But I couldn't care less about the resale value of my M4 - this one is staying with me until one of us dies. And if I'm the one to go first, I'll leave it with my son. 🙂

 

[Pickett Wilson]

I never think about resale value. I buy cameras to use. The concept seems strange to me, unless buying and selling is a business.

 

[ChrisN]

I think any purchase of a digital camera falls into this category. You know that the residual value, after even a short period of ownership, is going to be a small fraction of your purchase price, so it has to be a user. I have several older dSLR bodies that sit in the cupboard simply because they are not worth the effort to try to sell them.

 

[rogerzilla]

Resale value of film gear is a complete unknown 10-20 years out. It could all be fit for the museum only (if no-one makes film). I suspect someone will keep knocking out b/w film, but colour is more doubtful. Single-use cameras are keeping the production lines going at the moment. Colour processing could be the biggest problem - it's an awful process to do at home, and it must be barely economic when you only have 50 rolls a week coming in.

If film disappears I don't expect my Leicas to be worth much, so I suppose they're bought to use!

 

[Jamie123]

I hardly ever buy a camera with the intention to resell it later. The reason I resell a camera is either because I didn't like it as much as I thought I would, or because it was replaced by a 'better' camera or simply because I need the money.

I agree with Chris' feelings about digital cameras. I bought my Canon 5DII (most money I ever spent on a camera) with no intention to resell it, simply because it 'loses' value so quickly.

 

[MCTuomey]

I don't think much about resale, no. Well, I have owned several Canon telephoto lenses that I've bought to use for specific work, then sold them when the work was done. That might be an exception. Although I've bought and sold a lot of gear, I do it to meet a need or try something new, not with a view toward resale.

 

[rbsinto]

Essentially all my gear was purchased to be used, although there are one or two pieces that would likely make a profit if sold.
But by and large if and when I do sell any or all of it, if I made a few dollars, that will be an unexpected but welcomed bonus.

 

[KoNickon]

Following on earlier comments, I'd have to say that digitals are cameras to just use -- seems like their residual resale value, at least now, is low enough to make me hesitate before buying an expensive one. (I have only one, a Canon A590, which I bought for $80, which was like 40% of its original purchase price, and it was a year old.)

Frankly, I probably should have done a lot more considering of resale value in buying many of my cameras. But as an example, I just plain like using the Minolta SRTs, even though I can't get much for them.

 

[squirrel$$$bandit]

The M9 is the first camera I've bought with the intention of using it for at least a decade. It's a good feeling.

I have a number of customized electric guitars I built out of various parts--they are great instruments, assembled specifically to satisfy my own needs, but are worth less than the sum of their parts, because none of them are "original." Probably will never sell any of 'em.

 

[boffen]

I've never bought anything with the intention of selling it. I can't afford to.

 

[johannielscom]

I've never bought anything with the intention of selling it. I can't afford to.

How about when selling it for a profit?

Buying gear to sell at a profit in the past has helped me save for the gear I eventually could buy to use.

Can't remember when I last sold film gear at a loss. At least I'm playing even, most of the time I make a buck, or sometimes many!

 

[Sonnar Brian]

Most of the Digital cameras that I bought are in this category. Last year I picked up an IR converted Olympus EP2, and it replaced my IR converted Coolpix 950. My Nikon D1x's still serve for visible-only.

The M8 and M9 were bought with the same intention, use for a very long time.

 

[jpa66]

I only ever buy cameras with the intention to use them. I only get rid of them if I find that I don't like using them ( or find something better ).