Mental prices for Plastic Fantastic cameras.

[Shafovaloff1]

The Olympus Infinity has a very sharp lens, great auto focus and flash and I used one for years to document auto crash sites including injured clients and the vehicles for business. It also has the self-timer which was an added bonus. What a versatile camera....but .....the updated one....piece of junk!

 

[Shafovaloff1]

Also, I own an Olympus 35 ED rangefinder which though not as automated as the Infinity has an enormous range for exposures and a very sharp lens. The viewfinder is top notch. But, it does not self wind, load or re-wind, darn!

 

[Andy Kibber]

So, it is a great camera that has lasted almost 20 years and it isn't worth more than $50 to you? That does not make sense.

You are clearly a wise man but stupid me would not pay more than $50 for a camera that may stop working any moment with no prospect of repair.

 

[farlymac]

I've got boxes full of very good P&S cameras, but I live in the wrong marketplace. If I was in New York I could make a killing off them after seeing the prices at K&M. They are hard to find around here anymore because Goodwill now sells them only on their auction site, and a lot of the junk shops I used to frequent have gone under.


PF

 

[largedrink]

Film and film cameras are getting more popular here Down Under too, especially the Olympus Mju line. I gave my daughter an Olympus 35RC a few years ago and she loves using it (she's 24 by the way). A few of her friends have film cameras. She recently moved into a new flat and two of her flatmates have film cameras - lower end auto-SLR types. I think the main barrier to adoption and wider use is the prohibitive cost of film, development and scanning. I don't have any Mju's but do have about five Trip 35's and 8 or so half frame Olympus compacts that also have risen in value recently. I don't want to sell them though!

 

[John Bragg]

I bought Mju I and ii (I have a pair of each), and also several Canon Sureshot Supreme (aka Autoboy 3), over the last decade and all for pocket money prices. Time to start selling some maybe, and keep just the Mju I. I found the Mju ii very highly over rated and prone to failure. The Canons have a better lens and focus much more reliably, although they are now getting pricier as this madness takes hold.

 

[Brian Legge]

I sold a couple of cameras in this class a few years ago and managed to cover most of the price of a M6 .58. Granted I got a great deal on the Leica - but I think I would've done better financially holding on to the 'cheap' cameras as they've gone up in value even faster.


Oh well. It turns out I just don't get along with auto-focus cameras so from a user standpoint, I'm much better off with the M6. I do wish I'd kept hitting second hand stores looking for the $2 XA2s though. Those are going for ~$100 now. :\

 

[jsrockit]

I've got boxes full of very good P&S cameras, but I live in the wrong marketplace.

uhm, eBay... RFF classifieds?

 

[JeffS7444]

If someone were offering me a ludicrously large sum of money for compact cameras that I wasn't particularly fond of, I'd say "Yes sir/ma'am, how many would you like?".

Maybe prices will be higher next year, or maybe the trendy crowd will move onto something else. Meanwhile as a class, compact autofocus cameras were built to a price point, and no one expected them to last for decades, even sitting untouched in original packaging.

 

[rfaspen]

Dang. I gave away an XA and an XA2. Sold a few compacts here at RFF for little $. One of you got a Petri Color 35 and spruced it up......and I think sold it on for good deal more. Not complaining about that. I'm at peace with my decisions. I knew I was selling cheap....I like to be good to RFFers.

I still have a bunch of compacts. Time to dig them out again??

 

[das]

It would be interesting to know who is driving all of this rage for p&s cameras and other compacts like the Contax / Yashica T-T4. Younger folks looking for the film photography equivalent of their iPhone? More experienced folks who want something to keep in their pocket at all times? Secret, surreptitious "street photographers?" Hoarders / collectors?

 

[jsrockit]

It would be interesting to know who is driving all of this rage for p&s cameras and other compacts like the Contax / Yashica T-T4.

Celebrity Instagramers and Celebrity photographers from the fashion world… and the those that just want a great compact.

 

[JeffS7444]

Dang. I gave away an XA and an XA2.

Ooh thanks for the heads-up, I got a broken XA and a couple of dead flashes and it looks like typical selling price of parts/as-is cameras will now buy me a very nice lunch.

 

[lonemantis]

It would be interesting to know who is driving all of this rage for p&s cameras and other compacts like the Contax / Yashica T-T4. Younger folks looking for the film photography equivalent of their iPhone? More experienced folks who want something to keep in their pocket at all times? Secret, surreptitious "street photographers?" Hoarders / collectors?

There are massive communities of young film photographers on Tiktok, Youtube, and Reddit now. Many arrive via influencers on social media, and often never end up interacting with older photo communities like RFF or Photrio. They'll see a Youtuber showing off their M6 or T2, and demand explodes from there. Not to place a judgement on any of this - more young film photographers is a net good for all of us!

The film photography hashtag on Tiktok has over 234 million views - I wonder how that compares to RFF's traffic?

 

[das]

There are massive communities of young film photographers on Tiktok, Youtube, and Reddit now. Many arrive via influencers on social media, and often never end up interacting with older photo communities like RFF or Photrio. They'll see a Youtuber showing off their M6 or T2, and demand explodes from there. Not to place a judgement on any of this - more young film photographers is a net good for all of us!

The film photography hashtag on Tiktok has over 234 million views - I wonder how that compares to RFF's traffic?

The amount of traffic that Tiktok generates is absolutely mind-blowing. A profound Facebook post may get 30,000 likes. An insightful tweet may get 100,000 likes. A decent Youtube video may get 500,000 likes in a month. A viral Tiktok will get MILLIONS of likes in a few days.

Videos just seem to be the way that people learn these days. Why some dude fondling his M6 for 10 minutes, while saying nothing of note despite his mouth moving, gets so much attention, say, over a well-written and thoroughly-researched article makes me a little sad.

 

[zuiko85]

This film ‘resurgence’ that is often mentioned, well, at least locally I don’t notice it. But could be because most of my friends are old people like me. Certainly none of my several grandchildren are interested in grandpa’s film hobby, they all use cell phone cameras. Seattle is 50 miles north of here and would probably have a more representative sample of young film shooters.
Don’t know if it is still true but a local liberal arts college still had a traditional darkroom maybe 10 years ago. Knew a couple of youngsters who took classes there for developing and printing film.

 

[farlymac]

uhm, eBay... RFF classifieds?

I keep thinking about RFF. I just have too many things going on at the moment to dedicate time to making the proper sized photos for posting them. Still waiting for the New RFF to go live.

PF

 

[skucera]

I saw an oddity at my local thrift store, the first oddity in a couple of years... a Canon Photura. I bought it for $15. It fired right up with a battery, loaded a roll of film, and seems ready to go. Not bad for a 30-year-old point-and-shoot super-zoom. I'll take it for a walk and expose a roll of film tomorrow, and see what develops....

Scott

 

[gavinlg]

I've gone through several MJU II's over the last 15 years. My favourite compact camera by far. They all develop an internal baffle light leak that can't be fixed though, so the prices they're being sold for at the moment are absurd.

 

[gavinlg]

This film ‘resurgence’ that is often mentioned, well, at least locally I don’t notice it. But could be because most of my friends are old people like me. Certainly none of my several grandchildren are interested in grandpa’s film hobby, they all use cell phone cameras. Seattle is 50 miles north of here and would probably have a more representative sample of young film shooters.
Don’t know if it is still true but a local liberal arts college still had a traditional darkroom maybe 10 years ago. Knew a couple of youngsters who took classes there for developing and printing film.

I work in a camera store/lab that is one of the mid sized chains in a small semi urban city 1hr outside of Brisbane, and we recently can't keep up with film demand - both film sales and developing/scanning/printing. Every time we stock our film fridge (with gold/ultramax/portra) it empties out in about 4 days. We have been scavenging film from other more rural stores when they get it, as well as maxing out our kodak orders to try and keep it in stock.