Prices and a sanity check, please ...

[dmr]

Hi again 🙂

As some of you know I've been looking for a particular model camera, this being a Mamiya Super-Deluxe 1.7. I'm now trying to get a handle on what these usually go for in decent condition.

I know what I want to pay for one, but ... 🙂

Anyway, one of the guys here pointed me to an Ebay auction on one, which I was outbid on a few times and finally figured that the other person wanted it more than I did. (Of course it sold for $1 more than my last bid.) 🙁

This morning I saw another one, with a Buy It Now<tm> price of $115 (no auction), which I think is a bit on the high side. I made a Best Offer<tm> and I'll see if the seller accepts.

Question here, and you people know the rangefinder market more than I do, about how much do things like this usually sell for? Maybe I should also ask about how much something similar and more common, like the Canonet 1.7 usually goes for?

Thanks, gang! 🙂

 

[wlewisiii]

Hmm. Don't know that one (googles) Nice. That's a pretty little camera. Too bad you aren't looking for a Mamiya SLR - I've a nice DTL 1000 for grabs.

As for prices - it's a really hard thing to say with any certainty. It can vary from day to day to phase of the moon to if the buyer or seller have had enough coffee that day. It would have to be an exceptional camera though to warrent that much to me especially since it needs a mercury battery, zinc air substitute or extra cost adaptor.

My suggestion would be to set yourself a price and just keep looking. Refuse to go over your price and simply bid it as your maximum from the start and let it go. Don't even look again till after the auction is completed. Sooner or later you'll be the high bidder with the least amount of aggrivation.

Hope this is of some help,

William

 

[Sonnar Brian]

A professionally CLA'd Canonet QL17 GIII can easily fetch $150. More go in the $50 to $100 range, but it got a lot of play in Pop Photo as the "best fixed lens RF of all time". It is a nice handling camera, decent lens that gets good at F4, bright VF/RF. Very nice shutter release. The full-size cameras, The Canonet QL17 and QL19 (No "G"), Minolta Hi-Matic 7s and 9, Konica S2, Yashica GSN/GTN and GS/GT, go for a lot less and have sharper lenses. The Konica S2 that I just picked up has a 1st class lens. I set up a folder for in in my gallery. They go for $20~$50.

I think your camera is on the "more rare side" and you got into a bidding war with someone else looking for one. $115 sounds high. I would think $50~$75 will pick one up with patience. One thing about EBay, there will always be another one that comes along.

 

[rover]

Tough question because what sells for $100 today may go for $30 tomorrow and $150 the next day. Sometimes that is the way Ebay goes.

Now, you don't really see too many Mamiya Super Deluxes so in general you may expect to pay a little more for one. And condition is king. For a good CLA'd camera of any type you will end up paying at least twice what a good looking one described as "working" will go for. I would recommend that you decide what condition camera you are looking for, set a price you are comfortable with, and be patient. If in time one doesn't come up in your price range reassess to determine if you need to raise your range. Really off the top of my head without paying much attention to the sales of Mamiya 35mm RF cameras, I would think that a range of $75-$125 may be reasonable. They are rear, and well thought of so I think they may cost a little more than your run of the mill QL17.

As for the QL17, I pay most attention to the GIII models. Generally, $50 to $100 should do the trick, again depending on the condition. Some sell for less and others more. I had offered mine for a high $150 price because I did have it CLA'd, I have a bunch of filters and a flash to go along with it, and I really like it. I think overall the price I asked is fair, but there are a lot of lower cost options. My camera didn't sell.

 

[dmr]

Hmm. Don't know that one (googles) Nice. That's a pretty little camera. Too bad you aren't looking for a Mamiya SLR - I've a nice DTL 1000 for grabs.

Wow, thanks for the quick replies! This forum is most helpful and very pleasant to be part of! 🙂

I already have a SLR. My one "Real Camera" is a Pentax K1000 which I've had for many years and I'm 99% happy with.

It would have to be an exceptional camera though to warrent that much to me especially since it needs a mercury battery, zinc air substitute or extra cost adaptor.

This one is with box and case, but not "new in box" or anything. It's probably in very good shape, but ...

My suggestion would be to set yourself a price and just keep looking. Refuse to go over your price and simply bid it as your maximum from the start and let it go. Don't even look again till after the auction is completed. Sooner or later you'll be the high bidder with the least amount of aggrivation.

That's exactly what I'm doing. 🙂

Hope this is of some help

It is, very much, thanks! 🙂

 

[dmr]

More go in the $50 to $100 range

Thanks. That was kind of the range I expected.

I think your camera is on the "more rare side" and you got into a bidding war with someone else looking for one. $115 sounds high. I would think $50~$75 will pick one up with patience. One thing about EBay, there will always be another one that comes along.

Now that I know what exactlly to look for, I'm sure I'll eventually be able to find one at a fair price and I think $50-75 is indeed a fair price.

Thanks again. 🙂

 

[Jon Goodman]

Hi, and please don't overlook the fact there are several rangefinders not in the mainstream (meaning less expensive in most cases) which are capable of producing excellent work. Petri 7s is a good example, and if you find one with a good meter, you'll not have a problem with batteries. It doesn't have the automatic function, but the match needle metering in the viewfinder allows for quick work, and the lens quality will stand up to just about any. Also...it has a full range of speeds and a very well made shutter which doesn't usually give trouble. Some Baldas will turn out excellent work, too. They have slightly slower lenses, but are plenty fast enough for handheld work.
Jon

 

[zuikologist]

I have just seen an Olympus 35RD go for $180 on *bay UK - no mention of CLA. There is also currently a "mint" Olympus 35 SP for a "buy it now"$180 - again no mention of a CLA. Crazy.

 

[Kin Lau]

As some of you know I've been looking for a particular model camera, this being a Mamiya Super-Deluxe 1.7. I'm now trying to get a handle on what these usually go for in decent condition.

Out of interest, what's so special about the Mamiya?

I got my Canon GIII QL17 for about USD$50- off Ebay, with gummy seals, and it's working fine after I replaced them. The advantage sometimes of being in Canada, is that some buyers will only sell to other Canadians, and with a smaller market, there are some bargains to be had.

Put up an ad in the Classified forum here, there's a few guys here with over 100 cameras who may have just what you want.

As spring rolls around (some day at least 🙂, check out the garage sales and flea markets.

 

[joeyjoe]

I posted a WTB ad on photo.net and that's how I got my G3 for $45 shipped. Needed new light seals and the meter might need a little tweaking, but otherwise it was in good shape.

Check out the photo.net classifieds; I've made a few purchases and sales over there and the people are pretty honest and trustworthy. At least from my experience.

...isn't there a classified forum here? I'm sure *someone* has one in decent condition they're looking to give a new home to.

 

[FrankS]

...isn't there a classified forum here? I'm sure *someone* has one in decent condition they're looking to give a new home to.

Asking for a Canonet here on this forum (or an M3/Canon P/Canon 50mmf1.8) is a little like asking an alcoholic for his last drink. It's not unheard of though.

 

[Sonnar Brian]

Hmmmm. I have sold three Canonets, a Canon 7, two 50mm F1.8's, and an M3 on this Forum to members looking for them. Wish I had a Mamiya, I'd sell it to you! I fully understand wanting to use the cameras that you learned on. I have my original Hi-Matic 9 from 1969 and bought an Argus/Cosina STL1000 like the one I had in 1971.

 

[dmr]

Out of interest, what's so special about the Mamiya?

Well, to make a long story long ... 🙂

It's the model I had many years ago, not to show my real age but I was in my late teens, and it was my first "real" camera. My previous "toy" camera was a Brownie Starflash which I got back in 1st. grade or so. 🙂 I got this used from a friend of my brother, and I actually liked it very much.

The craze back then was to go SLR, and a couple years later I bought a Spotmatic and I kinda pushed the Mamiya aside and didn't use it, and finally sold it for $35.

I loved the Spotmatic. It was really more camera than I needed. My only complaint was that changing lenses was slow and a pain, I had 28, normal 50, and 135. I eventually traded up to a K1000 and got a 28-135 zoom. Go figure, got the bayonet so I could change lenses easier and got a zoom so I no longer had to change lenses. 🙂 🙂

Anyway, I still have the K1000 which is my main camera for anything semi serious. I also have an Olympus Stylus which I carry in my purse almost everywhere.

Ok, in October a year ago I was in Chicago shooting some stuff in some downtown subway stations. I was using 800 film and in some cases I had to open wide up and go down to 1/30 and even 1/15. I could tell that the >>SLAP<< of the mirror was costing me an f-stop, and at that time I wish I had the old Mamiya instead of the Pentax.

Fast forward to last October. Same conference, and I took an afternoon off to go play by myself 🙂 and ended up shooting some subway stuff. I used 1600 film this time but I liked the end result of the 800 better so I kicked myself again for selling the old Mamiya.

Anyway, I then decided to look around for one, I didn't even remember the model, and I eventually found my way here, and the good people here helped me identify it and now I know what to look for. 🙂

That's about it, actually. 🙂

 

[Tim]

Kinda makes me laugh.....my interest piqued, I go and google on this camera. And where do quite a few of the links lead to? Some place called "RangeFinder Forum"......

😀

tim