When is the perfect time to sell film cameras?

When is the perfect time to sell film cameras?

  • Yesterday! Sell now, if you can.

    Votes: 48 31.6%

  • Within the next two years

    Votes: 1 0.7%

  • Within the next five years

    Votes: 5 3.3%

  • Within the next ten years

    Votes: 7 4.6%

  • Never. Film cameras and their lenses appreciate in value.

    Votes: 91 59.9%
  • Total voters
    152
  • Poll closed .
The Trough of no value

The Trough of no value

Keep the camera for long enough and it's value will grow again.

This graph is good: Most non-rangefinder cameras seem to have just fallen over the cliff.
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Full text:
http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/2009/02/the-trough-of-no-value.html



For newcomers top quality darkroom hardware is going to be very hard or expensive to get : A lot of good stuff has already been trashed and the companies that used to make it (with the economies of scale) don't anymore.
 
My brother in law will get a new turntable to play his old vinyl records. It even connects to a computer through USB to record the analog sound to digital. Wasn't Bruce Springsteen's latest album recorded on vinyl LP?
Many people are in classic cars, which now include 1960-1970 models.
Film will never go away!
 
If you like the film cameras you have, or if you use them, keep them.

Processing is cheap today...quality processing though, is generally not.

As for lenses, as seen with lenses like the 50/1.2 and 50/0.95 Canons that were formerly considered unworthy until digital drove demand, keep them too. 🙂 I don't see FL or FD lenses going up as high, though, as they built a lot more of those than they did of RF glass.
 
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raid said:
The Canon FD lenses seemed to have little value for many years, but now it is possible to use those lenses on digital cameras. Is there hope for an upswing forfilm equipment? Is there such a miracle possible?
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Can you expand on this? I thought the convertors to use FD lens on Digital cameras were of low quality and a waste of money? I have small collection of fd lenses as well.
 
The previous adapters for FD lenses had glass in the light path to make them usable, although the performance was poor.

Now that short flange distance cameras are out, like the Panasonic G1, and the upcoming Samsung NX, one can use FD lenses with simple adapters, and results are excellent.
 
back alley said:
i agree that film will be around for at least as long as i am.

i disagree about digital and b&w as i am very happy with my b&w results, good enough for me anyways.

been to mcbains lately or london drugs, far far less film on their shelves and not nearly the variety of 5 years ago.
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Very true,locally not a lot of selection.Mail order at freestyle is a good option only if you buy 30 + rolls as shipping is a little expensive to Canada.

Ive never like the output of b&w from my D200 but everyone sees things a bit differently.
 
My answer wasn't in the poll, but I would say to just sell when you give up shooting film. I've never bought a camera as an investment, but rather to shoot. I figure I'll take a hit when I sell ANY camera, film or digital, so I'm not concerned about that.

On the subject of how long film will be available, it seems it won't be going away anytime soon. As Quinn has already mentioned, Kodak has released new versions of old films. You have to ask yourself, "Why would Kodak even bother to do this, if film was that close to hitting the grave?". I do believe B&W might stick around longer than color, based on the fact that it has developed a real niche market, and part of that is probably due to the fact that anyone can learn to soup their own. And if that's as far as you care to take the analog approach, from there on you can scan and do the inkjet thing.

When I took a refresher darkroom course last fall at the local university, I was surprised to learn how popular film has become with the newer students. And as far as the commercial labs go, I take all my color film to Walgreens. I have a good rapport with the lady in charge of the lab, and she has told me a number of times that they do more film processing than digital. Of course, that is only one example.

Anyway, I'm confident enough that film will be around quite a bit longer yet, so that I'm even building my own permanent B&W darkroom in my basement.
 
Heldur,
I have never tried such an adapter. CameraQuest sells it, and I do not expect it to sell an adapter "of low quality and a waste of time". I do not have the information.

edit: digitalintrigue gave the answer you were looking for
 
Digital camera features may be beginning to plateau (i.e.: Olympus recent statement that 12 Mp is enough, for example). If that's the case then we may be seeing the digital equivalent of those years when 35mm film camera design also reached a plateau... roughly when Nikon, Olympus, Pentax, et.al., had standardized the 35mm film camera body. After that it was just adding 'bells and whistles'. If this is the same kind of moment for digital, then we may no longer see the precipitous drop in digital camera prices that we've been experiencing over the past decade. Maybe.
 
Rather than black-and-white film or cameras being the first "pinch" area, I think it will be, as another poster briefly suggested, darkroom gear.

There are a lot of secondhand bargains around now, but gradually the quality will be going down and, in Europe, I think there is only Meopta producing enlargers for the amateur darkroom printer. Or what other company is still in production ???

Finding f.b. print driers is already tough, thanks to the fall in use of fibre-based paper when resin-coated came along, so it looks likely that we might have a similar effect on other darkroom gear - just with a bit of a lag to it.

I don't like being gloomy so someone persuade me I'm wrong, please ?

Edit: Oh you say, we scan negs and use inkjet printers. Well, how many dedicated neg scanners are in production now ? Unless flatbeds get seriously better, you can perhaps see what I mean...
 
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raid said:
New branches for Sam's Club do not have in-house film developing anymore. What if Walgreens and Walmart follow suit? Millions of photographers may switch away from film photography in addition to those who already have done so.
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Well, what is a Sam's Club sandwich, a to the Wall Mart, a Green Wall ... whatever?

I have not been in on of those this year, yet I do shoot film. Millions are turned away there ...with film in their hands, at these places they do not need to go to ... I see a sea change in migration pattern at the malls ... walls, too ...

What a fruitless question that was as originally posted.

Ask the oil painter artists, why/when he/she/they will give up his/her/their oil equipment, thinner, brushes etc and switch to acrylic or latex paint ...

What is the point?
 
Like anything, it depends on the camera. Equipment aimed at amateur's is dirt cheap. A Nikon N70 goes for $20 or so. heavily used pro equipment is cheap. A Nikon F3HP in BGN condition is ~$100.

A Canon P, Nikon SP, Leica M4, and the like in EX or better have pretty much held their value.

Classic lenses in LTM and M-Mount are worth much more than their SLR counterparts. Much of that has to do with the M8 and RD-1. Same with manual focus Nikon lenses. The day of the $100 55/1.2 seem to be over. Good thing I bought mine "back then".

Oh- wait a minute.... What I mean was...

ALL THIS STUFF IS WORTHLESS! Put it up on the below $100 ads while you can still get $2 for it!
 
An answer to this one ( as far as I'm concerned ), sits on the desk in front of me. Last month I bought a Konica FT1 slr, with a Hexanon 40mm f1.8 lens - black, unmarked and looking like it's just left the factory, I paid UK £36. Two days later, I picked up the Hexanon 50mm f1.8, ( UK £16 ) and shortly after - the Hexanon 28mm f3.5 ( £8! - no one else bid! ), both mint, and cased!.
It has to be said that this camera and lenses performance equals - and in most cases surpasses! any 35mm gear I've owned, and in over forty years I've had a few!. My point being - if like me, a camera is a tool, there is no need to have big money tied up in film gear, these days, and in the last few years my arsenal has been drasticaly reduced, while there was still chance of a decent price. O.k. - the Konica will be worthless, if I ever decide to part with it, but at that price - who cares?, if it had a red dot, and the fancy scrolled 'L' word, things would be a bit different, but as I said - I'm mainly concerned with work tools. 🙂
Cheers, Dave.
 
Marke said: You have to ask yourself, "Why would Kodak even bother to do this, if film was that close to hitting the grave?".

Polycontrast Rapid IV, may it rest in peace.
 
johnastovall said:
Why would I want of sell my film cameras?
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If you weren't using them, it would make sense to sell. What wouldn't make any sense would be to hold onto a camera that isn't being used, when someone else could be making pictures with it.

John, what kind of 8x10 are you considering? I picked up a 97 year-old Conley 4x5 that still has a semi-operating shutter. That will probably be something I start using when I have my darkroom completed.
 
Pickett Wilson said:
Marke said: You have to ask yourself, "Why would Kodak even bother to do this, if film was that close to hitting the grave?".

Polycontrast Rapid IV, may it rest in peace.
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I never used an of Kodak's RC papers. I just got back into printing last year, and RC papers hadn't even been around yet last time I was printing. OTOH, I'm very happy with Ilford papers.
 
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