Your take on Used Canon Lens prices

<p>It seems in the last two months that prices of used camera lens have shoot up on some lens around $800. For example, back in march the price of a Canon 500mm f/4.5 was selling for $3, 000. Now it sells for around $3, 799 and the Canon 180mm F/3.5 was selling for around $950, now you are lucky to even see it for $1, 200. What is the scoop of these sharp prices increases on used glass since the economy is in a bad economic downturn. I am wonder what they are thinking that someone must have lots of disposable income laying around when one is out of a job to be spending money on glass at these new inflatted used prices. What is your take on this.</p>

It depends on if I'm buying or selling

<p>With the depression on, maybe the market for <em>used</em> , rather than new examples has improved? More competition means higher prices for a finite number of used examples.</p>

<p>I confess, in the price ranges where I dwell in the eBay continuum, I haven't really noticed such increases.</p>

<p>To me it seems that the escalation in used lens prices only matches up to the rise in retail new lens prices. It's kinda normal for the used item in 'like new' condition to hover at a price point just below the brand new item, with all the others lining up below that.</p>

<p>New prices rise sharply = used lenses prices rise sharply. Pretty simple.</p>

<p>Marc,<br>

Bargains are still out there, I just missed out on (couldn't justify) a 50 1.2 and Wimberly head for $1,250, I would have used both but the Wimberly could have been sold on for $500, that means a mint 50 1.2 L for $750. If I hadn't just bought a 1Ds MkIII then I would have gone higher.</p>

<p>I usually find that whenever I'm in the market for some used equipment, the prices ALWAYS seem higher than when I last browsed without the intention of buying.</p>

<p>Assuming you live in the United States (as you are talking about dollar prices) you also have to take into consideration the serious devaluation of U.S. currency versus Japanese yen (and, for that matter, the Euro) over the past couple of years. The sliding productivity and debt level of the country is destroying America's credibility in the world market, making just about everything imported to here much more expensive. I'm not making a political statement here; I'm just explaining how much of the rest of the industrialized world sees us right now. Mr. Moseley already has pointed out another aspect of this situation quite correctly: When the prices of new goods rise, the prices of used goods also rise.</p>

<p>If that is the case I guess it was a steal buying a Canon 180mm F/3.5, Today you can't even find it at that prices, the dollar has not really moved much since march it has been between 95 and 98 yen. There must be some other than the currency driving the price. I suspect is supply of new lens is very limited and thus drives the demand for used stuff and in turn increased the prices on used stuff. I guess the production runs were reduced as well, not make as much thats why we have not seen the price drop as fast on a used 40d as we did on the 20d.</p>

<p>Yes, Euro to Dollar rates have fluctuated considerably over the last half-year or so. As I had commented earlier, the correlation is strange, since when the US stock market goes <strong>up</strong> , so does the value of the Euro in US Dollars.</p>

<p>Of course, the common factor here is that the Euro goes up when the DAX, et al. go up, and those markets go up when Wall Street is doing well. The Euro is fairly insulated in that sense from the Dow Jones.</p>

<p>In any case, the general trend is not particularly inflationary at the moment despite <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,198364,00.html">Fox News</a> ' and <a href="http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2009/0704/1224250045833.html">Angela Merkel</a> 's fears, we are still in a <a href="http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article7923.html"><strong>depression</strong> </a> .</p>

<p>ITs a good think I purchased my last lens in March. I guess I am going to have adjust the value of replacement cost. </p>