Did you notice recently...?

<p>That the price for film equipment is going up. The supply of classic 35 mm film camera is running dry, that MF are virtually disappeared. Where we are heading? I am usually inspecting 3 local pawn shops on a weakly basis: they all use to carry 35 mm cameras, but new ones did not come for last 6 months or gone in a heartbeat. Two years ago I got LN- FM2n for $50 and it is not going to happen again. We are facing shortage and soon we are going to starve. I am wandering who is consuming all that unwanted cameras, lenses and other stuff. Is that a temporal waive of popularity or is a long-term trend?</p>

<p>I still have a shopping bag full of 35mm film.  I can send you some. I have a bunch of cameras loaded with it, but even with the digicam in the truck, I haven't shot a picture in weeks (film or digital).  These are certainly strange days.</p>

<p>Yes, even the Russian -Ukrainian sellers have diminishing stocks/displays, now. Perhaps, soon someone will start making film cameras again. sp.</p>

<p>Can't say that I've noticed much, if any difference around here except for allot of dreamers on Ebay that are asking boo cu bucks for their grandpa's old Kodak thinking that they can make a fortune.</p>

<p>Mike : D</p>

<p> </p>

<p>I think the lenses are being used by digital photographers which has driven their prices up (even 16mm cine lenses!). I have a Super-Takumar 50/1.4 and the prices I see them go for is amazing, fully 3x what I recently paid for the Spotmatic <em>with</em> lens. As to film bodies I've noticed an upward trend in the last year but it's more on major sites and certain brands of equipment. Locally I have found unbelievable bargains and have been outright given equipment, too.</p>

<p>I am shocked when I find I can buy from KEH cheaper than an online auction. That one I don't understand at all.</p>

<p>MF lenses have gone up, but I haven't noticed much of a rise in price for camera bodies. Mostly seem to be selling for about as much as they did three or four years ago.<br>

The lenses are being used by digital folks, and it's a little bit ridiculous I think. I've been seeing a lot more Exaktas without lenses on ebay, and I guess people have been buying them to acquire Biotars and other vintage glass - but see no reason to hang onto the body.</p>

<p>Mark Medin: you just got to know how to shop and from whom and where to get those still low prices prices : Trust me it still can be done : I just a very good camera for ten bucks not including shipping , seller stated it had problems yes that was true but his kind, he stated the mirror hung up has not hung up all : all on ebay:</p>

<p>Can't confirm this. From what I see, prices are dropping for most of the 35mm cameras, even for somewhat collectible ones. The only prices going up are for highly collectible items.</p>

<p>It seems to me that the price of fixed lens rangefinders such as the Retinas has gone down<br>

in the last year or so on the auction site while the price of an SLR with lens has gone up.<br>

Lenses alone seem to bring a higher price than a camera with lens. No figures to back this<br>

up.</p>

<p>Kinda depends on the camera brand. There is a write up by some popular internet guru about an old film camera and demand and prices surge. The exception is Leica rangefinder equipment, especially M mount bodies and lenses. They look to have increased 30 to 50 percent in the last 2 or 3 years and are not backing down. Around here, for some reason, you can't find those 'crappy plastic cameras' that were so plentiful at the Goodwill and Value Village stores for 99 cents just a few years ago. Now if you find one, such a the Vivitar PN2011 or similar they have them priced at $9.99! No thanks. Strangely, at the same type of store you can sometimes find a deal. Just last year at Value Village they had an Olympus OM-2sp with a 50 1.8 mounted for $14.99 that was 'not working'. I took a chance, bought it and, stepping next door to an office supply store purchased a couple of new batteries. The little beast came to life immediately and checked out fine. There are quite a few good cameras from the 80's that are a doorstop when the batteries die. If you are out on the hunt this is a good reason to have a couple of fresh 1.5v Eveready #675 silver oxide batteries handy since they powered a lot of the electronically governed shutters from that time period. But generally I agree, some really common stuff has just dried up or the price is through the roof. For myself, well I have too much gear now and the last $250 I spent has been on film. (And I still need to get some more 120 and 4X5, yikes!) Thank goodness for Freestyle.</p>

<p>I still use Canon FD. I think prices for Canon FD lenses have gone up by maybe 30% over the last few years. This is insignificant, because 130% of bugger all is still bugger all.</p>

<p>I think the reason for the slight spike in demand is that people are using them on Micro 4/3 and Sony NEX cameras. It's a cheap way to get access to some outstanding glass.</p>

<p>Lauren,<br>

I do know how to shop, but only around here. I got some very good deals locally, but I do not like the auction site(s) much because I never can tell how accurate the information I'm getting is. Some people are better at that than I. They'll know what to look at with regard to Nikon (what I'm looking for now, I've gotten 4 bodies and 5 lenses for a little over $100 locally) whereas I only know Minolta well enough to tell if something's a diamond hiding under a poor description. I'd rather have my hands on the equipment, I can usually tell pretty quickly if it's worth getting when I have it in front of me. </p>

<p>I've noticed the prices for 1940s LTM leica lenses have been on the rize for the past few months.<br>

No problems concerning camera bodies yet though. Was practically given a Praktica BC3 last week.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Some brands are in shorter supply than others. I recently bought a Minolta SRT 201 (later model, split image) for $19. I sent it out for about $50 of service and had to find my own black plastic tip for the film advance lever. I put in an MR-9 adapter with a 386 cell and the camera works perfectly. Even though many old manual focus lenses can be adapted for use with MILC digital cameras, some are more popular than others. Canon FD lenses have not been as popular as Nikon F mount lenses and M42 lenses because an adapter with aperture control is somewhat more complicated to use. The supply of Nikomats and Nikkormats does seem lower than it was a few years ago. Minolta SRTs, Canon FTb/FTbNs, Konica Autoreflexes and even older Canon FL cameras all seem to be plentifiul. Most of these can be repaired easily and will then work for a long time. The real bargains seem to be in the AF film SLR area. I have accumulated six Nikon N2020s. As AF cameras they leave a lot to be desired. As manual focus cameras they offer many valuable features. These include focus confirmation, TTL flash metering, motorized film advance, interchangeable focusing screens and a top shutter speed of 1/2000. If the N2020 had a depth of field preview it would be perfect. These sell for very little and are plentiful. The non-working examples usually have some kind of battery corrosion problem and this is easy to fix. This year I bought an F90X in fine condition for $27 and an N90S in equally good condition for $31. These have far more features than the N2020 and reasonably good AF but I enjoy using them mostly with manual focus lenses. If you are looking for Pentax Spotmatics and Nikon FE2 and FM2/Ns and Minolta SRTs that are in perfect condition and sell for $10 you are being unrealistic. A Spotmatic II is now about 40 years old. It shouldn't be a surprise that it needs some service. What's surprising is how well it can work when it gets service. One more series I will mention is the Minolta X collection. The XE cameras are in a different category because they weren't made for very long. The XG cameras can usually be repaired if it's only a capacitor problem but mechanically these are not nearly as sturdy as a mechanical Nikormat or SRT or FTb/N. The X-700, X-570 and X-370 cameras are still not as mechanically sound as the Nikkormat or SRT or FTb/N models but are better made than the XG series. They usually fail because of the capacitor problem. This is easily repaired and the camera can work well for many years after that. The old stuff is still out there but you have to be willing to make a small effort to get it working. </p>

<p>I don't know whether it's part of the same phenomenon, but older digital cameras are becoming more scarce and increasing in price. I suppose whenever there is some sort of transition (whether digital to film, consumer APS-C to consumer full frame, still-only to still/video, or the constant migration from lower to higher resolution and sensitivity), there is a flurry of cast-off cameras that subsequently settle into their new homes, often not to be seen again until "grandpa" dies and all his photographic junk needs to be sold off. And of course according to Keynes, when supply doesn't keep up with demand, price rises.</p>

<p>As has been pointed out, there is a market for old manual lenses in digital photography. These are the higher-end lenses, usually the faster ones. The supply of these lenses is slowly drying up, and prices are rising. If you want to shoot film and not have your nicer lenses sucked out of the market, I'd suggest looking into Canon FD-era gear. You can't use those FD lenses on ANYTHING digital, unlike the Nikkors, Pentaxes (both K and M42), Olympuses (?), etc., which mount up beautifully on Canon EOS cameras. The T-90 might be the best body choice. That said, exotic lenses such as the FD 85mm f/1.2 are commanding quite a premium even still.</p>

<p>The Canon FD lenses will work on micro 4/3, so I would guess there's someone out there making an adapter, but generally those SLR systems that have small flange focal distances (smaller than K-mount anyway) haven't had the lenses go up in price that much.</p>

<p><a href="../photodb/user?user_id=3764790">Mark Medin</a>: You are correct you do need to know how to shop on E\bar and I wish I could find junk shops around here but those have gone, and craigslist those people want an arm and a leg for some really junk : so I shop e/bar</p>

<p>Yeah, forgot about the micro 4/3. :-(</p>

<p>Sarah Fox: since they brought out the 85mm F-1.2 it has always command a high price it only makes sense that it climb in price like those others that in that type of group of lens some F-1.5 and 1.4 are also commanding higher price which is right . try buying a F-1.0 or a F-.95 and then you will those price have gone though the roof :<br>

But a lot of web site's on E/bar are asking very high prices for the stuff they have but a lot of it is excellent shape but others is below grade in my book. as they say for E/bar buyer beware: yes I have gotten burnt but no to badly</p>

<p>Hi folks, I for one have a larger collection than I can use. The different systems were acquired primarily at second-hand shops . These cast-offs from digital users that didn't want to of couldn't take the time to learn how to operate them . I do know that "back in the day", I could never have owned an extensive collection like I'm blessed with today. Shortage(?), I think not. I might like to have a modern Leica M but truth be told my Canons & a Bessa R seem to cover that base nicely. Most shop owners don't buy replacement stock but donations are gladly accepted. Today I enjoy the hunt, so to speak, as finding a good lens in LTM with no cleaning marks still happens, not often , but that is how I found my 1945 CZJ 5cm!!!!!</p>

<p>Leica M mount cameras and lenses have sky rocketed, probably close to 200% since the dark days of '05. Even R stuff has rebounded since it was discontinued. <br>

And it seems that vintage 35mm stuff (predating the early 1960's) is very scarce. There seems to be a lot of demand from China.<br>

The quality of used stuff has gone down too, and that's not unexpected. As time goes on, and equipment is used w/o new stuff hitting the markets, mint turns into Ex, ect. It tried KEH for the first time this year. Several purchases, all rated EX or better. Their historical reputations is the gold standard. I was stunned. I returned everything. <br>

But for late 60's stuff onward -- still plenty available.</p>

<p>Leica M mount cameras and lenses have sky rocketed, probably close to 200% since the dark days of '05. Even R stuff has rebounded since it was discontinued. <br>

And it seems that vintage 35mm stuff (predating the early 1960's) is very scarce. There seems to be a lot of demand from China.<br>

The quality of used stuff has gone down too, and that's not unexpected. As time goes on, and equipment is used w/o new stuff hitting the markets, mint turns into Ex, ect. It tried KEH for the first time this year. Several purchases, all rated EX or better. Their historical reputations is the gold standard. I was stunned. I returned everything. <br>

But for late 60's stuff onward -- still plenty available.</p>

<p>Hm, my KEH experience was the opposite. I expect it was the commodity nature of the equipment I bought (i.e. a <em>lot</em> of it was sold initially, and many of those stayed pretty clean and lightly used). The rarities and top-level equipment are where I find much more dodgy condition equipment being sold at all levels. Craigslist is probably the worst in that regard. Prices there are aspirational mostly, and condition often doesn't factor into the seller's price. The good deals get jumped on immediately, which is how I got some of my Nikon equipment.</p>

<p>As an occasional seller (1 or 2 batches per year) I can tell you the main difference I'm seeing besides what's already been noted: most of my gear isn't going to the USA anymore. It's going to Europe or Asia, with some to South America. I suppose if you're in Asia and looking for camera gear, the fact that there is a burgeoning middle class that has discovered the joys of photography and has a disposable income is going to affect prices and availability locally, not to mention on the big auction site. The difference I'm seeing locally is that there are now thousands of 'pickers' and you really have to be on the ball to find something worth-while before it's snapped up.</p>

<p>I have some modern stuff, such as a 1914 Kodak Special and a 1937 Bessa, but mostly I've been buying older large format stuff. I now have a c.1885 Watson & Son tailboard (half plate,) a c.1875 Darlot Petzval, c.1860 Derogy Petzval, 1890s E&HT Anthony rapid rectilinear, and an 1855 Wood achromatic doublet. I'm actively looking for lenses from the 1840s. I've passed on some 1860s lenses as they are more modern than what I'm looking for. Most of these are being used on my Chamonix 045N, ironically a very modern camera. I don't own any 35mm equipment any more and I'm not looking for it.</p>

<p>Kent in SD</p>