Resale prices of cameras film/digital

[neal_shields]

There seems to be panic setting in,in some circles, about the falling

prices used film cameras.

 

I just took a look a the B&H ad in the Jan 2001 edition of Popular

Photography, and the completed sales on the auction site for used

cameras.

 

I looked at: Canon G1, Olympus E10, Nikon D1 for digital, I looked at

Eos 1n, Eos 1v, eos qv hs, and Leica M 6 for film.

 

In general it looks like digital cameras are bring about 25 to 30% of

their new price 4 years ago, and film cameras are bring about 40 to

50% of their new price 4 years ago. The exception is of course the

Leica M6 which brings about 75% of its new price.

 

I know a lot of people who's stock didn't do as good as the M6.

 

So who should panic?

[Greg M]

Anyone who can never be happy for more than a couple of months with what they purchase.....

[Michael R Freeman]

Why panic. If you shoot film, there is no better time than right NOW to pick up a virtually unused film body from somebody else who has just got to sell it so they can buy the latest digital doodad that will be worth 20% of it's original value in 5 years (or less).

 

Personally I am grateful for the digital craze, as it has allowed me to build an extensive 35mm system that I could never have afforded 5 years ago.

 

Michael

[robert_davis2]

Unless you're a reseller with massive stock to move why would a person care? I've never bought a camera to resell. The last time I worry about it's value is when I pay the bill after that who cares.

[Ed_Ingold]

The resale value of camera equipment is only important if you intend to trade up (or bail out). If you buy equipment that does what you need it to do, you are not under that kind of pressure. If you consciously buy something that doesn't do what you need, then your money is wasted.

 

Professional cameras last longer, perform more consistently and hold their value better than lesser cameras, even though they may lack the feature-of-the-month. A used Nikon F5 gets about 50% of the list price, but about 75% of the street price ($2000 new.) A used D1x (if you can find one) goes for $3200 against a new (current) price of $3900.

 

That's too much money to spend on a whim. The market cost is high because the real or perceived value is high. If that's where you want to be, then you're better off saving longer than trading-up.

[richard_milner2]

How many people have actually put a large amount of money in cameras as a serious investment? Most people buy cameras to use them.

 

Secondhand dealers might be a bit worried.

[ed_nicholson3]

Check how all electronics prices have fallen. That dvd player that was $199 is now $69; the 2mp digital camera that was $699 has been replaced by a 4mp camera for $299. When new equipment comes down, the prices of used stuff fall faster and further. It's not panic; it's the free market. And don't forget, it's cheaper because the Chinese are driving the market. The USA has been reduced to having only one major export product: jobs.

[eigtball]

Only problem is that lenses stay about the same any don't depreciate as fast as a 35mm body. I am glad that the digital age is bringing strong competition and driving prices through the ground. Only problem with this massive amount of compeition is that the piles of research that you have to do to make a purchase is so convoluted that your head spins with all the information, and in intraweb doesn't help this at all.

 

I guess we are going to have to live with what we have, and adapt to the changing market. Remember electronics plateau after a while, and sometimes stall. One example is that they stop producing a specific device that everyone wants. Since its harder to get, they jack the prices up. They do that with RAM, and a few other computer components. It will catch on in the other industries.

 

Cheers,