Can you believe what Pentax 67s are selling for now?

[douglas_green1]

I am amazed at how much these cameras have cratered in price in the

past year or so. Perhaps there is a glut right now on the 'bay, but

I've been watching a whole slew of P6x7 MLU and P67 bodies selling

for under $300. Now is the time to pick up a backup unit, if there

ever was. I just paid $230 including shipping for a legit

Excellent condition P6x7 MLU with a new style P67 prism. And I just

watched a nice P67 with a TTL meter prism sell for $305, and another

P6x7 MLU WITH a 90mm lens for $325! These auction prices are just

incredible!

[everitt]

I saw a P67 body at a local store for $250 canadian! I have a question for

Douglas or anyone else who knows, the body says Asahi Pentax, are these

Asahi Pentaxes all pre-MLU, or do some also have mirror lockup? I've heard

these puppies have pretty bad mirror slap vibrations.

[douglas_green1]

Some of the 6x7 (as opposed to 67) bodies have MLU, and some don't. The way to tell is that, when facing the body, if there is a vertical button on the left (your left, when facing the camera) side of the camera just behind lens mount, that button locks up the mirror. If there is no vertically oriented button on that side of the body, it's not an MLU body.

 

BTW, that price is too good to be believeable for a working MLU body, but I could believe it for a working pre-MLU body.

[steve_levine]

Id avoid "bargain" grade P67's.These most likely will need a $300 rebuild trip to Pentax in the near future.

[douglas_green1]

The 6x7 MLU that I just picked up for $229 ($202 + $27 shipping) was quite a bit better than bargain condition (KEH would call it either Ex- or Ex, anyone else would grade it as Ex). Other than a few scuffs and scratches on the paint, it's perfect - no brassing at all, and just one minor ding on the top of the new style prism. The mirror, shutter and film advance wind mechanism and meter coupling mechanism are all in great shape.

[dougmiles]

Those are amazing prices! And I thought I got a good deal on eBay last Summer for a late 6x7 virtually unused, set aside along with the owner's dream of a career in "safari" photography, nixed by marriage, family, job. So, like new, with TTL prism, 300mm f/4, 45mm f/4, Kenco 2x, filters, and LowePro PhotoTrekker backpack for $1175. An odd combination, but fit well with what I alread had... pre-MLU 6x7, TTL, 55, 105, 200. And it was only 90 minutes drive away.

[miles stoddard]

I, too, have seen several nice, newer P67's with metered prism sell for about what the TTL prism alone would have brought 3 years ago, so so. It is rather amazing. A friend recently bought the original 55mm lens (giant filter model) for a pathetic $89 -- which might be less than what the polarizer for it would cost! I have noticed that newer wide lenses (especially, 45mm & 55mm) hold their value much better than other lenses, and the asking price of long glass as perhaps plummeted faster and a higher percentage of cost than anything else, and I suspect this will only continue for the monster lenses.

[gary_watson]

Its many positive qualities aside, the Pentax 67 is a "dead system camera walking." Any medium format system with no convenient upgrade path to digital appears doomed. Diving prices seem to confirm this. A sad example is Bronica whose systems are also on the "endangered" list. Lucky you, Doug, but most used Pentax 67 bodies I see are either FUBAR or near-mint and priced just a bit less than new.

[cjtower]

...but most used Pentax 67 bodies I see are either FUBAR or near-mint and priced just a bit less than new...

 

It wouldnt appear to make any sense -market wise- for people to be able to so easily find dirt cheap lenses on the used market, but then find bodies priced slightly less than new. Maybe in upscale stores used P67 bodies are priced close to new, but certianly not at any camera show or internet auction I have seen. Per Miles: I think even the wide lenses are going down, too. I recently got 2 newer 55mm's for friends overseas, and paid less than $175 for each.

[gary_watson]

Sorry, Carl, but that's been my experience with 67 bodies--lenses are another matter. Perhaps my standards are unreasonable, but a "beater" is usually just that. I can only assume the pretty 67s I see are low-rollage examples that never saw pro use(and abuse).Many 67s are still obviously in service; it's just the worn and elderly examples I see on offer, most of them due for major overhauls.No disrespect to the brand but I don't see a middle band in the price/quality spectrum similar to that, say, for used Nikon gear. Few of these cameras have had amateur original owners.

[miles stoddard]

Gary, are you including ebay, when you say you see so little in the middle-road of prices? Ebay is often littered with near-mint P67 bodies (you are of course correct, 1-owner, no pro use bodies). Prices seem pretty pathetic, especially as of late. If you search for a body-only, that can be harder perhaps. But, as other buyers have pionted out, you can now get near-mint MLU bodies with a cheaper lens (older 55mm or 75mm or 135mm) and WLF for about the cost of a good used body 2-3 years ago. The true deals, perhaps as always in photography, are on a "package". Friends, just in the last few days, got these: (1) Like new P67 MLU, Grip, 75mm f4.5, WLF, and a set of 82mm filters for $353; And, (2) -Mint P67 and viewing prism and 90mm lens for $288. Though things depreciate, there are still several suprising things -least things which surprise me- about P67 at auction: Currently people are really bidding up a grip adapted for P67 from a Linhof camera; people paid a LOT of money for a Zeiss 350mm(?) lens adapted to P67 from a Agiflite Camera; a current auction for a P67-converted 300mm Zeiss Sonnar is drawing quite a few bids, too. I am surprised in that people appear to be willing to pay more for a non-P67 grip than the real thing, and maybe much more for the Zeiss conversions, than the Pentax lens (when neither Zeiss lens was designed to cover 6x7, and the latter might not even be calibrated to focus at infinity). Then again, the auction world is always a little "goofy".

[douglas_green1]

As for the auction world, it really isn't so goofy. The stuff that's rare is selling for the stuff that's common, even though the common stuff might well be better. Take a passive item that's not condition dependent, like the grip/flash bracket: When there are 10 Pentax grips up for sale at once, they will all sell for $50-70. When only 1 or 2 are for sale, they go for $80-90.

 

It certainly IS true that the bargains are found in the packages. I'll go so far as to admit that when I want something, I look for a package of bodies and lenses that contains what I want, and then re-sell the stuff in the package that I didn't need. Invariably, I sell the rest of the pieces individually for MORE than the package cost me, even after I kept the piece that I bought the package for, and subtract the ebay fees. I recently got a Pristine (everything was between Ex+ and True Mint) outfit containing 45, 135, and 300mm lens and near mint body with TTL and grip for $1180, and I ended up keeping just one lens (300), and selling the rest of the stuff for over $1600. Even after considering the ebay fees, I got a free 300mm lens and $300 profit for my trouble.

 

Incidentally, I initially planned on keeping that pristine body as well, except for the fact that I ALSO picked up the $229 body which I started this thread about. And I ended up selling the pristine body for $679 with the TTL prism (and original boxes and manuals).

 

I would tend to disagree about there ONLY being 2 quality bands of P67 gear on ebay. There's plenty of VG to Ex- P67 gear out there, but the problem is distinguishing it from the highly abused wreckage on a forum such as ebay, especially when there is just one small photo of the entire outfit in the auction listing. One way to do this is to find pros who are liquidating entire systems at one time. Invariably, when someone is selling 3-4 bodies at once, there is at least one true beater, and at least one very well working unit among the group. The aforementioned $229 body I just got, was one of 4 different P6x7 or P67 systems that the seller was selling at one time. Of those four units, I consciously avoided two of them, and bid on the other two. Ironically, the one I got sold for less than both of his beaters that I consciously avoided, and quite a bit less than his other decent one, which actually was in slightly inferior cosmetic condition than the one I got, except for the finder ding on mine.

[25asa]

Its sad for me as I paid $895 Canadian for my 1989 P6x7 with light metered prism. It was in good condition with brassing. I spent another $50 or so getting a few parts it was missing like strap, body cap, and eye cup with retainer. When I was what they are going for on Ebay, I darn near cried and felt ripped off. This was only a year ago. No lenses, so I had to get them afterwards. My last lens Im looking for in a version 3 55mm, but they're still up there in price.