A THOUGHT WHEN UP GRADING YOUR CAMERA

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raider2727

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Something I wonder about in prices of used cameras.

In 1997 I brought a Canon 500n with a basic 28-80 and 75-300 lens and it cost me £500, I soon sold the lenses and brought a 28-70 f2.8 and a 80-200 f2.8 drainpipe both used and they cost me £700 for both, I later brought a Eos3 which cost me £500 used.

Today the 500n body is worth £10 if I am lucky, the EOS 3 £100 again if I am lucky, yet if I still had the lenses the 28-70 would be worth £600 and the 80-200 around £450 ish.

I often see people on here asking if they should upgrade their camera and they seem to have very basic lenses, looking back I think unless you like throwing money away a good practise would be to invest in lenses as you will loose very little in value, improve the quality of your images more than upgrading your camera and your biggest out lay should be future proof to a certain degree.

I live in fear of my camera dropping in value like film cameras did when digital arrived, what is the next leap and when which will find our digital cameras on ebay for £10?
 
Thats a good point. Although there may also be a case for upgrading your camera as soon as a new body is released so you can sell your old one while it is still worth something.

Although new bodies cost more when first released...

hmmm...... we're never gonna win are we?!! :bonk:
 
A while ago a very well respected technical reviewer said words to the effect of once you've reduced an image to digital information almost anything is possible and it's possible that in the future just a very basic lens will be needed and all else will be done by clever mathematics.

When I posted this on another photography forum it was derided and I think that those mocking perhaps forgot that this was not my view but that of the very well respected technical reviewer who perhaps knew a lot more about the subject than they did.

Anyway, something like that or something else entirely might well lead to current technology bodies and lenses crashing in value but that doesn't mean they'll stop working so I wouldn't worry too much. Indeed, perhaps a value crash now and again might be good news for people who don't mind using gear that others think is well past it's best before date.
 
I think the point is here that GOOD glass seldom looses its value - and in some cases it even goes up:thumbs:

There is a Nikon Lens that was about 1300 new but was discontinued - 17 35 f2.8 maybe the one Now they go for 3k+

Bodies always change - more so with digital as they are like pc's the tech is always being perfected - BUT good glass seldom changes - Maybe some advancments in stabilisation tech But they are only small changes compared to body changes

Good glass:thumbs:
 
toph101 said:
Thats a good point. Although there may also be a case for upgrading your camera as soon as a new body is released so you can sell your old one while it is still worth something.

Although new bodies cost more when first released...

hmmm...... we're never gonna win are we?!! :bonk:
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I agree with you about upgrading the camera. Spending more on a good body surely means it's more future proof. If you plan on keeping it a long time that is.
 
Whats the point in spending money on technical stuff as an investment?

Pretty pointless if you ask me, well, unless you plan to keep it for 100 years, then it might be worth something as an antique.

Buy it, use it, break it, bin it. Its consumer electronics not anything else.
 
The problem is the rate at which the technology is developing. Look at the 1D classic. Still a very capable camera, originally sold for £000's and you can pick them up now for about £300 :shrug:
 
Then do it and stop worrying :lol: Seems like a good deal for buyers :lol:
 
Yes, I fully agree with OP. Good lenses are great investment, particularly when bought at very competitive prices. Buying overpriced kit lenses (like the new 15-85mm IS) at the full whack is completely insane.

Then again with cameras, buying a couple years dated but well respected body makes sense. You get reliable and tested technology (5D2, 7D, 1D3, and 5D, and others all had issues at the start) at ~ half RRP price. The price really starts to go down another few years later, so there is still a good timeframe to sell on.

1D mk1 is a rather special case. It is a very early digital model, with a huge resolution deficit and poor high ISO performance. To be honest I'd rather take a new 500D, over a completely unused 1D mk1, as the latter would never print at A3 or be accepted by an agency.
The later cameras *should not* really reach that point, as we are receiving more minor usability updates vs major development. I guess ultra high ISO and video are the major ones.
 
sometimes upgrading is buying older equipment. look at the cameras most of us have, we have consumer DSLR's such as 450D, D5000 and a300 but when you want to upgrade dont look at the new d900 or 6DMK4 have a look at the cams we consider as pro now, imagine the price of something like a d700 in three years time.
 
I'm thinking about this, I've got my Fathers old Nikon F5 sitting here with all the lenses. At the moment I'm using Olympus 4/3rds system with a Panasonic DMC-L1 but the 4/3rds view finder is so small and dark it cheeses me off especially in low light conditions where you can't see a thing!

I reckon I could use the Nikon Lenses on a Digital body and get into a Nikon system relatively cheaply.

The rest of my Fathers camera collection, there were around 125 bodies are relatively worthless, yet just a few of the Leica and Nikon lenses far outweigh the prices of all the bodies!
 
desantnik said:
Whats the point in spending money on technical stuff as an investment?

Pretty pointless if you ask me, well, unless you plan to keep it for 100 years, then it might be worth something as an antique.

Buy it, use it, break it, bin it. Its consumer electronics not anything else.
Click to expand...

I wish i was in a position to simply bin a 1k camera and 3k lenses, far from it being an investment it is simply a way of reducing your losses.
Would like to be your bin man!
 
desantnik said:
Whats the point in spending money on technical stuff as an investment?

Pretty pointless if you ask me, well, unless you plan to keep it for 100 years, then it might be worth something as an antique.

Buy it, use it, break it, bin it. Its consumer electronics not anything else.
Click to expand...

Back in 1988 my mate's dad bought a Motorola 8000 "brick" mobile phone - it cost him £2500. Six months later I picked up my shiny new, improved 8800 version for £500, six months after that they were giving them away free.

Electronic gadgets (which is all cameras are nowadays) are never going to be an investment - it's just a shame (suspect:) tht the prices don't drop the way they do for the likes of plasma tvs, then we'd be getting stuff like the D3 a year after it launched for £599 :lol:
 
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