Is there a market for old 35mm film cameras?

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kt53

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Keith
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Yes
By market I don't necessarily mean selling, but getting it to somebody who can make use of it. I have quite a quantity of cameras, lenses etc of various makes just kicking around doing nothing. Nothing fancy, just run of the mill Canon, Pentax from the 80s and 90s. They range from fully manual to autofocus etc.
 
I suppose you could potentially donate them to a local college if they run photography classes.
 
Plain Nev said:
I suppose you could potentially donate them to a local college if they run photography classes.
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A look around the internet will show that some people are apparently selling film cameras for substantial amounts. I've noticed that several SLRs are being priced at £150 or more, when fitted with (typically) a 50mm / f1.8 lens.

What prices are actually achieved could be assessed by looking at the "sold" prices on eBay.
 
I think it depends what sort of cameras they are. 35mm compact film cameras, with a few exceptions, are not of huge interest I believe, but SLR's are definitely in demand. Some, as Andrew says, can fetch very respectable prices. There are also a few small businesses around that are refurbishing them and selling them for quite high prices to the hipsterati.
I guess it would help if you could describe a little more about what you've got?
 
Or contact MBP and sell the lot , Better than nothing.
 
Our local hospice benefits greatly from people who donate cameras of all kinds. Most charity shops these days have an eBay department so they will find their way to people who will use them, and for a "proper" price. Gone are the days of charity shop tech bargains unless you're very lucky! You can also sell them yourself on eBay and donate 100% to whatever charity you choose.

Places like Ffordes, West Yorkshire Cameras will also take them off your hands for cash if you'd rather make some money.

In short - there is a healthy market for 35mm film cameras and lenses - as long as they work.
 
Thanks for the suggestions everybody, I'll look into them.
 
Even if they don't work, some would like them for decoration purposes. My first camera was a Canon AE-1 and I wanted an A-1, I'd quite like one just to sit on the shelf, not necessarily to run film through it.
 
kt53 said:
By market I don't necessarily mean selling, but getting it to somebody who can make use of it. I have quite a quantity of cameras, lenses etc of various makes just kicking around doing nothing. Nothing fancy, just run of the mill Canon, Pentax from the 80s and 90s. They range from fully manual to autofocus etc.
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You might want to ask a mod about moving this to the Film & Conventional section, we talk about old cameras a lot in there, to be fair most if it rubbish but there are a few that know what they’re talking about.
 
If you want them gone, stick em on ebay for 99p no reserve, the good thing about eBay on average well described items will go for what they are worth
 
At the very least old fim cameras can be a valuable source of spare parts. However many point and shoots are not worth the cost of repairing. Which is also true of most low end SLR's. They are simply not worth the repairers time and effort.
 
kt53 said:
By market I don't necessarily mean selling, but getting it to somebody who can make use of it. I have quite a quantity of cameras, lenses etc of various makes just kicking around doing nothing. Nothing fancy, just run of the mill Canon, Pentax from the 80s and 90s. They range from fully manual to autofocus etc.
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I'd say give them a check and then put them on gumtree or eBay for a fair starting price.

There's huge interest in entry level film cameras as teenagers and twenty somethings discover there's more to photography than an auto-everything iPhone.
 
kt53 said:
...I don't necessarily mean selling, but getting it to somebody who can make use of it....
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Your simplest way of doing this and doing some good as well would be to donate to a local charity shop, one of the larger charities perhaps. As Ian @Harlequin565 says, these days they usually go for reasonable money, presumably to people who want to make use of them. And you can add Gift Aid on top, if you're still a tax payer. It's a lot easier than any other selling approach, no photos and accurate descriptions needed, no hassle with returns or even "non-delivered" buyer scams!
 
lindsay said:
I guess it would help if you could describe a little more about what you've got?
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As above. It would help if we could have some names and model numbers to work with
 
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Sell them on ebay as untested and at a low starting price. Or donate them to an old geezer who has a youtube channel dedicated to shooting old film cameras ;)
 
FishyFish said:
There may be people on here who are interested too. A lot of the 80s and 90s point-and-shoot compacts are very useable, even the stuff that's not seen as top-end.
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Talking about the compacts your Z135 pictures have inspired me to pick one up for a reasonable £30 from eBay looking forward to some decent results :)
 
todders said:
Talking about the compacts your Z135 pictures have inspired me to pick one up for a reasonable £30 from eBay looking forward to some decent results :)
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Hope you like it! I find it vignettes a bit and has some slight softness right in the corners, but gives really nice results otherwise. I tend to just shoot at it's default wide-angle setting, so both those might be resolved if the lens is zoomed (something I might try next time I use it). Neither is a deal-breaker though - it was even the 35mm camera I chose to take with me when I visited New York a few years back, where it served me very well.
 
FishyFish said:
Hope you like it! I find it vignettes a bit and has some slight softness right in the corners, but gives really nice results otherwise. I tend to just shoot at it's default wide-angle setting, so both those might be resolved if the lens is zoomed (something I might try next time I use it). Neither is a deal-breaker though - it was even the 35mm camera I chose to take with me when I visited New York a few years back, where it served me very well.
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Thank you for the pointers on this, i will experiment at the wide end and the zoom function over the next week. That says a lot that you took it to New York. I will share some pictures when i complete a roll of film with it.
 
I was in a Cardiff camera shop before Christmas and was shocked by how expensive film cameras were. It appears theres a market for them again. A few years back you couldnt give them away, now you can sell them it seems.
 
todders said:
Thank you for the pointers on this, i will experiment at the wide end and the zoom function over the next week. That says a lot that you took it to New York. I will share some pictures when i complete a roll of film with it.
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There's an album of all my published Z135 shots on Flickr here (including the New York stuff):

www.flickr.com

Canon Sure Shot Z135

Explore this photo album by fishyfish_arcade on Flickr!
www.flickr.com www.flickr.com
 
swanseamale47 said:
I was in a Cardiff camera shop before Christmas and was shocked by how expensive film cameras were. It appears theres a market for them again. A few years back you couldnt give them away, now you can sell them it seems.
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It was the price of film and processing that made my eyes water. But, yes I agree. The price of what I would term collectible equipment seems to have risen.
 
I gave myself a Slide Show of that FLICKR Album -- amazing sharpness from HP5+ ! The definition of brickwork on the buildings great !
Also I saw you had the same Cold and Wet New York I had when I went and caught Pneumonia and was in hospital over night ! I saw you queing up for that Big Bus we went on ! What FILM DEVELOPER did you use for that HP5 + please?
 
pentaxpete said:
I gave myself a Slide Show of that FLICKR Album -- amazing sharpness from HP5+ ! The definition of brickwork on the buildings great !
Also I saw you had the same Cold and Wet New York I had when I went and caught Pneumonia and was in hospital over night ! I saw you queing up for that Big Bus we went on ! What FILM DEVELOPER did you use for that HP5 + please?
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Thanks Pete. We mostly had warm and sunny weather on our visit (it was in May 2019), but that particular day had some rain.

This was back before I started home developing my B&W, so the film was developed by, the now sadly defunct, Peak Imaging. They used Kodak XTOL for their B&W developing though.

I've not used XTOL myself - I use Ilfotec DD-X usually. I might give XTOL a try for home developing at some point though.
 
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