Film camera prices: Going up or down?

A Pentax SMC 200mm f2.5, in Argentina, just sold for 431 dollars on Ebay.

Que sera sera.
Bobby

Markok765 said:

Theres a F5 in my local store for $800

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That's retail. Shopping on craigslist can get the same model for around $400-500.

Bobby Ironsights said:

Really? I'm sorry to hear that. If you get a chance, I'd suggest going for a 135mm f2.5. This is an amazing prime that I've never seen going locally for more than about 30 bucks in Canada/the states.

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Thanks. I have a 135mm F2.8 New FD lens, and I'm pretty happy with it so far. But maybe the next time...

Bobby Ironsights said:

I do hear your pain about the wide fast primes though. They are just pretty rare/desireable.

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Yeah, for some reason, the 35mm F2 is rare to be found. I have one, but I can't get a back-up, so I use it and less and less these days.

On ebay there are Nikon F100 bodies running for something like 175€ and the F90x for less than 75€. But the lenses did not decrease their price.

The market for used equipment seems to vary depending on the items. Film camera bodies (except for rangefinders) seem to be dropping in price. As others have mentioned, top of the line cameras (and popular cameras) will hold their value a bit better.

Lenses are another beast altogether. Nikon's backward compatibility has kept lens prices steady, even for manual focus lenses. The fact that you can use older manual focus Nikon lenses with many of today's modern DSLR's means that many people will be out there trying to purchase Nikon's classic lenses. This consumer trend trickles into the Nikon film camera world. Many people like the idea that they can use their lenses for both film and digital cameras. Many of those people do some research and go out and purchase Nikon's classic cameras like the F series or the compact F series, thereby driving up the prices.

Other camera manufacturers seem to have caught on to Nikon's idea and have produced cameras with backward compatibility (like Pentax).

My theory is to go out and get what you always wanted as soon as you can. I made the mistake of purchasing a Nikon S2 rangefinder recently with 50mm 1.4 lens in excellent condition. I returned it because I was not 100% satisfied and thought I would be able to get a better sample elsewhere. I was wrong. I have yet to find an S2 in that condition in that price range. The numbers of available samples have dwindled considerably. I wish I would have kept that S2! I always wanted anoriginal F, so I purchased two of them in near mint condition. Absolutely no regrets despite the fact that I paid about $300.00 per body. They were worth every penny to me!

Prices seem to rise and fall for no apparent reason. Plastic SLRs from the 1990s don't hold their value as much as the metal-bodied counterparts from the 1960s and 1970s, even though the newer cameras are more advanced.

Certain cameras seem to hold their value.

A Zeiss Ikon Contaflex, Hologon, Contarex, Tenax II, Super Nettel and Nettax (35mm rangefinder) haven't budged much in price over the past six or seven years.

Some of the old classic cameras have increased in value. But some haven't.

The Pentax K1000 has come down in price a bit after rising. They're still decent bargains, and I've bought two in the past couple of years.

snegron said:

Other camera manufacturers seem to have caught on to Nikon's idea and have produced cameras with backward compatibility (like Pentax).

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Actually, Pentax kept backward compatibility on the lenses through the line. The only exceptions were some of the really compact/consumer AF bodies. It seems that prices for the better Pentax primes are going up as the digital shooters figure out that the lenses work great with the bodies and are better than the zooms. Darn.