KEH low inventory

Marvin · Oct 8, 2015

KEH

Roger Cole said:
It looked plain and worked great. It wasn't broke so they had to fix it. Now it looks nice and is functionally almost unusable. Progress.

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Hi Roger I noticed that you live near Atlanta and just wondered if you had ever been by their physical location or do they have a showroom where you can go in.

Sirius Glass · Oct 8, 2015

Marvin said:
Hi Roger I noticed that you live near Atlanta and just wondered if you had ever been by their physical location or do they have a showroom where you can go in.

It is my understanding that you cannot go to KEH and buy a camera at their location. They are not set up with a store front.

Richard S. (rich815) · Oct 8, 2015

Sirius Glass said:
It is my understanding that you cannot go to KEH and buy a camera at their location. They are not set up with a store front.

Not exactly. Here's a post of one person's experience a few months ago. He was dropping off gear to sell and yes, there is no showroom but he indicated you can buy online and come pick up in person:

http://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/56074373

Sirius Glass · Oct 8, 2015

Sirius Glass said:
It is my understanding that you cannot go to KEH and buy a camera at their location. They are not set up with a store front.

Richard S. (rich815) said:
Not exactly. Here's a post of one person's experience a few months ago. He was dropping off gear to sell and yes, there is no showroom but he indicated you can buy online and come pick up in person:

http://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/56074373

Thanks, I will keep that in mind if I get back to Atlanta.

Roger Cole · Oct 8, 2015

Marvin said:
Hi Roger I noticed that you live near Atlanta and just wondered if you had ever been by their physical location or do they have a showroom where you can go in.

Sirius Glass said:
It is my understanding that you cannot go to KEH and buy a camera at their location. They are not set up with a store front.

No, they don't have a showroom. You can go by and pick up your purchase (but not examine it and decide) BUT they were going to charge me a "pick up fee" to do so. I forget how much but it was either comparable to or more than the FedEx shipping! Considering I'm on the other side of the ATL metro and it's nearly an hour drive each way outside rush hour (and God only knows during rush hour, just don't think about that much less attempt it) I didn't see the point in wasting two hours, a couple of gallons of gas, and more money than FedEx would charge to just bring my order to my doorstep.

That said I've bought a lot from them over the years - my Pentax LX and MX, two Pentax lenses, two Mamiya 645 lenses, several backs and inserts for the 645Pro and a spot meter that I can think of off the top of my head, and all have been fine and as good or better than described. It's been a while though since I've been pretty much "set" equipment wise and not doing a lot of photography either for a couple of years while I dealt with personal challenges. I haven't bought anything from them since their web site changed.

Cropline · Oct 9, 2015

mgb74 said:
What I've found with Roberts/Usedphotopro is that you have to read the description very carefully, as opposed to relying on the overall rating (good, vg, exc). I've seen lenses listing as "very good" where the description including "light hazing" of the front and rear elements. Another lens listed as "good" included "Heavy haze on internal elements. Light fungus on rear element." in the description.

So, as opposed to the conventional wisdom with KEH that their overall ratings are conservative, Usedphotopro's are quite optimistic. But I've been satisfied with a couple of purchases from usedphotopro having read the description carefully.

Also, with respect to lenses, it seems KEH is more strict with condition of the glass than Usedphotopro is.

I have noticed this where listings are concerned-haven't actually purchased from them. Based on feedback here, I think will pass by Roberts. At this point I would consider KEH, Japan, B&H, and maybe Adorama, likely in that order.

sir_mamiya · Oct 9, 2015

TheFlyingCamera said:
Third option - they're just not buying as much anymore (in part because they're geting chintzy with the prices they offer to sellers). I took some stuff to them a couple years ago at a camera swap meet and they refused some of it and the other things they offered me prices so low they were offensive.

This. I tried selling my 50mm Mamiya 6 lens through their online quote calculation. What a joke. The lens is near mint and I was quoted at $400. Get real. They would turn around and sell it for $800-900.

Marvin · Oct 9, 2015

I have a Minolta 9xi and 35 105 lens on the way from Roberts so will let you know.

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Cropline · Jan 28, 2016

I guess I'll resurrect this thread. I've been to KEH a few times recently and it seem the price is rising somewhat on Bronica gear

Sirius Glass · Jan 28, 2016

I have been checking the KEH Hasselblad lens inventory and the number and choices of lenses is way up and the prices are still lower than when I was buy those lenses several years ago.

BradleyK · Jan 29, 2016

As a Nikon/Hasselblad/Leica shooter, I've noticed that the inventory and prices of Nikon equipment has remained fairly constant; Hasselblad equipment seems to somewhat less plentiful than in the past, but prices seem to be falling slightly; Leica bodies, however, seem to be getting scarce (I've sort of been toying with the idea of picking up an M3, but the selection has been poor), while the prices seem to be falling ever so slightly over the last several years. Leica lenses, of course, are a whole other matter entirely...

Xmas · Jan 29, 2016

The end of the world is...

My local shop sells FMs faster than I can get there cept if they are users.

nolanr66 · Jan 29, 2016

It's been a long time since camera's have been made and now they are thinning out. Maybe it's because they are getting tossed out or maybe it's because KEH and the like are just carrying less due to low sales. I just do not know as I am not in the business. However all I have is a real nice F100 and I worry about getting stuck without a camera if I should lose it. I guess I will pick up another 35mm camera sometime this year if I run across something that is priced real well. My son's brother in law is always selling something. I think right now he is selling an M6 and a Bessa R4A as he bought an M9 for some reason. I would probably snag one of the rangefinders if they looked nice and were priced just as nice. Having a small camera like that would be good. The M6 is forever repairable and I do not know about the Bessa.

Last year I left my F100 in the car in a restaurant parking lot and my daughter asked if I was worried that it might get stolen and I told her I worry about the thief getting mad when he realizes it's a film camera and bashes in my windshield with it.

Sirius Glass · Jan 29, 2016

nolanr66 said:
Last year I left my F100 in the car in a restaurant parking lot and my daughter asked if I was worried that it might get stolen and I told her I worry about the thief getting mad when he realizes it's a film camera and bashes in my windshield with it.

Sirius Glass · Jan 29, 2016

nolanr66 said:
Last year I left my F100 in the car in a restaurant parking lot and my daughter asked if I was worried that it might get stolen and I told her I worry about the thief getting mad when he realizes it's a film camera and bashes in my windshield with it.

Ai Print · Jan 29, 2016

sir_mamiya said:
This. I tried selling my 50mm Mamiya 6 lens through their online quote calculation. What a joke. The lens is near mint and I was quoted at $400. Get real. They would turn around and sell it for $800-900.

And nowadays that would be considered a good price, you can find one on ebay in that condition for $400-$450. The Mamiya 6 system is the only one I took an absolute bath on when I sold it.

On the whole, Leica glass has come down a lot, especially the big ticket fast modern stuff. It's not out of the ordinary to see the Leica 35mm 1.4 Asph-II for under $3,300, saw a clean one go for $2,950. But then again, Leica kind of set them selves up for the perfect storm. They speculated price increase after price increase based on China's then huge appetite for all things Leica. Then the supply chain filled right as China's economy started to plummet so they put out a -12% off promotion this time last year. It is still going, welcome to the new normal Leica, LOL!

gone · Jan 29, 2016

Thought I'd mention that I've always had wonderful results with National Camera Exchange and Camera West (both locations) in L.A. Same thing w/ Koh's. Haven't bought from the latter in a long time, and not sure Sammy is even there anymore, but what a great guy! He went over to the lens on the shelves that I was interested in and described it to me in detail before I bought it. Try that at KEH :[

Igor of Igor's Camera is quite the character, and although I've had problems w/ a couple of his descriptions (twice I bought Leica R 90 Elmarits w/ what was described as haze, and they actually had heavy fungus, but he took them back). Normally his Rolleiflex cameras are better than his descriptions, and he ships very promptly and very well packed. Somehow, he had a ton of gold plated Summars he got from somewhere way back when. Not sure if he sold them. The market for that must be pretty small, but I could be wrong because I know nothing about collectibles, assuming that a gold plated Summar is a collectible. He really likes to trade in the more difficult to find and higher end items, but he has regular stuff too.

KEH low inventory

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