Michael Slade said:
So as one who is interested in aquiring a 7x17, but who is not *quite* ready yet...what do you guys think that camera is really worth?
Discounting completely what it will sell for on ebay, is there a concensus as to what a Korona in that quality ought to sell for?
Kerik, I knew that you pulled some weight, but for someone to base their whole sales pitch on...I never knew I was rubbing elbows with such greatness.
Interestingly enough, while many camera and lens prices have dropped through the floor, including high end professional,,,,, large and ultra large format cameras and even old "period" lenses have shown a steady increase in value....there is increasing interest in the art world in historical process photography. This past year saw major purchases by major galleries of photographic art....The Met included 8500-piece collection of 19th and early 20th century images owned by the Gilman Paper Company, --also 47 Atget, 25 Stieglitz, 21 W Talbot Fox, 5 Julia M Cameron San Fran M of M A also major photo purchases...
Also of note Rob Kendrick's contemporary photos in Tintype and especially his portrait chosen as no. 1 for cover of Portraits of National Geographic..cover is a tintype photo...
Go digital, Digital photography is doing its best to push analog right to stage center of collectable art...
Look for a continued increase in prices of period cameras and lenses as working artists and collectors begin to fight and grab for the survived stock...
In my humble opinion, newly constructed large format cameras currently being built by contemporary manufacturers are a bargain.....a really good one can be purchased for about or less than a mundane med format SLR set up....
As to what a camera should go for? The market sets the price of course, using this sale as a yardstick, a similar camera for the same or less should be a fair price.....decide on the format you want, study the recent and past sales of the antique cameras, note the prices of the new ones and the new ones used, and decide your budget and adjustments from there....remember new holders are 300 bucks and up---and in my opinion worth it......
Cheers good luck and just jump in with both feet...