Where are you looking? Prices are dropping on Ebay. This time of the year it's a buyers market.
Nice Hasselblad stuff is been getting harder to find at a bargain. We enjoyed a decade of pros just dumping mf stuff. Now it seems that young folks are fascinated with film. Also it's getting used up and broken down. 10 to 12 years back I bought a mint 501c 80 and 150, 2 backs wlf and 45 degree prism for 1100 bucks. There are still deals out there just takes a while to find them.
PS Puffins are bad luck, they despise Swedish cameras
Maybe it is because the market for good clean used Hasselblads is a "sellers" market, no longer a "buyers market".I noticed this starting two years ago. One of the results of a return of film. As a Hasselblad owner nearing the end of the line, I hope it continues.........Regards!
I think it's a simple case of supply and demand economics. The supply of classic film cameras is declining every day. They're no longer being made (with tiny exceptions, of course) and people like me that have more film cameras than I can reasonably shoot aren't selling them. Demand, on the other hand, seems to be steady or on the uptick.
I'm glad I bought when I bought and I'm keeping it.Maybe one day ,I can afford a Hasselblad digital back.
Too late -that's already happened too... 4x5 cameras that were $300 a couple years ago are now selling for $800.
I see complete RB67's for less than $400 shipped. Lens and all. Those lenses are really nice. I'm looking at adding another RB67 body for 70mm only and so far those bodies are affordable, to me anyway.
Of course bargains are possible if you're A: patient, B: know more about what you're looking at than the seller of the gear in question, and C: you're convincing in your arguments about the value of the camera. But none of those are a given.Sort of, I agree but it's not uniform. In general LF prices have probably risen much faster than MF, which is itself faster than 35mm.
There are cheap LF cameras around, I've just had to restored a supposedly nice Crown Graphic for someone, it had the rare optional Graflex back, totally useless it's wider than an International back, can't take Graflok roll film backs etc. It was in quite poor condition the seller had deliberately switched the back, a Graflex spring or Graflok back needs an extra screw and the hole was there on the body with a split because he'd missed it when removing toe original back
I've been planning to replace my Wista 45DX which has been my main camera for 30+ years, but has had a lot of wear and tear, and in the past 2 years prices have doubled or more, Chinese equivalents have rocketed up in price as well.
There's a definite rise in MF cameras but it's more Brand and Model dependant. I bought a really nice Rolleiflex Automat MXV with Opton Tessar 2 or 3 years ago for £70 (just under 490) it's used but most likely been serviced, but the value of my mint Rolleiflex E2 f3.5 Xenotar took a big tumble 15 years ago as did my M3 Leice when Digital became almost the norm. But demand and almost no new film cameras means values bounced back and have risen higher.
We can still get bargains . . . . . well I do
Ian
That may be what's skewed my idea of large format being cheaper. Come to think of it, I will often stumble across LF cameras in terrible condition, priced like a Monet painting, and just think to myself that the seller has no idea what they have, but thinks it has to be worth a fortune because it's old and they've never seen one before. And I'm always on the lookout for LF bargains and know enough about them to stumble across several great buys every year. So perhaps I'm just basing my judgement on what I've personally purchased in the last few years, and not everything that I've seen.Of course bargains are possible if you're A: patient, B: know more about what you're looking at than the seller of the gear in question, and C: you're convincing in your arguments about the value of the camera. But none of those are a given.
It's real easy to forget those horrendous junkers that are grossly overpriced, because they offend the sensibilities!That may be what's skewed my idea of large format being cheaper. Come to think of it, I will often stumble across LF cameras in terrible condition, priced like a Monet painting, and just think to myself that the seller has no idea what they have, but thinks it has to be worth a fortune because it's old and they've never seen one before. And I'm always on the lookout for LF bargains and know enough about them to stumble across several great buys every year. So perhaps I'm just basing my judgement on what I've personally purchased in the last few years, and not everything that I've seen.
Why? What is going on?
I had an unfortunate accident in Newfoundland this Sept. I was photographing Puffins on an island off the coast when the wind blew my tripod mounted Hasselblad 500C over onto the rocks. It landed on the winding lever and tweaked the body so bad that it is basically junk. /QUOTE]
This is why I bought a NOS 501CM as back-up a few years ago.
faberryman, I had to have the chrome 80mm CLA'd as it had a sticky shutter. And I replaced the light seals in one of the magazines. It was the deal of the century for sure and I drove 6 1/2 hours one way from Central NY to Camden Maine the next day to grab the kit before she changed her mind. A few months before that she wanted $1200. She must have had a boat payment coming due or something.Prices for Hasselblad stuff are all over the board. I don't recall ever seeing a 500C, 2 A12s, an 80 and 150 for the $500 you paid in 2016. Deal of the century.
I think there is also the factor that few "auctions" exist on ebay any more and that is what people generally use to determine value. Lots of buy it nows and such which are way over valued, but if someone is looking for a camera and all they see are big price tags, they assume that is what they have to pay and they pay it.
I had both those lenses at one time. Fortunately I got out of them before the collapse. Of course I used the money to buy a brand new RZ67 II kit for 3 grand. I've had so much fun with medium format over the years. Money well spent.While this doesn't account for KEH prices, this is a good point. Many of the overpriced buy-it-now sales renew forever and rarely actually sell. The seller is hoping for that lucky sale to someone that doesn't have time to wait for an auction or price shop. A month or so ago I bought a Bronica 100-220 lens from KEH for about $220. I was happy and didn't mind the price. Then a few weeks later a USA seller on eBay listed both a 100-220 and a 45-90. I followed both but only bid on the 45-90. The 100-220 went for $100. I won the 45-90 for around $150 which was still less than half of what most of the buy-it-nows were asking.
Of course bargains are possible if you're A: patient, B: know more about what you're looking at than the seller of the gear in question, and C: you're convincing in your arguments about the value of the camera. But none of those are a given.
I agree with comments above that prices can be all over the place, but are generally trending up. A year ago, I bought a gorgeous chrome Zeiss 250 f/5.6 for my Hasselblad. It was $87 (USA ePrey purchase). Astonishing for that magnificent West German craftsmanship. The cheezy mass-produced plastic kit lenses that the digital users buy cost more than that.
Here is my lens: https://worldofdecay.blogspot.com/2018/03/the-long-view-and-some-gas-250mm-sonnar.html
Two years ago, I bought a Rolleiflex 3.5E Xenotar for only about $200 because a previous buyer had returned it with a complaint that something was wrong. The lenses were absolutely perfect. Of course, a complete cleaning and new brighter screen added $500 to the purchase. But now, clean Rolleiflexes seem to be selling for $1000 (and you can be sure that most of them still need the cleaning and checkup).
My Rolleiflex: https://worldofdecay.blogspot.com/2016/05/a-short-tour-of-vicksburg-with.html
As Ian above pointed out, most of these film cameras tumbled in price about 15 years ago, when digital conquered the world. But, the mechanical cameras are not being made, and slowly there is attrition, so supply and demand sets the prices. There may be on exception: Leicas were often bought by collectors and stored in homes or safe deposit boxes. After the old gent dies, the widows sell the Leicas and all the nice stuff the gent collected. I sometimes see amazing and almost-unused bodies and lenses show up for sale, M4s in a time warp from the 1960s.
Sirius brings up a good point. Even though film cameras seem expensive, they are cheap compared to digital cameras. They are also "cool" in a way digital just isn't. On top of that, they hold their value.
+1I'm glad I bought when I bought and I'm keeping it.Mabe one day ,I can afford a Hasselblad digital back.
Wait, I am cool again? Really? According to the "experts" and "photographers" on the big photo review site, they are the most sophisticated and trendy things on earth because they disposed of their film equipment and use the latest and baddest DSLR mega-computer-cameras with those monstrous penile zoom kit lenses and can take 10^4 pictures on a weekend and can process their files with their "workflow."Sirius brings up a good point. Even though film cameras seem expensive, they are cheap compared to digital cameras. They are also "cool" in a way digital just isn't. On top of that, they hold their value.
Wait, I am cool again? Really? According to the "experts" and "photographers" on the big photo review site, they are the most sophisticated and trendy things on earth because they disposed of their film equipment and use the latest and baddest DSLR mega-computer-cameras with those monstrous penile zoom kit lenses and can take 10^4 pictures on a weekend and can process their files with their "workflow."
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