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
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.
It's real easy to forget those horrendous junkers that are grossly overpriced, because they offend the sensibilities!
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.
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.
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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