Film camera prices?

[chriscrawfordphoto]

Just checked out KEH, its been a long time since I went there. I was rather blown away by their asking prices for Rolleiflex 3.5T BGN $465 ! And nikon F3HP EX+ $665! Are these actually reflective of the market?

My God! I bought a very nice Ex+ rated F3-HP last year from KEH for $250. $665? Forget it!

[Carl V]

Here in the UK, you can pay very high prices for film bodies particularly when described as 'mint' or 'as new' condition. There's a Nikon dealer in London where cameras such as the FM2n and F3 regularly sell for as much or even more than what they cost when they were available to buy new years ago - providing they're in mint condition, that is, otherwise their value does decrease quite substantially.

[lxdude]

The EX+ for $665 is actually an F3THP.
Still, prices are up.

[zesbaugh]

KEH prices seem to me to be a little schizophrenic. Only a few months ago I purchased a Maxxum 7 in EX+ condition for 135.00. A week later a BGN was selling for 166.00. Today an EX for 199.00 and a BGN for 144.00
I did snag the camera only a few hours after it listed. I had been checking site every 6 hours or so on a regular basis - REALLY wanted a second one and ebay offerings all seemed very sketchy. Maybe KEH took the quick turn-around as evidence demand was higher than initially thought when setting price...but that's just speculation on my part.

[Diapositivo]

I bought three cameras in the last year for relatively cheap money. One of them was an obviously risky bid (heritage, as-is) but it was very cheap, actually I got a partial refund because it was not properly described, it only costed me the shipping cost. Some €50 cured the problem and it is now a wonderful CLAed Voigtländer Vito CLR. Another one was a Canon Canonet with a milky viewfinder and a dent on the filter thread. Got a partial refund on that as well so that the final cost was some €30 or €40 plus shipping. Some €40,00 later it was like new. A third one was a Cosina - Voigtländer Bessa-L which I got together with a lens for a price which I think can be evaluated - for the camera - to less than $100 (not that the camera is worth much more anyway).

If you are not in a hurry, don't go for mint or excellent condition, and are prepared to foresee a minimum of CLA which you should in any case if you want to actually use the camera, you can still find a lot of very good value for money on the second-hand market. I have no experience with KEH, only with auctions on eBay though. I think with online auctions patience and going for normal conditions are key to make good bargains.

[bblhed]

In the last few months I have seen prices on a lot of stuff head up. Maybe all those people that were shooting LOMO decided they like film and now want cameras that offer more control.

Whatever the cause, lets hope that it is more people shooting film, and more people buying film. Having camera prices go up somewhat is a small price to pay for the security of knowing that film is still going strong.

[pbromaghin]

I've had GAS for the last 4-5 years (now thankfully controlled with medication) and it seems to me that prices got real low with the financial crisis and recession but have increased a quite a bit in the last year.

[CGW]

I've had GAS for the last 4-5 years (now thankfully controlled with medication) and it seems to me that prices got real low with the financial crisis and recession but have increased a quite a bit in the last year.

Like many, I was into bingeing between 2007-10 when prices were low--ridiculously so in the case of most medium format systems--which cleared the market of a horde of great quality gear. There's just not as much in circulation now, particularly EX+ or better merch, compared to 3-4 years ago. More people after a shrinking supply only chases prices in one direction. Only a serious reduction in film choices and/or increase in prices will change things.