Minolta Maxxum sticker shock (in reverse!)

[David Lyga]

I was looking at the KEH website yesterday and was flabbergasted to find working Maxxum bodies offered at (starting at) $6. There were many $15 and below. For a retailer to sell at this price they truly have to be worthless.

But why? And temporary? Answers and insight please. The Maxxum line was not exactly the worst and least successful camera of all times. Hardly. What is going on here?

Or am I just plain nuts to 'notice' this? - David Lyga

[ArtO]

I never followed these series of Minoltas, so I don't know much about them. I remember a few weeks ago KEH had a notice on their website that they would not purchase used Minolta equipment. Maybe it's just oversupply vs demand.

[dxqcanada]

There are a number of Maxxum camera's that were cheap/easy models ... like the 3something (lowest end), then the 5something (next up the line).

The 7,8, and 9somethings were targeted at serious photographers (though some of the xi series weren't so hot) ... so I can see some of them being higher in price ... though even the great Maxxum 7 can be found for under $150.00

[Alan W]

You can buy an ex. condition nikon n80 for about $30,I love these cameras.It's happening with every camera line-an AE-1 costs more than a lot of the consumer grade eos products.Looks like anyone buying film cameras wants a "classic" type.Look at the prices of the spotmatics,they're frequently on KEH for $75 and up.

[PentaxBronica]

That seems to go for pretty much all consumer-grade SLRs now. People either want the top end AF bodies or the manual focus mechanical beasts. I know I could get hold of a Pentax SF-series body for under £10, for example. A K2, LX or MZ-S would be a lot more.

It may be that the dealer got the bodies as part of a collection and expects to make their profit from the lenses.

[BradS]

I sold pretty much all of my 35mm gear a while ago. I ended up not selling the Maxxum 7 kit because, at the time, they were selling for next to nothing on eBay and it just wasn't even worth the effort. It is a very respectable performers with respect to image quality any way. I like the fact that it uses ordinary AAA batteries too.

[Alan Gales]

Maybe that's so the "hipsters" can afford them?

There's nothing like riding around Wicker Park on a bicycle with no paint left on it and shooting your budget 35mm camera that you don't have a clue how to use.

[rjhelms]

Maybe that's so the "hipsters" can afford them?

If anything, I think it's the opposite: a Minolta Maxxum doesn't scream "vintage" the same way older SLRs do, so if reason for toting a film camera is to look cool, they're absolutely useless. Oh well, their loss, my 7000i serves me very well.

What I found far stranger was that, when I was looking for a Maxxum 50mm f/1.7, there were many Maxxums with that lens going for cheaper than just the lens on its own.

[Alan Gales]

You may be right. I have a stepson who is a hipster. I gave him a Contax 167MT but he prefers his girlfriend's Olympus OM1.

Nothing against an OM1. It's a fine camera but it does look more vintage.

[Spicy]

The mechanical cameras have little question about their reliability and future fixability. Arguably the most capable of the 35mm cameras (ones that came out JUUUSSSTTT before digital) aren't the smartest buys, because people have gotten wise with all the familiarity with digital rot. When things become cost-prohibitive, manufacturers no longer produce replacements parts, and it's not worth it/unfeasible to do a low-count run of old circuitboards for things like obscure or amateur/semi pro cameras. Nikon FEs have a great user reputation, but people realize that once the circuitboards go (not talking about a simple re-soldering or that sort of low-level problem), they're effectively a paperweight. Nikon FMs of the same vintage are more expensive because they'll likely be able to be fixed by a skilled repairman.

Not that they aren't reliable or great buys, as they're dirt cheap. I'm just saying that in the long term, people have less faith in the early electronic cameras, and even up through the last ones, save for a few super-high-end ones like the F5/F6, which seem to be holding their value a bit better.

Similar thing with cars... Ones that are so old and basic they can be fixed with a wrench and some screwdrivers are a safe bet. Ones from the 70s and 80s that are plastic-fantastic and the first implementations of new tech like fuel-injection and other advancements are neither incredibly reliable nor easily/cost-effectively fixable when things go wrong with them.