35mm cameras

[Torus34]

Time for me to 'fess up.

The digital camera era was something of a boon. I'm an old film hand and, as folks switched from grain to pixels, oodles of old unwanted, unloved film cameras were sent their merry way through eBay and other venues. And there I was, willing and able to pick up the $5 and $10 bargains as they became available. I've amassed quite a collection without putting the rent money on the line.

Some bargains are still there for the taking. I just purchased an M42 Asahi bellows with 55mm f1.8 Takumar lens with UV and 1A filters and cap, all mint, for $14 + shipping.

Lately, though, I've noted that these bargains are becoming scarcer. I can no longer 'score' a nice Minolta 201 body for $15-20. Prices have, over the past 6 months or so, not only stabilized but started to increase.

Anyone else note this?

Is 35mm making a comeback of sorts? [It does have a certain charm, you know. The children of Oskar Barnack's magnificent idea are still delightful companions ...]

 

[Overread]

I have heard a few others saying similar. I guess after everyone jumped onto the digial bandwagon and sold off their older film gear they found that they still liked the film gear - and so started to collect it up again - but with the crash in prices many are now able to get some really good end gear that they would simply not have been able to affored back then - so now prices are on the up.
Also with hte recession hobbies boom - people want an escape and "cheap" film gear is a great escape for hours (especaily if you do B&W darkroom stuff) so I expect things to do reletivly well in this market!

 

[2ART]

re: M42 - there are still bits and pieces turning up once in a while. I bought two carl zeiss jena lenses two weeks ago for USD$15 (UKP £10)

Someone was selling off various family 'junk' and unconcerned with what was what. [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Zeiss Flektogon 2.4/35, Zeiss 3.5/135 Sonnar[/FONT], both zebras. I'll use them on my digital EOS with an adaptor sometime. The gods of german glass were smiling on me that day.

 

[Garbz]

I think not so much a comeback, but that the cameras are ending up in the hands of people who use them. Digital came out and many film cameras went on ebay. But then there are plenty of people out there who thought I have a digital but I'll grab a film just for the retro schick and learn to develop film myself etc etc. These are the type of people who would be less likely to re-sell their camera.

When I upgraded to digital I had one film SLR. Now I have 2 film SLRs, and a box camera. A friend of mine is similar. He had no film gear when he started with his digital and now has 2 film SLRs, 2 rangefinders, and a TLR, and a darkroom. Believe me he would rather put his cameras in a display case then sell them.

 

[blash]

I wouldn't think it's the economy so much as it is the fact that by this point, most of the people who were going to go digital and not look back are already there, so there aren't as many people with un-used film bodies.

I went from digital to a F100 and there is no way in hell I would sell either. Both have it's purposes. *maybe* if I were to come along a F5 or an F6 I would sell my F100, but I highly doubt it's going to happen. Unlike digital where the only time you'd care to have multiple bodies is for having multiple lenses that you don't want to take the time to switch out, film requires you to have multiple bodies to keep different film options open, i.e. do I want to take a picture of this scene in black and white or color? ISO 125 or 400? etc, besides all the different glass choices.

Personally, I'm in the market for a few more film bodies, but I'm broke right now. 2 or 3 are on my list: a TLR (for fun, the Blackbird is a 35mm TLR and that sounds interesting), a manual focus body (so either the FM2 or the F2AS if I can get a decent price), and maybe along the way get an F5 cause they go for around $300 and I can afford that relatively easily once I get myself un-broke. Right now I got my 50mm f/1.4 and my 24mm f/2.8 and I don't really need or find myself wanting for any other glass right now.

 

[photograham]

I think everyone just found out about the great deals available

 

[JerryPH]

I recently went to a camera fleamarket and there was tons of film stuff, but to be honest, I did not find much of deal on anything. I got lucky on a Manfrotto ball head and a Nikon SB-80DX speedlight, but that was it... everything else was over priced and the lenses were CRAZY overpriced... like a 10 year old Nikon 85mm F/1.8 that was only $5 less than a new one!

To find the real deals, I think you need to know people and also be in the right spot at the right time. eBay stinks and Craigslist is equally useless.

 

[Garbz]

I wouldn't say ebay stinks. There are some excellent bargains to be had. Like 105mm AF-D macros for $500AU ($700AU cheaper than the new one), or 50mm f/1.2 AI-s for $300AU, 50mm f/1.8 AF-D for $180AU.

All significantly cheaper than any alternative, but you must know when to bail out of an auction.

 

[bhop]

Ebay has been good to me, and Craigslist in L.A. is awesome. I've gotten some good stuff through both... but yeah, i've noticed, things aren't as cheap as they were say.. a year or two ago.

 

[blash]

you must know when to bail out of an auction.

according to the KING the only way to bid is to snipe at the end. eBay makes all its money off auction fever and the only way to get best price is to bid right at the end when no one else has revealed their hand and then you get the best deal. How to Win at eBay

SORRY IF I SOUND WEIRD IM DRONK RIGHT NOW LUKLZ!!!! XD best feeelig in the werld!

 

[usayit]

Kenrockwell is a joke.... Lets take his #4 comment:

"Bid only at the last second, and bid the absolute maximum you would ever want to pay. "

That's a whole lot of words that say absolutely nothing.

If you just bid the absolute maximum you would ever want to pay, why waste you time waiting for the last second? The act of bidding at last second suggests open bidding or English bidding (which ebay is not). Absolute maximum bidding suggests automatic or proxy bidding (which ebay is.. ). Putting the two in the same sentence just doesn't make any sense. Just place you max bid and walk away.

and this statement? "I've won over 97% of the items on which I've bid, and I've never paid more than I intended". Don't even know where to begin with that one... I personally win 10% of the auctions I bid but I never pay more than intended. Does that make me any less effective? WTF does % win or loss have to do with getting good deal?

THe whole article sounds like a cheap used car salesman.


Winning good ebay deals is very very very simple. All you have to do is bid the MAX amount you are willing to pay.. period... end of sentence... If you win, great it was within your price range. If you loose, then you didn't pay more than you wanted to. People are trying to treat ebay like a real time open bidding auction. In the end, you either wasted you life watching and sniping or you paid too much.

Almost ALL my best deals in my camera collection are from ebay. I simply keep bidding my max until I win.... almost always do. It might take 2 losses or 10 losses but it only takes 1 winning bid. It just takes patience. Any item I want to lend more personal attention (Old Leica stuff for example) or I want immediately (replacement parts for my car) will be purchased through other channels as ebay is a horrible place for those types of purchases.


As for the OP, I have seen a few people heading back to film. Almost all of them are long time hobbiests because they are heading back to the enjoyment they remember. There seems to be a few things about enjoying photography that is lost in the world of digital. On the other hand, I have yet to see a single professional photographer that has headed back to film from digital. The advantages are just too great from a business standpoint.

OH btw.. best times to find deals on ebay are via auctions that end Sunday nights and holidays.

 

[Overread]

but there is some logic in it still - since people can livetime bid above their max amount -
Say you bit £10 and someone else bids £5
the auto bidder will let you win that auction

However if the person who bid £5 comes back before the end they might now bid £15 and thus they would win.
Of course the logic then is that you didn't want to ever pay more than £10 so its all ok from that point, but I guess it depends how rare the item is and how much you want it - a late big higher than your max might make you try for a higher second bid to get the item. Of course Ebay relies on this for its profit as well

 

[usayit]

I understand..

But... then by definition, you didn't enter your MAX bid. (or you didn't do your research to determine the value).

Oh yes... snipping is really bad for those who get caught up in the game .er. bidding.

 

[Overread]

its more that your max bid was just not your final max bid

 

[blash]

It's not just about max bid or not, it's about how much money eventually gets paid. If you early-bid, then odds are that someone will come along and bid more than you. This results in a couple things: 1) eBay gets more money from the royalties, 2) the seller gets more money, 3) someone pays more than it could go for, and 4) you don't get what you bid on. If you snipe, you don't need as much patience as described above because you will win an auction earlier.

Also when you snipe, you're there (as he says) to pay them right away and sellers love you for that.

Also by the way, best auctions for buyers to find good deals are on Sundays and holidays as described above because everyone's with their families and they can't break away to bid on an auction, so the best auctions for sellers are on Monday mornings when everyone's at work and in front of a computer.