Complete beginner with a camera well beyond his means.

[Gary A.]

Actually Designer has an interesting point. Most people ... even a lot of photogs have a problem carrying and shooting pro level equipment. The size of the 1D's certainly is tough to handle physically and mentally and I seriously doubt that you need or can take advantage of what the 1D's have to offer over a lesser camera. Walking around with a 1D isn't a trivial thing. One has to be pretty committed to photography to shoot 1D's.

The problem with selling everything, is that it would be quite easy for you just to just walk away with a pocket full of coin and not give photography another thought ... and all of us here want to see you start shooting.

 

[beagle100]

You are one of the best equipped beginners around.

1dsIII and a few L lens ....sweet !

 

[soufiej]

I must admit, soufiej, the idea of selling both cameras, batteries and 1Ds-limited accessories, whilst retaining the lenses, has crossed my mind. Although, the idea of selling a professional camera with my lack of know-how is quite intimidating, as pricing for these things seems to vary quite drastically and I wouldn't want to mug-off or be mugged-off by a potential buyer.

Do some very basic homework and settle on a few dealers who might be interested in your cameras. If you have any receipts from your father in law's purchase history, give them a try.

Keep in mind a few things that impact your camera's value.

Of course age and condition are important to any prospective buyer.

What you probably need to reconcile with is the fact cameras such as the 1D's are not sold everyday. These are rather specialized cameras meant for a rather specialized buyer.

When a retailer makes you an offer to buy or trade for one of the these cameras, they are doing so knowing they may be sitting on a high priced investment for quite some time.



After decades in sales, I can tell you this; anything is worth what someone is willing to pay for it. No more and no less.

I assume sentimentality is not pushing you toward an unreasonable decision regarding these cameras. Establish a price, be willing to negotiate and move on without regret if you decide to sell them. What's done is done and cannot be undone. It's no different than any other business agreement you make.



The size, weight and complexity of these cameras will be daunting for a student photographer. If your goal is to learn photography, despite the potential of a high end camera, you will be hard pressed to realize the full potential of such a camera IMO. Today's consumer grade DSLR's will produce photos which you will not be able to distinguish as coming from the 1D and, say an 80D. I'd say that's true in at least 99 out of 100 situations.

You might even contact Canon to investigate their interest in a trade.

Do not, however, overly concern yourself with getting a fair price for the 1D's. If the dealer is reputable and you take into consideration their position of sitting on a rather expensive trade, you should be fine with any trade you negotiate.

 

[Dave442]

I don't see any problem for someone to start out with this equipment.

The 16-35mm, 65mm macro and the TS lens are what most photographers would like to have on hand (I've watched many a video on these last two lenses and I don't even have a Canon camera).

As probably already mentioned, the lenses will hold their value better than the camera bodies. While the camera bodies may be old, they can still take pictures just as good as when they were new (even better with the memory cards and post processing software available now). They are also good for learning as you can do almost tutorial that you want to try out for yourself.

Having two of the same camera body is very nice to have. Especially where you might want to have the 65mm macro on a tripod and doing some extreme close-up shots and then be able to go out with the other body and the 16-35mm or the Tilt-Shift.

I agree that the Tele-Extender would be used on a lens that is not shown here. It could easily be a lens that would not fit in a camera case that had the rest of the items.

If you have zero interest in photography then sell it all off (if you sell to buy some other camera stuff, at some point you will wish you had kept some of this stuff around). If you are interested enough to take a course or two then I would do that before making a decision on the equipment.

 

[Ebon]

Where do you hail from?

I live in Exeter, UK. And that seems to be in-keeping with what my step-father would have used them for. He was a professional studio and outdoor photographer for the remainder of his years, specialising in insect shots which would explain a lot of the macro lenses I'm guessing.

To his advantage, he'd been introduced to cameras at a very early age in the 50's and his interest had developed from there, whereas mine has only taken on seriously in recent months, so I'm not sure this pinnacle level equipment would be suitable for me. At least, not yet.

Here is where I would begin:

Make a complete list of everything, including model numbers and serial numbers.

Write your provenance in a signed letter. (Where you obtained this lot and under what circumstances, who was the original owner, and his relationship to you.) This may or may not be demanded, but it is easy enough to do, and will add much-desired legitimacy to your position.

Contact each of these dealers with a clearly stated intent to sell the lot or possibly trade for something you can actually use.

KEH
Adorama
B&H

You may receive any kind of response, ranging from "sorry, we can't use your stuff" to "here's what we are willing to pay". Make your best deal, and get on with life.

Do some very basic homework and settle on a few dealers who might be interested in your cameras. If you have any receipts from your father in law's purchase history, give them a try.

Keep in mind a few things that impact your camera's value.

Of course age and condition are important to any prospective buyer.

What you probably need to reconcile with is the fact cameras such as the 1D's are not sold everyday. These are rather specialized cameras meant for a rather specialized buyer.

When a retailer makes you an offer to buy or trade for one of the these cameras, they are doing so knowing they may be sitting on a high priced investment for quite some time...

...Do not, however, overly concern yourself with getting a fair price for the 1D's. If the dealer is reputable and you take into consideration their position of sitting on a rather expensive trade, you should be fine with any trade you negotiate.

Thank you for all the help once again, everyone. The above is something I am now working on. The size, complexity and unpredictability of such an unwieldy camera is currently far beyond my rather novice grasp. I plan to retain the lenses and hopefully use whatever money I get from the two 1Ds's, as well as the myriad of accessories I have for it that I can't see myself using anytime soon, to put towards something like a 760D, a camera I might have better luck with (Although better recommendations are always appreciated).

Obviously I am trying to be realistic about the value of them, I am aware now that these are not everyday SLRs that trade hands easily so getting any sort of decent money for them would be great. Thankfully, I have discovered someone local that does equipment appraisals of these sorts of things and have got in contact with them for a rough estimate of what the two cameras, multiple flashguns, a weird ring flash, AC adaptor, 6 batteries and god knows what else are worth so I can keep a figure in mind when contacting the dealers.

 

[Dave442]

I expect the lenses are worth about 70 to 80% of the whole package, I expect that even as these camera bodies were top of the line at one time they are now down around 10 or 20% of their original price. While they have a ton of features, you can set them up so you hardly have to make any adjustment for the particular thing you plan to photograph (I expect there are plenty of setup guides that people have posted for the 1D bodies).

I agree with Gary A that the prices of these camera bodies is down about as low as it is going to get so using them for a while is not going to affect their price and will give you a change to find out what you want to do photographically-wise without investing in any equipment. Used flash units also do not sell all that well.

You will want those flashes for that 65mm macro lens, it gets very dark when going to its extreme macro range. This is also where the nice viewfinder of the 1D series camera will come in handy.

I would suggest setting some goal like taking some photos every weekend for a year. After that time you will know if you want to keep with photography, and if you do, then you will not have spent money on an entry level camera body that you would be looking to replace after a year; and your 1D will still be working as good as it is today and still worth the same amount while that entry level camera would be worth half of what you paid for it.

 

[cherylynne1]

Where do you hail from?

I live in Exeter, UK. And that seems to be in-keeping with what my step-father would have used them for. He was a professional studio and outdoor photographer for the remainder of his years, specialising in insect shots which would explain a lot of the macro lenses I'm guessing.

To his advantage, he'd been introduced to cameras at a very early age in the 50's and his interest had developed from there, whereas mine has only taken on seriously in recent months, so I'm not sure this pinnacle level equipment would be suitable for me. At least, not yet.

Here is where I would begin:

Make a complete list of everything, including model numbers and serial numbers.

Write your provenance in a signed letter. (Where you obtained this lot and under what circumstances, who was the original owner, and his relationship to you.) This may or may not be demanded, but it is easy enough to do, and will add much-desired legitimacy to your position.

Contact each of these dealers with a clearly stated intent to sell the lot or possibly trade for something you can actually use.

KEH
Adorama
B&H

You may receive any kind of response, ranging from "sorry, we can't use your stuff" to "here's what we are willing to pay". Make your best deal, and get on with life.

Do some very basic homework and settle on a few dealers who might be interested in your cameras. If you have any receipts from your father in law's purchase history, give them a try.

Keep in mind a few things that impact your camera's value.

Of course age and condition are important to any prospective buyer.

What you probably need to reconcile with is the fact cameras such as the 1D's are not sold everyday. These are rather specialized cameras meant for a rather specialized buyer.

When a retailer makes you an offer to buy or trade for one of the these cameras, they are doing so knowing they may be sitting on a high priced investment for quite some time...

...Do not, however, overly concern yourself with getting a fair price for the 1D's. If the dealer is reputable and you take into consideration their position of sitting on a rather expensive trade, you should be fine with any trade you negotiate.

Thank you for all the help once again, everyone. The above is something I am now working on. The size, complexity and unpredictability of such an unwieldy camera is currently far beyond my rather novice grasp. I plan to retain the lenses and hopefully use whatever money I get from the two 1Ds's, as well as the myriad of accessories I have for it that I can't see myself using anytime soon, to put towards something like a 760D, a camera I might have better luck with (Although better recommendations are always appreciated).

Obviously I am trying to be realistic about the value of them, I am aware now that these are not everyday SLRs that trade hands easily so getting any sort of decent money for them would be great. Thankfully, I have discovered someone local that does equipment appraisals of these sorts of things and have got in contact with them for a rough estimate of what the two cameras, multiple flashguns, a weird ring flash, AC adaptor, 6 batteries and god knows what else are worth so I can keep a figure in mind when contacting the dealers.

No, not the flashes!!! If you're getting into photography seriously, there's a really good chance you'll want those. Are there radio triggers to go with them? If he had a studio, there's a pretty good chance there are. I'd hold on to at least three flashes, triggers, and any light modifiers (softboxes, umbrellas, reflectors, etc.) Those things will be worth their weight in gold if you become interested in portraits.

 

[Stradawhovious]

Anything you sell from this bunch you will probably end up regretting if you get serious about photography. Others may disagree with me, I may be wrong, but I stand by it.

As far as learning, My CONSTANT recommendation is to purchase a 50mm f/1.8 lens (affectionately known as a "nifty fifty") and learn the basics of exposure, composition, light etc. Using a quality body and a 50mm prime employs the "kiss" method of learning things and eliminates a ton of variables. It also gives you the versatility of a nice pice of fast glass for not a lot of money. I think Canon's nifty fifty is about $125 in most markets.

I'm lucky in that my area offers about a dozen different classes on intro to DSLR through community education. Each class was about a month long, 1 night per week, and cost about $35 per class. I took all of them.

Then I came here and let these folks bat me around for a while.

Then I clicked the shutter about 250,000 times.

Then I took a year off.

Then I took the more advanced community ed classes.

Then I came back here and got battted around some more.

Then I put another 300k clicks on my bodies...

and now I know just enough to be dangerous.

Welcome! It's a fun ride.

 

[robbins.photo]

My advice, don't sell. Yes it will take a while before you learn all the ins and outs of the higher end bodies and you may actually never use all of the features it has.. But so what. I don't use all the features of my Nikon d600 either.

This is your father's legacy, left to you. So take all the time you need to learn and understand the equipment and while your doing it think of how much that would mean to your father, that he's able to share this part of his life with you.



Sent from my N9518 using Tapatalk

 

[TCampbell]

The MP-E 65mm isn't just a typical macro... it's an extreme macro photography lens.

A typical macro allows focusing from fairly close distances (close enough to image a subject at 1:1 scale -- meaning the size of the subject on the sensor itself are as large as the object is in real life) but macro lenses also can be used a typical lenses and you can focus all the way to infinity (a subject doesn't have to be close.)

The MP-E 65mm is different... the subject has to be close. The "farthest" you can be from the subject is 1:1 scale. But you can be as close as 5:1 scale (subject is 5x large on the sensor then it is in real life). So that's a specialty lens.

The other specialty lens you have is the TS-E 24mm tilt-shift lens. If you've ever taken a shot of a tall building from a close distance you might have noticed that the building appears to be "leaning" back. That's a perspective problem. The tilt-shift allows you to "shift" the lens elements laterally (up/down or it can be rotated to shift left/right) and this corrects for that distortion lean.

Here's an example:



These are shots I took with my TS-E 24mm with the camera located in the same spot (I didn't move). The one on the left is what you'd get from a normal lens. The one on the right is "shift" corrected.

But the lens can also "tilt" and that alters the plane of focus using something called the Scheimpflug principal. It's handy in landscape photography because you can "lay" the plane of focus down on the ground so that everything is in tack-sharp focus from close to far... and it doesn't require using a high f-stop (which results in diffraction issues that soften the image.)

That's a very expensive lens (over $2k). By the way... it's fairly easy to get the hang of how the "shift" works, but learning how to control the "tilt" is a bit tricky and takes some practice. It's one of those lenses that will tend to baffle beginner's until they finally figure out how it works.

I couldn't tell what lens was located behind your 1.4x teleconverter (focal length multiplier). Anytime you see a red stripe around the front of any Canon brand lens then it's a Canon "L" series lens -- those are Canon's highest quality lenses and typically very expensive. You'll also notice the upper case (and red) letter "L" following the focal ratio. E.g. instead of EF 16-35mm f/2.8 USM it'll say EF 16-35mm f/2.8L USM.

I see you also have the EF 16-35mm f/2.8L - a very nice wide-angle zoom.

The other lenses are inexpensive consumer grade lenses.

What I don't see is a lens that covers the "normal" range for these cameras -- usually a zoom lens that covers the 50mm range. The common lens for someone who owns Canon's high-end flag-ship bodies (which these were back in the day) would be the Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM or the EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM. Another lens that someone with a flagship body would have commonly owned would be the EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM (it would have a white barrel instead of a black barrel.)

If you plan to use them, then I might look for either the EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM (you can often find that lens for about $600 because it was included as a "kit" lens with some full frame bodies and the buyers would often want to 'upgrade' to the EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM and not use the 24-105mm f/4... so the lens is officially somewhere around $1000 new but can often be found for about $600 as a "white box" lens (generic packaging because it was included as a "kit" lens but the camera buyer doesn't want it.) Canon also now makes the 24-70mm in an f/4 version with image stabilization and that's less expensive than the 24-70mm f/2.8.

 

[soufiej]

The MP-E 65mm isn't just a typical macro... it's an extreme macro photography lens.

A typical macro allows focusing from fairly close distances (close enough to image a subject at 1:1 scale -- meaning the size of the subject on the sensor itself are as large as the object is in real life) but macro lenses also can be used a typical lenses and you can focus all the way to infinity (a subject doesn't have to be close.)

The MP-E 65mm is different... the subject has to be close. The "farthest" you can be from the subject is 1:1 scale. But you can be as close as 5:1 scale (subject is 5x large on the sensor then it is in real life). So that's a specialty lens.

The other specialty lens you have is the TS-E 24mm tilt-shift lens. If you've ever taken a shot of a tall building from a close distance you might have noticed that the building appears to be "leaning" back. That's a perspective problem. The tilt-shift allows you to "shift" the lens elements laterally (up/down or it can be rotated to shift left/right) and this corrects for that distortion lean.

Here's an example:



These are shots I took with my TS-E 24mm with the camera located in the same spot (I didn't move). The one on the left is what you'd get from a normal lens. The one on the right is "shift" corrected.

But the lens can also "tilt" and that alters the plane of focus using something called the Scheimpflug principal. It's handy in landscape photography because you can "lay" the plane of focus down on the ground so that everything is in tack-sharp focus from close to far... and it doesn't require using a high f-stop (which results in diffraction issues that soften the image.)

That's a very expensive lens (over $2k). By the way... it's fairly easy to get the hang of how the "shift" works, but learning how to control the "tilt" is a bit tricky and takes some practice. It's one of those lenses that will tend to baffle beginner's until they finally figure out how it works.

I couldn't tell what lens was located behind your 1.4x teleconverter (focal length multiplier). Anytime you see a red stripe around the front of any Canon brand lens then it's a Canon "L" series lens -- those are Canon's highest quality lenses and typically very expensive. You'll also notice the upper case (and red) letter "L" following the focal ratio. E.g. instead of EF 16-35mm f/2.8 USM it'll say EF 16-35mm f/2.8L USM.

I see you also have the EF 16-35mm f/2.8L - a very nice wide-angle zoom.

The other lenses are inexpensive consumer grade lenses.

What I don't see is a lens that covers the "normal" range for these cameras -- usually a zoom lens that covers the 50mm range. The common lens for someone who owns Canon's high-end flag-ship bodies (which these were back in the day) would be the Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM or the EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM. Another lens that someone with a flagship body would have commonly owned would be the EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM (it would have a white barrel instead of a black barrel.)

If you plan to use them, then I might look for either the EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM (you can often find that lens for about $600 because it was included as a "kit" lens with some full frame bodies and the buyers would often want to 'upgrade' to the EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM and not use the 24-105mm f/4... so the lens is officially somewhere around $1000 new but can often be found for about $600 as a "white box" lens (generic packaging because it was included as a "kit" lens but the camera buyer doesn't want it.) Canon also now makes the 24-70mm in an f/4 version with image stabilization and that's less expensive than the 24-70mm f/2.8.

Geeeez!


Tim!!!


How much equipment do you own?




And, what's your security system passcode?

You know, just in case I'm in the neighborhood one day and would like to drop by while you're out.

 

[Overread]

To his advantage, he'd been introduced to cameras at a very early age in the 50's and his interest had developed from there, whereas mine has only taken on seriously in recent months, so I'm not sure this pinnacle level equipment would be suitable for me. At least, not yet.
.

I've only glanced through the thread quickly before bed but I would say this

1) It is better to have equipment that exceeds your current skill level so that instead of growing out you grow into it.

2) I fully appreciate that this is abit like getting adult shoes when you're 5 years old - yeah you'll grow into htem one day but sometimes you'll feel like its too much all too soon. Remember though a DSLR no matter if its top or bottom end is always aperture - shutter speed and ISO - the rest is bells and whistles that help; but in the end those 3 elements are all that matters the most. So learning on a 1D is as easy as it is as hard to learn on a rebel series body.

(the entry level do have auto modes for scenes - like landscape and macro - if you read 1 book on photography that's good you'll grow out of those modes fast).


3) As you're in the UK check out WEX if you want to consider doing any sales. I've had good dealing with them in the past but never sold second hand gear to them; but they are doing it in a pretty big way these days so they are worth checking out.

I'd still echo the others a bout holding onto it; but in the end you are you and you'lll make your own mind up - just remember you could make a modest investment in a camera body (second hand market has loads of good quality cheap entry level bodies you could pick up) that is of a lower level that might make it easier for you to get to grips with might be all you need for a month or two to get your settled - the top end lenses will shine on any body (lenses define image quality far more than bodies in general).

4) Something everyone overlooked; but do consider archiving or otherwise storing/presenting/hosting/whatever your fatherinlaws work. This might be something already being done; but if not then sometimes there are some gems in there that the world might like to see and who knows going through his work might give you some inspiration for what the tools can do - a target for yourself to work with.

5) I do second advice to leave the MPE for a while - its possibly one of the hardest lenses to use; but used well it can do wonders others can't.





Ps - don't worry about how old you are; how long you've done it or any of that. We've plenty of members (myself included) who have started up and gotten pretty good - and we've some who are utterly outstanding (heck we've one guy who only started up a few years back and now has at least one or more photos advertising Sigma lenses so - skill can be gained )

 

[Ido]

That's some serious power you got there. Don't be tempted to sell it all and start with something simpler—learn and you will get good enough for the camera at some point.

However, you might find the cameras too heavy to lug around all day. The 1Ds Mark III is great for sports, but if you don't plan on shooting that, you may prefer a Canon 6D or 5D Mark III that's more manageable.

 

[robbins.photo]

Geeeez!


Tim!!!


How much equipment do you own?




And, what's your security system passcode?

You know, just in case I'm in the neighborhood one day and would like to drop by while you're out.

If you go to Canon's website and look through there entire list of equipment they've ever produced, you'll notice an asterisk next to the stuff Tim doesn't own.

I think there are like 2 or 3 things marked like that... maybe...