Is There a Market for Old Gear?

[Weaklink]

I am helping my elderly father is clean-out his things. We came upon a small Halliburton case with some photography items inside. My Dad purchased them back in the late 70s, early 80s. Don’t know how to dispose these items. Is there a market for old camera gear? My father never really used the items, he just bought the items as a budding hobbyist, but it did not develop into a serious interest.

The foam inside the aluminum case had broken-down, so it crumbled a little when I removed the items. That is why the items appear dusty. I looked at the lenses, etc. for damage, but did not notice any scratches, dings, etc. The items will look like new when I clean them up.

Will these old lenses fit current cameras? Or do they make adapters?
Are these lenses any good?
Where is the best place to sell?

I appreciate any feedback / advice.

Items:

• 94mm, 85-300 FD Canon 1:4.5 S.S.C. 4.5 – 22 A
• 24mm, 1:2.8 FD Canon S.S.C.
• 50mm, 1:1.4 FD Canon S.S.C.
• EF Body
• A couple filters, accessories.
• Halliburton case, foam is gone

 

[Overread19 7]

The second hand market for a lot of film stuff really fell apart when digital took over. High quality top end film equipment still sells for a respectable amount, but anything more consumer grade tends to sell for very little. There's just not the same market demand for it whilst at the same time a large oversaturation of others selling off second hand gear too which results in a buyers market and low prices.

Search Ebay for completed listings on the items you have and you should get a rough idea what price they go for. Typically you sell individual items for the most profit on ebay, but for something like film gear you might find its easier to sell it as a kit (more likely to get a buyer after a simple all in one starting kit).


Edit is that an FD lens fitting to an EF body? FD shouldn't (far as I know) fit to EF without an adaptor as they are totally different mounts. Canon did make some adaptors to allow FD lenses to work on EF bodies, but they were few in number. If you've an official canon adaptor that will be worth quite a bit in todays market - if its 3rd party then not much (unless its known to be very good 3rd party).

 

[wyogirl]

yeah there is a market. For one, some people still shoot film. Those manual cameras are great for students. For two, those lenses can still be used on modern cameras. I would imagine that in some cases, the autofocus (if it has it) may not work with newer cameras but you can always manual focus.

 

[Overread19 7]

For two, those lenses can still be used on modern cameras.

FD lenses won't work on modern EF mount bodies. At least not without an adaptor and the nature of the changes in mount and body design means that the adaptor needs a glass element inside it to account for changes in the mounting distance of lens to sensor/film.


There are also a couple of lenses that can be modified to allow mounting with a glass free filter - although the only examples I've seen done were on long telephoto lenses such as 400mm and 500mm lenses.

 

[wyogirl]

I stand corrected.

 

[Derrel]

Canon FD-mount lenses are in very low,low demand. I suspect that the Haliburton case, body, and the three lenses would be a tough sell, except to a Canon manual focus film user. If you got $200 for the entire case and contents, I think that would be a good deal for you.

 

[vimwiz]

There is a small market for FD gear on Ebay, at least in the UK.

£20 to £60 for lenses and about the same or a bit less for bodies is the general rule (Specialist lenses and high end bodies command around £100) . I got a T70 and a 50mm as a kit for £60, mint. The 50mm lens is quite desirable, £20-£30 on its own usually.

So maybe just over £100 of gear there?

 

[bratkinson]

If you got $200 for the entire case and contents, I think that would be a good deal for you.

If I recall correctly, I got about $300 for 2 EF bodies (same body as you have) and 7 FD lenses, and a bunch of filters, with cheapo metal case and foam inside about 10-11 years ago. All in mint condition except slight camera-strap wear on the bodies. I've got a friend with a couple of F1s and FD lenses crying the blues as there's next to no market value for what was several thousands of dollars when new.

Unfortunately, the digital photography market has reduced film photography to a small niche, oversaturated with available gear. As Overread stated, Ebay is a good source of what the equipment is going for. You may want to consider Craigslist or even a pawn shop if you'd rather sell it without the hassles and BIG cut that Ebay/Paypal takes out of you!

 

[Overread19 7]

If you sell it to a pawn shop or other retailer you'll get less than its market value because the shop has to turn around and make profit when they sell it. You might also find a good few are not doing much second hand trade, simply because they can only buy in so much and so are much more selective because its harder for them to in turn sell it on.

 

[enzodm]

There is a small market for FD gear on Ebay, at least in the UK.

In general there is some market for old lenses in Europe. FD are more problematic than M42, C/Y, etc because they cannot be mounted on recent dSLR (for the reason mentioned by Overread). However they can be mounted on mirrorless cameras, which gives some opportunity. Among old lenses, zooms (with some exception) have almost no value, while your 50/1.4 and 24mm may find some buyer, however at the prices mentioned by vimwiz. If they were with some more usable mount, price could be doubled or tripled.

 

[vimwiz]

Among old lenses, zooms (with some exception) have almost no value, while your 50/1.4 and 24mm may find some buyer, however at the prices mentioned by vimwiz. If they were with some more usable mount, price could be doubled or tripled.

Yeah, the zooms go for less on Ebay here. I got a Canon 70-150mm for about £15
Accessories go for a similar price btw, about £15 again for a flashgun, filters are pretty much worthless.