When to sell gear?

[Bryan]

I have recently (last 15 years) taken to holding on to my car until it nears extinction, cars have become so reliable, and rust much less of a problem, whereas once it was necessary to trade more frequently.

 

I'm not sure that's the case with camera gear, I've just tried to sell an old scanner and colour printer and eventually gave them to a charity shop. I am still holding on to a pair of Canon DSLRs, despite hardly ever using them since acquiring a Sony CSC. The lenses will retain more of their value, but I suspect that the cameras are now worth peanuts.

 

The progress in digital technology continues unabated rendering old gear obsolete. It's perhaps not so critical for stock, while the returns don't justify a massive outlay.

 

What is your strategy for updating and selling gear? Maybe buy last year's model and sell after a couple of years? Is there a magic formula?

[TeeCee]

After buying my first DSLR in 2000 (a Canon D30), for some years it was  a case of uprating 1) the pixel count to ever better quality, and 2) the pixel quality to ever better low-light working.

In about 2004 I bought two Canon EOS 1D Mk II bodies, which at the time cost just under £3500 each. Within a couple of years their 8 megapixel output had been massively superceded and I bought a 5D and a 50D, at which point I should've immediately sold the 1D Mk II's. I didn't, and when I finally put them on ebay about three years ago, I got around £250.00 each for them.

Since the arrival of the 5D Mk II, haven't needed to uprate the pixel count really, so it's just a matter of useage. I'm semi - retired now, and the cameras no longer get day to day hammering - to give the 5D MkII a rest I bought a 6D body earlier this year.

Lenses just go on forever -. I've a 70 - 200 f2.8 that's at least 16 years old, a 17 - 40 f4 that must be about 10 or 12 yrs, and the most used of all is the 24 - 105 f4 that covers just about anything and everything.

Flash guns seemed to last about 4 or 5 years with fairly hard use from me (did lots and lots of interiors), the current 600 EX range are brilliant.

 

Strategy? Keep it going until just before it's likely to break....

[Martin P Wilson]

I have recently (last 15 years) taken to holding on to my car until it nears extinction, cars have become so reliable, and rust much less of a problem, whereas once it was necessary to trade more frequently.

 

I'm not sure that's the case with camera gear, I've just tried to sell an old scanner and colour printer and eventually gave them to a charity shop. I am still holding on to a pair of Canon DSLRs, despite hardly ever using them since acquiring a Sony CSC. The lenses will retain more of their value, but I suspect that the cameras are now worth peanuts.

 

The progress in digital technology continues unabated rendering old gear obsolete. It's perhaps not so critical for stock, while the returns don't justify a massive outlay.

 

What is your strategy for updating and selling gear? Maybe buy last year's model and sell after a couple of years? Is there a magic formula?

 

I am sort of thinking that I will replace, cameras at least, when it is two generations older than current. For example I currently have a Fuji X-T1 and and X-T2 (plus lenses) but I will get rid of the X-T1 when the X-T3 comes along, the X-T1will still have some modest value and new lenses should work with it until at least then, any older and perhaps not. Lenses I will keep longer as it seems the replacement cycle is longer. I will take a view at the time whether there is a real need to swap. I am not a heavy user these days.

 

Edited to say that I will only upgrade if it is justified from a business and usage point of view. It is not an automatic process. I kept my Canon 1Ds3 long after it was a discontinued model, many of my "L" lenses were from the previous century when I sold them earlier this year to go totally Fuji.

[RedSnapper]

i buy new bodies every four years or so, when the new versions are released and my current set have just about zero value on my accounts (25% depreciation every year). However i dont sell the old ones - they're bashed to heck, and are more useful to me as backups/teaching kit than the money.....

[Phil Robinson]

I keep thinking about updating my cameras, but I look at the new models, and the prices, and keep remembering that the ones I have are actually perfectly good and do the job I want.

Last month I sold a 10.5mm fisheye lens I hardly ever used because I had bought a 10-24 zoom and couldn't really justify hanging on to it, given how few sales I'd made from it. I made a heavy loss on it but it was better than gathering dust.

When I went digital I sold my medium format stuff on Ebay for a pittance and gave my 35mm film equipment to the photography dept of the school where I was working at the time. I gave my first DSLR (a D100) to the daughter of a friend who was getting into digital and the one camera I still have that I never use is just sitting on the shelf and would make nothing if I sold it.

I use very cheap consumer market camera bodies which do everything I want (apart from fine-focus adjustment) and if I feel like investing, I spend on lenses. I keep looking at the latest releases (I did it yesterday) but I nearly always end up deciding that spending a few hundred pounds on marginal improvements is a waste of money if my equipment is still working fine.

I don't need any more pixels and I really can't justify spending £2000 for an extra 2 frames a second to photograph tennis one week a year.

[TeeCee]

Worth adding that I got considerably more when I sold a battered 1977 Nikon F2 body than I did for the 1D MkII's.

Nostalgia sells ...

[Inchiquin]

I'm always reluctant to spend money! I research carefully, buy good-quality gear (all gear, not just photography) and expect to keep it for many years. I upgraded from a 40D to a 5D2 seven years ago and I've seen no reason to change. I always look after my equipment very carefully. The only thing I am tempted to do is to add another body to my kit in order to expand my video capabilities.

 

It's much the same in other areas. My hi-fi cost a fortune 18 years ago but will probably last the rest of my life. I have a simple rule for cars: if I bought a newer one it would lose at least £500 a year in depreciation so as long as the one I have costs less than that to keep going it doesn't make financial sense to replace it. My current car is 17 years old and has yet to go over the £500pa limit.

 

Alan

[Alex Ramsay]

Still working with the RB67 I bought in 1987 . . .

[Allan Bell]

But I also keep my hardly used Nikon F6 though I plan to sell it later. I guess that one could become a collector's item if it isn't already.

 

Cheers,

Philippe

 

 

Philippe there is one for sale here. Not exactly a collectors item yet.

 

Allan

[DJ Myford]

Still plugging away with the 5D2. I’ve got an EOS D60 and 20D that no one will take in part exchange, so I use them for snapshots, time-lapse and camera trap experiments.

[Nick Hatton]

I was thinking of upgrading from my 5D2 to a D3 while they are still available but after reading the above posts not so sure it is worth it only taken around 20,000 shots, what do you folks think?.

[DJ Myford]

I was thinking of upgrading from my 5D2 to a D3 while they are still available but after reading the above posts not so sure it is worth it only taken around 20,000 shots, what do you folks think?.

 

i would like to get a 5D3 and relegate the 5D2 to second body status, but I can't justify the outlay, even buying used.

[Michael Ventura]

I have "upgraded" my Nikon D700's twice, once to a D750 and to D800 but I can't seem to part with the trusty old D700's.  But I think the answer is to sell as soon as you are no longer using the gear, to get the most money back out of the items.

[Betty LaRue]

I've been at this 12 years, and have bought the Nikon's D70, D200, D300, D7000, D800, then Fuji X-T1 and 2. I sold the older cameras as I bought new, but always kept one for backup. I shouldn't do that, because no camera has ever failed me necessitating a backup.

Besides I also have the Sony RX100 and mark 3. I should sell the X-T1 and the RX100.

I have to say I have gear acquisition disease.

[Ed Rooney]

I have recently (last 15 years) taken to holding on to my car until it nears extinction, cars have become so reliable, and rust much less of a problem, whereas once it was necessary to trade more frequently.

 

I'm not sure that's the case with camera gear, I've just tried to sell an old scanner and colour printer and eventually gave them to a charity shop. I am still holding on to a pair of Canon DSLRs, despite hardly ever using them since acquiring a Sony CSC. The lenses will retain more of their value, but I suspect that the cameras are now worth peanuts.

 

The progress in digital technology continues unabated rendering old gear obsolete. It's perhaps not so critical for stock, while the returns don't justify a massive outlay.

 

What is your strategy for updating and selling gear? Maybe buy last year's model and sell after a couple of years? Is there a magic formula?

 

 

Strategy? Listen, Bryan -- you can't accuse me of having a strategy! 

 

I started selling off my Nikon DSLR gear over two years ago. After reading a lot about selling on eBay and Craigslist, I developed acute paranoia. I decided to try B&H or Adorama here in the city. The first few items worked out well, I thought -- remember there are no fees to pay or boxing and shipping to do, and the whole operation is done in one meeting. 

 

More recently I've been offered lower and lower prices. The last time I was up at Adorama they offered me $50 for a Sony NEX-7 body, an item I had paid $900 for two years ago. Hell, I'd buy another NEX-7 body for $50! I didn't sell it. I sold a couple of lenses on that trip . . . but all the prices were low. And I still have a lot of gear to sell. 

 

Philippe, there is zero nostalgia for Nikon film cameras, although my F bodies do make good paperweights (in a now paperless world).  Only Leica generates that. I will be bringing my pristine M6 up to Adorama in January. 

[Bill Kuta]

I sold my 5D and lenses about three years ago using Craigslist and got almost twice what B&H/Adorama/KEH were offering. I always met the buyers in public places, and all went well. (I was a little apprehensive for the first sale, and had one of our sons and a friend on hand as heavies, but the buyer turned out to be a very friendly type.)

 

For those squeamish about selling this way, some localities have "safe zones" adjacent to police stations for such transactions. 

 

As for when to sell--I sold the 5D and got Sony mirrorless due to a combination of: getting tired of lugging around a full-frame, when decent mirrorless had become available; upping the megapixel count; and getting tired of being on a first-name basis with all the resident dust specks on the 5D sensor.

[Chuck Nacke]

I go back to the days of Canon F1's and Leica M2's and 6's and fixed focus

lenses , for the record, my scans of Kodachromes (64) are still my favorite

images and the sharpest as well.  I wish I had keep my 1967 NIKON F's with

prism finders, but I don't have any papers to hold down. I have my NORMAN

2000D power packs to do that. At 32 lbs a pack I have enough of them to hold

down and elephant.

 

I will add that I held onto and used my old "Push Pull" AF 80-200 f2.8 ED for

decades, that last time I sent it to NIKON service they tried to get out of rebuilding

it.  It was heavy and the AF was slow.  This year I bought the new AF 70-200 f4.  It

is lighter, faster AF, focused closer and sharper than my old 80-200.  I use the 70-200

on almost every commissioned shoot I did this year.  My point is that even though an

old Canon F1 with an MF drive and a FL 200 f2.8 was a great piece of 5lb equipment

I will take my NIKON D800 with a AF 70-200 any day of the week and my back feel a lot

better after ten hours on my feet.  There was also never any film camera or film made that

you could get a fully reproduction ready color image at 3200ISO.  

 

My goal in 2017 is to buy a 1967 Alfa Spyder, just like the one Dustin drove in the Graduate...

[Martin P Wilson]

I used Ffordes in Scotland to get rid of my redundant gear, they sold it on commission (20%). As Edo says: no advertising, packing or negotiating - Ffordes do all that and offer a warranty to the buyer. I might, but probably not, have got a little more (net) but I got more than I would as part-ex.

 

All I had to do was pack it all (~40kg) in a large box (ex-lawnmower) and Ffordes arranged courier to collect. I then got a cheque or cash transfer almost every week once stuff started selling. Totally painless!

[Ed Rooney]

That sounds very civilized, Martin . . . and I would feel comfortable doing business with anyone who's name began with two F's. 

 

I remember your story about Craigslist , Bill, but I'm the only heavy in my mob of one. I find myself trying to decide which martial arts weapon to bring along . . . and than I think: do I really want to risk entering The System at my age? Rikers Island for the holidays? Not a good idea.

 

The odds are that everything would go swimmingly, but bad luck is always in the shadows. And there's that old blues line: "If it wasn't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all." 

[MDM]

I have recently (last 15 years) taken to holding on to my car until it nears extinction, cars have become so reliable, and rust much less of a problem, whereas once it was necessary to trade more frequently.

 

I'm not sure that's the case with camera gear, I've just tried to sell an old scanner and colour printer and eventually gave them to a charity shop. I am still holding on to a pair of Canon DSLRs, despite hardly ever using them since acquiring a Sony CSC. The lenses will retain more of their value, but I suspect that the cameras are now worth peanuts.

 

The progress in digital technology continues unabated rendering old gear obsolete. It's perhaps not so critical for stock, while the returns don't justify a massive outlay.

 

What is your strategy for updating and selling gear? Maybe buy last year's model and sell after a couple of years? Is there a magic formula?

 

I don't think the progress is continuing unabated for DSLRs. I think DSLR technology has more or less reached a plateau now and advances are relatively minor, certainly in the Nikon world (aside from the very top end perhaps) for me since the arrival of the D800 series in 2012, with minor upgrade to D810 in 2014. Sensors probably can't get a lot better, the cameras are really solidly built, they still take every lens Nikon ever made since the 50s so there is little reason to think about upgrading. That wasn't the case in the 2000s when there were incredibly rapid changes in sensor quality, MP counts and so on. Even the entry level Nikon DSLRs are producing excellent images as Phil says above.

 

In other words, DSLR image quality is peaking. The situation now is like it was in film days when it was the lens and the choice of film that determined image quality. I guess that is why the camera makers are focusing on the mirrorless and compact system cameras as this is where big improvements are still taking place it seems.

 

The main improvements in lens technology that would make me thing about upgrading is vibration reduction or image stabilisation. This can make a real difference in terms of what it is possible to do hand held in low light. Nikon seem to be focusing on lens improvements making the larger telephoto lenses lighter and claiming to improve VR but with  significant price increases it seems (the latest 70-200 2.8 is incredibly expensive with Brexit only partly to blame).

 

Secondhand consumer or prosumer printers are worth next to nothing, partly because important parts wear out and are not economical to replace and also because the manufacturers make their money on the inks (like razors where the profit is in the blades). A basic consumer printer for less than £100 (including an ink set) can produce a decent photographic print. Prosumer printers improve with each update for sure - the latest Epson SC-P series are capable of producing astounding prints.

[MDM]

 

 

But I also keep my hardly used Nikon F6 though I plan to sell it later. I guess that one could become a collector's item if it isn't already.

 

Cheers,

Philippe

 

 

Philippe there is one for sale here. Not exactly a collectors item yet.

 

Allan

 

 

I have patience 

 

Cheers,

Philippe

 

 

You will need a lot of that. The F6 is still available new for £1,749 from Grays of Westminster.

[MutasemAyad]

Well, I've been into photography for 6 years now ... My first digital camera ever was Fuji Film Super Zoom Bridge S200EXR ... with that one I learned all about photography ... I used and took photos of almost every where I had been to ...Then, I borrowed my friend's camera; Canon 650D+kit lens ... I was like WOW for the performance and image quality ... Now I shot with 70D used + 18-135 STM + 50mm 1.8 STM ... The decision to buy the body only made to cover several points; 20mp, 7 fps, focus points ... the cost of a well used body allows me to start with such a strong machine ... The Next UPGRADE will be when I am on a good Budget to buy my 1st. FF+20-200 2.8L IS or at least 24-105L f4 IS ...

 

P.S. following every day new features is very time and money consuming ... SO upgrade when the next features only benefits your success ...

[Michael Ventura]

Deleted Post....Posted in wrong thread.

[Bryan]

Some very interesting observations folks!

 

I'm not convinced that digital progress is slackening, people have been saying that since digital cameras were first introduced. I remember reading wise words about the physics of photo electricity and how it would be quite impossible to cram more pixels onto a 12 MP sensor, without massive loss of quality. 

 

My Sony NEX 6 is a perfectly adequate 16MP camera, but the latest incarnation, of about the same diminutive dimensions, boasts 24 MP, along with better IQ, vastly improved video performance, and it comes with built in 5 axis image stabilisation, so that any lens can benefit.  It also costs a whole lot of pennies, so I won't be buying one anytime soon. 

[MDM]

Some very interesting observations folks!

 

I'm not convinced that digital progress is slackening, people have been saying that since digital cameras were first introduced. I remember reading wise words about the physics of photo electricity and how it would be quite impossible to cram more pixels onto a 12 MP sensor, without massive loss of quality. 

 

My Sony NEX 6 is a perfectly adequate 16MP camera, but the latest incarnation, of about the same diminutive dimensions, boasts 24 MP, along with better IQ, vastly improved video performance, and it comes with built in 5 axis image stabilisation, so that any lens can benefit.  It also costs a whole lot of pennies, so I won't be buying one anytime soon. 

 

I was talking just about DSLRs and I do think we've arrived at a plateau there but that is clearly not the case for the mirrorless and compact system cameras - I've not gone that way as yet and have no plans to do so for the foreseeable future although I can envisage a time when I might if my body can't cope with the extra weight of a DSLR.