> Whatever the impact of digital, film cameras seem to have retained their > value, judging from adverts and the eBay auctions I've often followed with > more than a passing interest.
Seems to depend on category. Pro cameras lose value horribly because they are no longer feature-current (plus a lot of them get banged up pretty good). I bought my first F4 new for $2000 from a local camera store in '95 and my second used for $700 from KEH in '02. On the other hand, I was thinking of picking up a K1000 and saw some prices at KEH that were a lot higher than I was willing to contemplate. Nikon FE2/FM2 cameras can cost more now than they did new. These are cameras with great reputations in their user community. Very little else can justify their used cost, except perhaps build quality. (If build quality really counts with buyers, it's odd that only Nikon makes an "old fashioned" camera anymore. Sure, you can get well-built cameras from most companies, but they are the top-of-the-line models which the K1000 and FM2 were NOT in their day. I'd love to see a Pentax FA limited CAMERA to mount those lenses on!) Collectability clearly comes into the picture since the price difference between "decent" cosmetic quality and "great" cosmetic quality is quite substantial. Black models of chrome-standard bodies cost a lot more, presumably because they take better pictures... (Actually, it might be argued that black models take better pictures along the same lines as the old miniatures wargaming dictum "painted figures fight better") Still, if film were about to die I'd expect KEH would refuse to buy film cameras, or at least only buy the rare ones and ones in collector condition. They aren't PAYING much for other stuff, but that's presumably because the used market is pretty glutted. DJE
