10-14-2016, 09:10 PM
The most saddening fact for me is that nobody wants anything to do with older digital cameras. Something quite hot today will be outdated and pretty worthless in a few years. Just like the high end film cameras of old times, you can buy a pretty high end digital camera of a few years age for quite cheap today.
But would you like to? Who wants to have a 5D Classic today? 1Dsm2 anyone? Sony Nex 7? Nikon D100? How about a Fuji X-Pro1 in mint condition? A 22MP medium format back that only works tethered to a laptop and crops all lenses severely?
Actually the same goes for most film cameras. Where I live you can pick up a Mamiya RB67 set for less than 100$ in working condition, complete with a lens and a back. It will probably rival any digital camera when it comes to technical image quality but it weighs about 3 kgs with the lightest loadout. Nobody will want to use a Canon T90 save for a few enthusiasts and even many field-ready Nikon F5 are gathering dust on shelves.
However, there are still many desirable film cameras. Hasselblad XPan prices have doubled in the past year. V series (500C/M and such) prices are on the rise as well. Relatively cheap Leicas that you could've bought under 1k$ (M4-P, M2, M6 etc.) have all risen over 1k$ and you can't simply get one in user condition for a daily shooter, this one is thanks to the collectors though. Mamiya 6 and 7 series are also on the rise. Used Fuji's 667 series still sell for their retail price, they simply never lost any value.
On the lower end of the price spectrum, Nikon FE and FM series are still sought after as they are probably the most sensible manual focus 35mm SLR cameras ever made. Canon A-1 and AE-1 models are also quite sought after in the used market here but we might be an exception. Somewhere else it may be the old MD/MC mount Minoltas.
Most of these cameras won't lose much of their value anymore and some may even rise, unlike low and mid-range digital cameras of any time. Save for the Leicas, about everything I mentioned above are seeing field use every day and most will continue to do so for many decades. Any relatively old digital camera still desirable today, simply won't.
If mediocrity goes on killing digital camera sales at this pace, many manufacturers will simply drop their lines one by one, most probably starting from the bottom. Again, you can look at the film camera industry; 95% of the film cameras you can buy new today, are pretty high end in their class. Digital compacts are almost dead, save for megazooms and even interchangable market is changing severely. Canon and Nikon have pretty much stopped development of their lower end models, they simply add minor features and re-release them year after year. Sony is not even doing that. A mount is A6x series and above while mirrorless is pretty much A6xxx and above and that recently included a 300% price increase as well.
As a hobbyist, we are being forced to pay more and more for a contemporary model, including lenses. Most companies have dropped developing cheap primes in favor of zooms at all focal ranges. You can't really set out and get 3 primes for under 500$ anymore in most systems. If you are a pro, your equipment pays for itself but for the hobbyist, this is getting more and more expensive, with diminishing returns in what we really end up getting back. And that's even in the short run. In the long run, about all the modern equipment, especially mirrorless bodies and lenses, will become obsolete and inoperable by manufacturer's choice.
But would you like to? Who wants to have a 5D Classic today? 1Dsm2 anyone? Sony Nex 7? Nikon D100? How about a Fuji X-Pro1 in mint condition? A 22MP medium format back that only works tethered to a laptop and crops all lenses severely?
Actually the same goes for most film cameras. Where I live you can pick up a Mamiya RB67 set for less than 100$ in working condition, complete with a lens and a back. It will probably rival any digital camera when it comes to technical image quality but it weighs about 3 kgs with the lightest loadout. Nobody will want to use a Canon T90 save for a few enthusiasts and even many field-ready Nikon F5 are gathering dust on shelves.
However, there are still many desirable film cameras. Hasselblad XPan prices have doubled in the past year. V series (500C/M and such) prices are on the rise as well. Relatively cheap Leicas that you could've bought under 1k$ (M4-P, M2, M6 etc.) have all risen over 1k$ and you can't simply get one in user condition for a daily shooter, this one is thanks to the collectors though. Mamiya 6 and 7 series are also on the rise. Used Fuji's 667 series still sell for their retail price, they simply never lost any value.
On the lower end of the price spectrum, Nikon FE and FM series are still sought after as they are probably the most sensible manual focus 35mm SLR cameras ever made. Canon A-1 and AE-1 models are also quite sought after in the used market here but we might be an exception. Somewhere else it may be the old MD/MC mount Minoltas.
Most of these cameras won't lose much of their value anymore and some may even rise, unlike low and mid-range digital cameras of any time. Save for the Leicas, about everything I mentioned above are seeing field use every day and most will continue to do so for many decades. Any relatively old digital camera still desirable today, simply won't.
If mediocrity goes on killing digital camera sales at this pace, many manufacturers will simply drop their lines one by one, most probably starting from the bottom. Again, you can look at the film camera industry; 95% of the film cameras you can buy new today, are pretty high end in their class. Digital compacts are almost dead, save for megazooms and even interchangable market is changing severely. Canon and Nikon have pretty much stopped development of their lower end models, they simply add minor features and re-release them year after year. Sony is not even doing that. A mount is A6x series and above while mirrorless is pretty much A6xxx and above and that recently included a 300% price increase as well.
As a hobbyist, we are being forced to pay more and more for a contemporary model, including lenses. Most companies have dropped developing cheap primes in favor of zooms at all focal ranges. You can't really set out and get 3 primes for under 500$ anymore in most systems. If you are a pro, your equipment pays for itself but for the hobbyist, this is getting more and more expensive, with diminishing returns in what we really end up getting back. And that's even in the short run. In the long run, about all the modern equipment, especially mirrorless bodies and lenses, will become obsolete and inoperable by manufacturer's choice.