Film Camera Prices...

[Nikonzen]

...have collapsed like a giant deflated bubble. I just now realized this browsing through Ebay. Wow.


Exhibit 1. A couple of years ago I sold a very fine F2 with DE-1 for $750.

I can buy the same camera basically for $300 now.

F2 Titans which were wildly swinging between 2500-3500 can now be bought for 1200

FM2T once 600 now 300...

See the trend?

Lenses however are a very different subject and that market is very fluid.

Should Nikon ever make a mirrorless full frame camera utilizing the F mount then the market on used F mount lenses (meaning old Ai and AFD ones) is going to go bananas especially the small ones like the 20/4 and the 50 pancake...the 45. Certain lenses are already receiving pressure.

Buy Nikkor...accumulate and hold the best back for yourself...then when the bubble inflates like crazy sell with a big smile!

It is a investment hinging on the future of the F mount.

 

[sjackal]

I sorta agreed, but SLRs and DSLR are Nikon's core business (Canon too). They made a lot of money with DSLRs, but they are slow (or even resistant) with developing social-media-easy technology into their digital cameras and didnt do well with the mirrorless department too.

This is fast catching up with them as consumers move away from the heavy and cumbersome DSLRs into the lighter mirrorless from companies like Sony and Fuji, or giving up digital cameras altogether for cell phones from Apple and Samsung. Nikon's wifi and softwares are awkward and slow to use for their DSLRs.

Even photography enthus and professionals are gradually moving into mirrorless and more social media friendly alternatives. The faster Apple and Samsung grows and change the game, the more dangerous the position of traditional camera manufacturers like Canon and Nikon. You see, coz Nikon and Canon are competing 'inside the box' but Apple and maybe Samsung are thinking 'outside the box' constantly plotting how can they change people's way of lives. Steve Jobs is gone, that slowed them down significantly, but still they are moving in that direction pointed to them by Jobs. Then we look at the brands that dominate mirrorless now like Sony and Fuji. Sony is a bigger giant with other electronic business to diversity their profits, they can do anything they want and they can catch up easily. Fuji had learned (hopefully) the lesson from the (near)death of film, as the surviving one left (versus Kodak which is pretty much gone). So they quickly dumped their DSLR business (Fuji S5pro their last flagship DSLR) to focus on mirrorless when they knew they cannot compete with Canon and Nikon. Not forgetting Olympus, their micro 4/3 didnt do well versus the DSLRs from Nikon and Canon during the full move into digital years, but they are now picking up from OMD and PEN series.

If Nikon does buck up on their mirrorless, we certainly hope they wont be so foolish to drop the F mount. If they do, there is not much reason to go Nikon.