Could used LF gear be an OK investment?

[pmazolo]

I have started thinking that perhaps LF gear will not drop any further in price now, and that LF might be the format best surviving the digital age. Only that the used gear moves from commercial photographers to artists....

So, with that thought, I may have an excuse to buy even more gear...;-)

My thinking goes like this: if I have some money in the bank with a bad interest rate, why not have it in nice LF gear instead? Its certainly not like buying a car, computer or digicam where you can calculate a "monthly fee" for the ownership due to steady and fast drop in price.... but the question is, if I buy say a nice LF lens from ebay, will it likely sell for the same amount or more if in the same condition 1 year from now, 3 years, 10 years? (assuming prices are fair, not a bargain in any direction - I guess that could easily change the calculations if you have the knowledge and are good at buying/selling)

What LF gear will likely be the best investment, and what will not be soo good? Lenses, cameras, roll-film backs....? What brands - Linhof, Wista, Sinar, Arca....? Whats your guess?

This is not to really go get LF gear as an investment, only to try to motivate/not to buy some things I would like but dont really need...;-)

/PM

[Frank Petronio]

If you buy top quality items carefully, by being patient and doing your homework, you can almost always recoup your cost plus 10-20% more.

Of course before you try to resell your large ticket items you have to already have earned a good reputation as a seller, with lots of positive feedback. If two identical items are for sale on eBay, and yours has better photos, a detailed and objective description, and you have a stellar reputation, then it is logical that your sale prices will average out higher than your competition.

Sometimes the trading can take on the guise of a hobby untoitself, beyond photography.... be careful.

The most sophisitcated gear "investors" juice the market by publishing online portfolios of stunningly beautiful photos made with "certain" rare lenses... which just so happen to appear on eBay a few days later. Such timing is so brilliant that it gives Gordon Gecko and Donald Trump wet spasms of envy....

[Pete Watkins]

Watch what you're doing with your cash, there are rumours over here (BBC Radio 4) that there is a possibility of a recession in the U.S. I hope that this doesn't happen 'cos last time it worked its way over here and we all suffered.
Pete.

[Joseph O'Neil]

Depends on how you look at it. It seems to me that *anything* purchased as an investment only, with the hopes of making money, seems to disappoint you eventually. However, in the long run, I think large format gear holds it's value better than many other items right now.

For example, if you go out today and buy the latest ad greatest digital SLR, odds are in 5 years, you will be lucky to recoup 10 cents on the dollar if you try and sell it. Speaking as somebody who has been into desktop publishing for almost 18 year (we had an actual printing press before that), the number of printers and machines and software and computers that I litterally spent thousands of dollars on, only to find now virtually worthless, well, it's depressing. You know the sad thing about it to, whenever somebody says "well, you made your money out of it" - well, not 100% true. My dad made a lot more money off his old printing press than I did off my computer, scanners, monitors and printers be didn't have the capital cost of having to upgrade everything every 3-4 years.

Anyhow, back on topic, I have a really nice Crown Graphic I bought about ten years ago. Going by prices on flea-bay, I could in theory get more money for it that what I paid, but then factor in the cost of inflation, I am only breaking even.

However, compared to my computer example above, and the fact I've been able to use the camera for ten years, breaking even is not such a bad thing.

So the bottom line to me is this - if you want to go out and buy a really good used Lindhof in the hopes that ten years from now, factoring in inflation, that you will be able to sell it and double or triple your money - naw, I don't think so. Anything is possible, but I do not think probable.

But, i you look at how many electronic items we buy today - cameras, computers, mp3 players, etc, etc, and we see how fast these items become obsolete or virtually worthless compared to their original cost, then yes, in this comparison, i think that large format gear will hold it's value in the long run, and it's a lot better investment.

One last point - I was taught many years ago to "never invest in anything you cannot understand." I buy LF gear mostly because I like to use it, but with that comes an understanding of how and why it works (to some limited degree). You should, IMO, only invest in LF gear if it is something you are going to stick with and use. for example, my dad collects old woodworkng tools, but he has a modern workshop with many power tools, so he collects out of a combined motive of using some of the older tools when he can,and an understanding of exacyly how they used to work when he cannot use them.

Whatever you invest in, make it something you can stick with, and even enjoy. good luck
joe

[Nick_3536]

If you buy the trendy today you'll likely lose money. Unless it gets even more trendy in the future.

If you buy the unloved and hated odds are at worst you'll break even. In todays market the unloved is so unloved it can sell for less then the parts. People are selling some lenses for less then the cost of the shutter.

[Nick_3536]

Oh on what to buy?

You have to guess what the next great trend will be.

Will it be light weight kit for hiking? Will it be big old portrait lenses? Will it be studio cameras?

[John Kasaian]

You can't hardly give away enlargers & dry mount presses right now. If I had a warehouse I'd stash all the Seals, D-2s and Beseler 45s that are being given away on Craig's List for a few years.

I can't say that I've been financially hurt by the Deardorff, Agfa-Anscos, 5x7 Speed Graphic, Ektars, and Goerz lenses I use. Even the stash of AZO in the freezer seems to have gone up in value. ULF stuff is more like an investment ennuity than photo gear!

[Henry Ambrose]

I have some things I'll sell you to start your investment portfolio.
Trust me.

[Jorge Gasteazoro]

Joseph's advice is very good. I would add that there will always be some cameras (that provided there is still film available) will always have a good resale value, even if you don't get what you originally paid for them. Examples are Phillips cameras ( I would kill for a Phillips 12x20), Gandolfi Traditional, some Linhof models, some Arca Swiss models, Deardorff, some Kodak models, and some Ansco models. You have a good range of prices within these brands ranging from a couple of hundred dollars to a a few thousand.

WHat I think you should ask yourself is how much you will use the camera and how much enjoyment you will get from it. If you get a camera that you cannot wait to take out, use it for 10 years, make great photographs with it, then what does it matter if you cannot sell it back for a lot of money?

[Steven Barall]

Get a job.