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  1. #1

    Join Date
    May 2011
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    Buy new or buy used?

    Here's a philosophical question for everyone to share their thoughts on:

    There's no hiding that things are on the decline for film users and even more so for large format users (e.g. fewer film options, fewer manufacturers for LF hardware, etc.). Of course, the lower demand, due to a healthy used equipment market on the world-wide-web, is partly to be blamed. On the other hand, because LF equipment have a higher longevity and hold their value reasonably well, they're not so bad investments for people wanting to get in to LF. But lenses are going to get scratched, basements are going to be flooded and eventually usable old equipment will slowly reduce in numbers. I'm sure every year we have fewer "rare and endangered" lenses than we did the year before. All of it's not going to disappear very soon but it might happen after we have too few new (and affordable!) LF equipment makers.

    So, if you care about the future of LF, do you think buying new is the way to go? Or should we stick to buying used, since it's one of those "put the oxygen mask on yourself before you attend to the child" things? Or... is LF doomed, regardless?

    What do you think?

    G

    PS: Sorry if this has been asked before...

  2. #2

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    Re: Buy new or buy used?

    The only lf items I've bought new sucked, so I sold them. It wouldn't be "eco friendly" to let all those used items go to waste.

  3. #3
    Whatever David A. Goldfarb's Avatar
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    Re: Buy new or buy used?

    I do occasionally buy new items, if they are really offering some new functionality that is a significant improvement for my purposes over something older, like my carbon fiber tripods. Or there are things like my Rotatrim, where I don't want to deal with someone else's alignment problems, and it's important to have a clean one, because it's being used for the final product.

    In the world of large format photography, there aren't so many innovations. A new Master Technika isn't very different from my 40-year-old Tech V. No one is making a new lens like my 135/3.5 Zeiss Planar either or my Veritos, for that matter (yes there are a couple of soft focus lenses in recent production, but they don't cover 8x10", and every such lens has a different visual personality, so one isn't a substitute for another one). Some things like my historic Voigtlander Petzval are better precisely because they are old.

    I suspect for many of us, buying everything new just isn't an option, whatever we wish we could do for the sake of supporting the manufacturers and camera builders. So often the best we can do is to do our best work as photographers and get it out there, and hope it inspires people with deeper pockets to buy new cameras and lenses.

  4. #4

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    Re: Buy new or buy used?

    Interesting responses from everyone, when on-topic!

    Quote Originally Posted by David A. Goldfarb View Post
    So often the best we can do is to do our best work as photographers and get it out there, and hope it inspires people with deeper pockets to buy new cameras and lenses.
    That's my favourite so far.

  5. #5

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    Feb 2012
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    Re: Buy new or buy used?

    I buy used due to necessity. If I had more disposable income... MUCH more... then I'd buy everything new except those things which are NLA. This would be, in part, to support LF equipment makers but also largely because I'm a spoiled brat.

  6. #6
    Jim Jones's Avatar
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    Aug 2006
    Location
    Chillicothe Missouri USA
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    Re: Buy new or buy used?

    I've acquired many LF cameras and lenses over many years, and not one was purchased new. A few have been disappointing, but most have been useful. One new outfit is fine for those who, as Mark Twain advised, put all their eggs in one basket and guard that basket! Being able to swap camera parts and lenses is also an advantage when one has an accumulation of older gear. I care more about the future of LF images than about the tools used to make them. As long as there may be great photographers, there will be good toolmakers.

  7. #7

    Join Date
    Dec 1997
    Location
    Baraboo, Wisconsin
    Posts
    7,697

    Re: Buy new or buy used?

    I don't think it's my responsibility to pay more for a new item when I could buy the same thing (for my purposes) used for less just to protect the future of LF photography. If the format can't stay around without my help it's in deep trouble.
    Brian Ellis
    Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you do criticize them you'll be
    a mile away and you'll have their shoes.

  8. #8

    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Posts
    3,142

    Re: Buy new or buy used?

    Quote Originally Posted by genotypewriter View Post
    Here's a philosophical question for everyone to share their thoughts on:

    There's no hiding that things are on the decline for film users and even more so for large format users (e.g. fewer film options, fewer manufacturers for LF hardware, etc.). Of course, the lower demand, due to a healthy used equipment market on the world-wide-web, is partly to be blamed. On the other hand, because LF equipment have a higher longevity and hold their value reasonably well, they're not so bad investments for people wanting to get in to LF. But lenses are going to get scratched, basements are going to be flooded and eventually usable old equipment will slowly reduce in numbers. I'm sure every year we have fewer "rare and endangered" lenses than we did the year before. All of it's not going to disappear very soon but it might happen after we have too few new (and affordable!) LF equipment makers.

    So, if you care about the future of LF, do you think buying new is the way to go? Or should we stick to buying used, since it's one of those "put the oxygen mask on yourself before you attend to the child" things? Or... is LF doomed, regardless?

    What do you think?

    G

    PS: Sorry if this has been asked before...
    Buying new is important when it comes to perishables. I'll stick to used cameras, lenses,meters, filmholders, etc because I like them better than anything new, I have well over 100 years of products to choose from. In most instances, there is no new product available to take the place of the used item. Where new equivalents are available, the price precludes their use.
    One man's Mede is another man's Persian.

  9. #9
    Octogenarian
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    Sep 2003
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    Frisco, Texas
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    3,532

    Re: Buy new or buy used?

    If no one purchased new photo items, only used items would be available, and eventually the market would dry up.

    I prefer new and shiny things, but unfortunately many photo items are no longer being manufactured, due to low customer demand.

    For example: Nikon/ Nikkor lenses, Fidelity/Lisco film holders, Combi-Plan tanks, Wehmann cameras, etc.

  10. #10

    Join Date
    Feb 2012
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    South Texas
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    Re: Buy new or buy used?

    Now... see? If the makers of LF products would have adopted manufacturing principles of USA auto makers of the 1980's-1990's their products would have fallen apart just after the warranties expired and the repairs would have been wisely planned to be far too costly. Then we would have been (and be) forced to buy new.

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