Who would have thought that Packard would outlast them all?
Who would have thought that Packard would outlast them all?
It seems rather strange to me that there are really a wide spectrum of people making LF cameras, yet shutters and lenses no longer manufactured. I agree with the others that posted that the lack of shutter manufacturing is problematic. It seems scary that even Linhof would still offer a brand new $10,000 camera for which you cannot buy a currently manufactured shutter, and just a couple of lenses.
It is really a very bad or sad news, i just started with film and i was hoping to use LF more soon, and i only buy brand new gear of what i can find, but now i can't give/put hopes to use LF more when i can't get lenses new anymore, and i will try to find which is new left so far if i can find, or i wish if they can really send me one by request if i call to order one, i won't ask or look for many lenses, i only look for 2 or 3 lenses at most only for 4x5, and i won't plan to go for 8x10 at all in the future for this lack of lenses reason.
As soon as you fire a new lens' shutter the lens transforms from new to used. Why are you averse to used lenses? Many people have got outstanding results from used lenses, some ancient.
But Linhof does still offer lenses in Copal as well as in Rodenstock shutters. When Schneider and Rodenstock stopped lens production and Copal stopped shutter production they each informed their camera manufacturers that they would do so and allowed them to place orders for their future needs. That meant that they had to buy inventory instead of being able to wait till they had a sale for the product before ordering it.Originally Posted by Ektagraphic
Because i can't trust much of the Brand New itself, so then definitely a used one is always will be questionable, and then i may regret and i may send for service which i can't, so i prefer to buy high much more for brand new and i only blame myself and i know it is free of issues as it must be.
Also, if i plan to sell it then with brand new i can sell at good reasonable price if possible, while a used one is already low price then i won't get anything good if i re-sale it again for any reason, i don't/can't sell online or overseas for some reasons, and locally they don't give that good prices, so with brand new and i am first user i still can get a reasonable sale value, while if used then no one will buy it or i may sell it at even less than half of the used price i bought.
I had issues before with brand new lenses and one camera and i managed to correct it within time except one lens [or it is the camera maybe], experiences like this really putting me always in doubt anything even new fresh out from the factory directly.
You could always buy second hand from a dealer that has their items services before they put them up.....
Let's consider another strategy. New (unused) lenses are very expensive, possibly five times as expensive as a typical used lens. Since you are already (apparently) willing to spend 5X the used market value, then elementary likelihood suggests you should buy the used item with plans to buy up to two more if the earlier one fails - and you will still be ahead financially.
In your second paragraph you worry about resale value and assume a lens you buy new will sell for more than a used lens. That's simply not how the market works. Your 'new' lens is used the moment you use it, and you do intend to use it in order to find if it is satisfactory, no? Do not presume that the market will believe that you are the first user, and then they may doubt the item's value if you found it unsatisfactory.
Uncertainty over the future of our materials (equipment and film) is sort of inherent to film photography now. If you only want 100% new, manufacturer-supported gear, may I suggest digital? Otherwise, I think you've got to embrace used gear and maintenance costs. It's a good thing that a lot of old large format equipment was manufactured well, and is (relatively) easily repaired.
I try very very hard to not send any gear for repair, especially overseas, so if for example i bought a used lens say at good reasonable price and for a bad luck it has an issue or defective somehow, then i will never send it to service overseas, and there is no shops at all in my country, so it will be either i sell it which i will never sell with that issue or i just ignore forget it in one bags forever and never use it, that may occur very very minimal and i will be saving a lot of money for sure, but then this will make me even to regret going for used even very cheap, i already bought used lenses for LF and MF.
I don't want to buy always used gear only, and i am not planning to buy so many lenses anyway, and even the lenses i looked for as used the prices according to the conditions aren't that very low, it is nearly 30-40% of the actually brand new price, if i go with the one that is 10-20% of the brand new it is high opportunity for an issue one, good lenses in excellent condition are still overpriced as used, and i already listed one lens as used to buy later, but i want to get one more brand new lens if possible or available, for example i was thinking/planning to buy 90mm only SA XL one, but it is gone as brand new so i just choose another brand lens, which is 90mm f4.5 [i don't see Schneider has one], not sure if Rodey or Fujinon or Nikkor one, only used are available anyway even before except Rodenstock few years but i was eyeing on Schneider.
For my Graphex camera i bought only used lenses, and for this camera i will go with used only because the camera itself is used and maybe not working properly until i test it, I may buy used only if i buy 8x10 because most lenses for 8x10 are more expensive than 4x5/5x7 ones, and definitely no much available as brand new, but for 4x5 i try to have all accessories and full equipment as brand new as possible as i did with my main favorite digital cameras.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks