Camera gear is now disposable?

[HockeyFan12]

Interesting discussion.

Vintage cinema lenses and S16 cameras have skyrocketed in price recently, as I found out the hard way. 

I bought a 25mm Cooke S3 a few years back for around $1100, returned it as it had minor fungus and took a minor loss. Since then, its value has tripled.

K35 and Lomo anamorphic have increased in price as well as Cooke, and even more dramatically.

@noone I think the appeal of the 24mm FD isn't just that it's a 24mm f1.4. It's that it has vintage coatings (the SSC aspherical matching or near-matching first-generation K35s I've read in everything but aperture shape, but who knows) and has hard focus stops so mechanically it is more suited for "cinevising" or rehousing than the 24mm EF f1.4, which would otherwise probably be preferable (sharper) and the look is softer and more organic than Sigma Art, which surely would outperform it, too.

Even the best vintage gear can't compete optically with Sigma Art or an Otus. So that's not what it's about. But I think among the generation in their 30s and 40s there is a trend toward vintage/film not just here but among Indie filmmakers... for me, once I started shooting on a 6K sensor I noticed a stronger preference for vintage lenses than I had even had in the past. And I wonder if higher bitrates for streaming etc. will continue to promote a trend toward "texture" over clinical perfection. An SD scan of S16 looks like a dvx100 to me, a 4k scan looks incredible.

However I think the younger generation seems to prefer 8K and Sigma Art (you can't really blame them) so I don't see the demand for vintage going up much further. But as supply is exhausted, I also doubt prices will bottom out. If they do, maybe I can finally pick up some Cooke Panchros. Or not, the 75mm is radioactive and they seem fragile and prone to fungus anyway.

I wonder what will become of Zeiss Otus and such. (And mechanically complex M43 and the Leica L mount primes or even the RF and Z mount primes.) The Zeiss LWZ2 is perhaps the best deal and most undervalued zoom on the market ($8k used for a compact zoom that cuts well with Master Primes and can convert to EF or PL–should be closer to $50k) but Zeiss will soon discontinue service entirely, leaving that bargain with a pretty large caveat. Some EF lenses can't be serviced. I guess nothing lasts.

Except manual focus Nikkors. For whatever reason. Which also have the best price/performance around. 😕

 

[noone]

2 hours ago, HockeyFan12 said:

 

@noone I think the appeal of the 24mm FD isn't just that it's a 24mm f1.4. It's that it has vintage coatings (the SSC aspherical matching or near-matching first-generation K35s I've read in everything but aperture shape, but who knows) and has hard focus stops so mechanically it is more suited for "cinevising" or rehousing than the 24mm EF f1.4, which would otherwise probably be preferable (sharper) and the look is softer and more organic than Sigma Art, which surely would outperform it, too.

 

I absolutely love my FD 24 1.4 L, I just do not think of it as an investment.

In fact, I had it listed on ebay a few years ago for a LOT less than I should have when I needed the money and it did not sell and that was when there were still only a couple of newer make/model 24 1.4s available....It is probably worth less than i paid for it (and I got it for a reasonable price on the lower end of what people were paying).

My copy has a bit of a ratty exterior but the glass is great.

No way on the planet i would sell it now.

The dissolving bearing issue is a very real thing with some of the FD L lenses (my FD 85 1.2 L has it, so the lens is worth a fraction of what it was and the issue affect various FD L lenses quite commonly), that plus there are now OTHER 85 1.2 manual focus lenses available for a lot less than what the user FD 85s  were going for would have brought down the prices too.

Of course, ANY lens can be considered an investment if it makes you money but for me as an amatuer, I doubt I will ever have any lenses that increase in price substantially.

My favourite lens is a  Canon 17mm tilt shift and it was expensive but has lost money and once a version ii comes out (if ever or maybe an R version) I expect it to tank in value though it is priceless to me as I doubt i could ever afford to replace it now.