OT: whats used Nikon equipment worth ?

[Smiley]

Got some old SLR camer's and was wondering what the stuff is worth :
Nikkormat EL w/ auto winder
Nikkormat FT2
35 mm f2.8 lens
180 mm f2.8 zoom lens
24 mmf2.8 lens
105 mm f2.5 lens
500 mm Mirror lens
these are the bayonet style lens . the stuff is all in very good condition, i just don't use it anymore. Any photo nuts out there that maybe interested of have a clue what this stuff is worth. many thanks

oh yeah they will NEVER make camera's like these any more as these are bronze bodies :)

[johnmdesigner]

Take a little time and watch some auctions on e-bay. I did this when I was selling my Leica and got some idea what the market would bear.
I miss those old Nikons. They are such marvelous pieces of engineering.

[Kevan]

check out eBay and be prepared to be disappointed. I have a Nikon FE2 and I was surprised what the digital world did to decimate film. I think the used 35mm market has been flooded by converters.

[YO!!!]

http://www.keh.com/onlinestore/home.aspx

[gt6267a]

This post brings on a odd memory for me. About a year ago, I had all my camera equipment stolen. My apartment was broken into and I had a very large photo backpack with all my gear in it. Looking around the rest of my apartment, they were really after electronic equipment, they left my Serotta and IF. The backpack was right next to some computer stuff and it must have been too easy to put it on while carrying my laptop and dvd player.

Oddly, we had very similar taste in equipment except instead of a FT2 I had an F2 and instead of the 105 I had a 300 4.5. All the rest was the same.

After I received the insurance money, I didn’t even consider replacing it with analogue equipment. One day, I might like a Leica range finder but for the simple stuff I do now, it’s all about the digi cam.

For most of it, I’d like to have it but am not heart broken it’s gone. There was one piece that I still want to get back. The F2 was my grandfather’s. It was in great shape and I have some fond memories of him with the camera. I always enjoyed using it and the idea that he played a roll in what I was creating. Maybe I’ll take one more stroll through the local used camera dealers.

[dirtdigger88]

even camera guys get geekie about Ti-

my first Nikon was an F3T- titanium body

ya gotta love that-

oh . . . did I mention that my father is a photographer

Jason

[TimD]

I sold an FE and a collection of lenses last year on eBay and got a decent amount of money for it. Almost enough to buy an Assos jersey... LOL

[dspang]

oh yeah they will NEVER make camera's like these any more as these are bronze bodies :)


I sold my Nikon F earlier this year, I had to include a 105mm, 2.5 to get the deal done, $275. The camera has been with me since '76. It was a wonderful camera and I do miss the images it produced. But dang, the camera and lens sure was a load.

I did hold on to a Nikkormat FTn with a 50mm lens because I still want something as elegant as a mechanical SLR to touch and use on a rare occasion. It does make me think about the Paul Simon song, "Kodachrome, gives me nice sharp pictures..."

Cheers

[dave thompson]

I used to be a sports photographer for a magazine about 35 years ago and I think I owned nearlyevery piece of equipment that Nikon made for the Photomic FTN. Over the years I've sold a lot of it to buy other 'stuff' but still have my black-body motor drive outfit with a few lenses. I take it out and play with it occasionally and marvel at its stoutness and weight. The motor-drive camera witha 300MM lens seem to weigh a ton, slung around my neck all day! There are very few places now that can repair/regulate that stuff and parts are few. Sad.

[Ken Robb]

what's the value of old film cameras? About $2.00 a pound? :(

[Kevan]

for the retro-grouches to return. Then I'll leap.

[crf]

I recently bought an F3 body for $250, but it certainly wasn't mint.

I'd love to have an old Rolleiflex TLR, but the prices for those have skyrocketed on the used market -- $1300 for one in excellent condition! Not all film camera prices have bottomed out. Leica prices are still obscene, of course.

[BumbleBeeDave]

I was a news photographer on the street in the 80's and can relate--I have a bunch of stuff at home . . . lenses from 20mm up to 300, and even a huge 200mm f2.0 with converters . . .

Your film bodies are to going to be worth sh*t unless you keep them 50 more years and sell them as antiques. But it looks like you already have heard that here.

You might get a few bucks for the lenses, especially if you market them with some savvy. Keep in mind that with Nikon's digital SLR's the effective length of any lens is doubled by 1.5 because the size of CCD is smaller than the 24x36 mm area of 35mm film (the 35mm moniker comes from the width of the film). So your 24mm f2.8 will become a 36mm f2.8, your 180mm (which is most likely not a zoom, BTW--the 180 is their premiere telephoto, but they never made a zoom of that length) becomes a 270mm f2.8, and your 500 mirror becomes, uh, well, a big paperweight. That lens was never worth sh*t--hard to hold, slow (f8) and not very sharp. I had one for a few years and sold it.

But anyway, you CAN use the old lenses on the new camera bodies--a plus with Nikon that other manufacturers have not adhered to. But on many of the newer cameras they don't hook up to the meter. When my staff converted two years ago we got D2H's and D-100's. You can meter on manual or shutter-preferred auto on the D2, but NOT on the D-100. I'm not sure if you can meter with old lenses on the new D-200 or not, but I assume you can on the D2x, their newest pro level digital body. So you can have fully adequate meter hook-up, even if you can't use them on programmed or aperture preferred auto. But even on the cameras that won't meter, you can still gauge your exposure by guessing, then previewing the image on the display on the camera.

So you have a few choices . . .

1) Sell your old stuff on eBay. Maybe even don't bother with the film bodies. But if you sell the lenses make sure and point out that D2 and higher owners can still meter with them.

2) Keep your lenses, buy a D2h or D2x body so you can still meter with them, and shoot away! The only new lense you would probably need to get is a wide angle. My staff has 12-24 mm zooms (18-36mm equivalent) and they really like them.

Hope this helps!

BBD

[Larry8]

JFWIW(Just for what it's worth) I second the recomendation for KEH.com I have bought and sold through them for years. If you don't like their price then by all means e-bay. Good film cameras are still in demand and some lenses are compatible with the new digital SLR's. Nikon is from the big three so you should be okay.

Best,

Larry

[gt6267a]

slightly OT on light meters, though iinspired by BBD post :

Call me old school, but I’ve never used an in camera meter. Neither my Nikkormat or F2 had working meters. When shooting, I just pulled out my Sekonic L308 flashmeter, got a reading, and was off to the races. It was really easy to take a number of readings with and without flash to really understand the exposure and lighting. I learned a lot and did a lot with that thing. It was a pretty rare moment where an in camera meter would have made a big difference. That said, I did always jones for a spot meter and shooting for the school newspaper / yearbook and the occasional wedding didn’t justify it.

It is possible, enjoyable even, to shoot with an external light meter. That said, I am not arguing that an external light meter is better or worse. From both control freak and educational perspectives it worked for me.

If you decide to keep these toys and pick up a digi slr. While some might see it as a waste to not use the internal light meter, I see some value in doing it yourself.

[93legendti]

I have my father's old Leica and Hasselblad and and was dissapointed to learn they really are not worth much. I would never sell them, I was just curious. The best advice is keep them safe for at least 10 years and maybe they will be retro cool and appreciate significantly--either that or use and enjoy them!

[Kevan]

costs being what they were, I doubt film will ever make a serious bounce back. Now users of digital cameras have total control of their pictures and can achieve remarkable results with relatively easy-to-use software. The only feature that still hasn't been totally cinched as yet is printing, but even there things are improving.

[rePhil]

slightly OT on light meters, though iinspired by BBD post :

Call me old school, but I’ve never used an in camera meter. Neither my Nikkormat or F2 had working meters. When shooting, I just pulled out my Sekonic L308 flashmeter, got a reading, and was off to the races. It was really easy to take a number of readings with and without flash to really understand the exposure and lighting. I learned a lot and did a lot with that thing. It was a pretty rare moment where an in camera meter would have made a big difference. That said, I did always jones for a spot meter and shooting for the school newspaper / yearbook and the occasional wedding didn’t justify it.

It is possible, enjoyable even, to shoot with an external light meter. That said, I am not arguing that an external light meter is better or worse. From both control freak and educational perspectives it worked for me.

If you decide to keep these toys and pick up a digi slr. While some might see it as a waste to not use the internal light meter, I see some value in doing it yourself.

Well Mr Old School:) ...and not that there's anything wrong with that.For me the light meter revolution started with an N90S.I was using F 3's and 4's but the meter in the N90 was far better than I and my Minolta meter. When the first F5 came out I put the meter away unless it was a studio shot. I shot a lot of handheld slow shutter boat photgraphy(some very slow)The F5 was amazing. I would set it on shutter priority, and spin the dial from a 1/15th and slower to 125th just to make sure I got it.
The meter allowed me to worry about composition and little else. I stopped using the auto bracketing too. That meter is that good.
I was fortunate to sell my old school gear at a decent price on e bay. These days it's a tough market. Kinda like a vitus 979.

[Ginger]

slightly OT on light meters, though iinspired by BBD post :

Call me old school, but I’ve never used an in camera meter. Neither my Nikkormat or F2 had working meters. When shooting, I just pulled out my Sekonic L308 flashmeter, got a reading, and was off to the races. It was really easy to take a number of readings with and without flash to really understand the exposure and lighting. I learned a lot and did a lot with that thing. It was a pretty rare moment where an in camera meter would have made a big difference. That said, I did always jones for a spot meter and shooting for the school newspaper / yearbook and the occasional wedding didn’t justify it.

It is possible, enjoyable even, to shoot with an external light meter. That said, I am not arguing that an external light meter is better or worse. From both control freak and educational perspectives it worked for me.

If you decide to keep these toys and pick up a digi slr. While some might see it as a waste to not use the internal light meter, I see some value in doing it yourself.

I agree to a point. I learned tons about lighting and exposure when I was using an external meter with my Hasselblad. Internal meters have gotten very accurate these days.