lalala

We have at least four SLR cameras and some point and shoots that still work, but are taking up room in our house. Are you all keeping your old manual cameras or selling them or donating them.

I'm trying really really hard to winnow things down to a manageable level chez lala and the cameras are driving me crazy.

thanks

lala

Gaucho100K

Why not put them on sale on Ebay...?

fatfrog

eBay's a good way to get rid of old, working stuff. Otherwise, I bet a lot of groups would love photography equipment. Maybe local high school, if they have a photography class (or, the high school paper or something would also be able to make good use of it). I believe that various environmental groups also specifically look for photography equipment.

PTravel

I sold all my film-based photography equipment on eBay a long time ago. Though film will be around for a while, I suspect it will be a novelty, like those people who still like to make platinum prints.

NYC123

You could sell them:
-On Ebay or Craigslist
-To a used camera re-seller if you live in a large city. B&H or Adorama here in NYC, for example.


But the SLRs...

Any college photography program would be very pleased to receive this equipment. Most art schools still teach Photo I (b+w 35mm, wet lab) as a basis for understanding photography... and will do so for quite a while longer.

Speak to the Equipment Room of any local photo program. They can provide you a generous donation receipt and will be happy to take the cameras. Win/win.

If you decide to sell on craigslist or something, try posting right at the beginning of local college semesters. This is when Photo I students begin to search for this equipment. Check out the prices on B&H's used dept., and charge a little less than similar equipment to be fair to the student.

FlyingOnceMore

You can't beat eBay. I sold all my Canon film SLR gear last year for 60-70% of what I paid for it 15 - 20 years ago.

T90 Body, 300mm f4, 200mm f2.8 & various other lenses

rkkwan

Problem is that most film cameras have little value, unless they are professional-grade stuff like Canon 1s or Nikon F3/4/5s, or Leicas, etc... or at least the advanced amateur ones.

Point-and-shoot, you may not recover your ebay listing fees.

SJUAMMF

We have two Canon A1 bodies and numerous lenses including a 300mm f/2.8 L lens. The kids insisted on keeping them but I think they get used very little.

Those aside, there are Topcon, Brownies and even two Speedgraphics 4x5s in the garage.

coolcucumber70

no doubt..ebay. I sold two separate SLR sets in the last three months. I hated having to sell them, but what was the point of having them stored in bags for years and not using them, and just getting them cleaned every six months. at least someone somewhere is using all that stuff.

TMOliver

The number of "surplus" high class SLR cameras in homes is bound to far outnumber the number of customers, including the "arty", so sell'em quickly. As for schools, well, at all levels they generally lag several decades behind the power curve, but even stultified college instructors may want to avoid escalating film costs. Even my backasswards local high school is into digital computer photo-editing.

Think of what your frontier ancestors (if you had any that made it that far and didn't stay home picking up lumps of coal along the tracks to keep the shanty warm in Winter) must have felt as the 1870s opened and firearms using brass-cased ammo began to replace those using cap and ball. Other than giving'em to the kids, the only thing left for those old percussion cap arms and was to hang'em over the fireplace along side Grandad's obsolete flintlook, and hope that some silly collector would later pay many, many times their original cost to hang'em over his fireplace or in his grandiose collection.

Several weeks ago, I paid a modest $1500 - a "bargain - for an 1851 Colt "Navy", not even a rare pistol. I believe it sold new for about $6.00, back when $6.00 was a week's salary (for a trained workman) .

...But then I recall buying gas at $ .199 per gallon and eating good 20 cent hamburgers. What's changed? The gas and a good hamburger still cost about the same....(but the bottled water costs more than the gas).