Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2005/04/20
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]It is obvious that the midrange collectibles are losing value quickly. In Tokyo the "mint" M3's and M4's are now at a price level that a couple of years ago would have got you a user version of the same camera. My feeling is that we are looking at an "adjustment" as the stock brokers call it. Remember the classic car bubble in the 90's. Cars that sold for $10 million+ are now lingering at the specialist stores for 20-30% of that price with no takers even at that discount! There are only so many collectors out there and most of them have all the rare stuff already. The big market was the collector/user market and that is changing as we speak. I am fairly typical of that market segment and albeit I am willing to pay fair value for a M2/M3 or Nikon SP I now have more than I can comfortably use (and justify). When I go to stores in Tokyo or to swap meet here in Vancouver I am no longer looking for cameras, I look for lenses, accessories and "gadgets" instead. The one camera that I am buying at the moment is the Nikon F - my justification is that I need several bodies for my experimental Rapidwinder F (extremely limited production of 6-7 of them) but truth be told - I just like that camera. It is one of the most brilliant designs in 35mm camera. You can add motors, meter prisms, special finders, etc. or you can strip it down to a basic box. Lenses are plentiful and cheap (and good!). Oh, it is noisy and not very sophisticated but that is the charm of that camera. It is the SLR equivalent of the Leica M2 or Nikon S2. Unfortunately other people have realised that too and prices are creeping up. "Beater" bodies used to be $ 50-75 and are now almost double that. On the other hand I can buy 8-10 of them for what a user M3 or M2 would be! At the latest swap here in Vancouver I got a Nikon F with a Prism finder (dented and scratched but clear prism) and an early 28/3,5 for $120! Karen's hope for a clean Nikon SP for US$ 1500 is quite feasible. In the last year prices in Tokyo have dropped by almost 40% and will probably drop further after the introduction of the Limited Edition black paint Nikon SP. It is a gorgeous camera and I would dearly love one, but at $7000+ I can resist it (now the lens is an other matter - a modern 35/1,8 could be interesting and most likely a bit more flare resistant than my old one). As for the slow decline in black and white film availability - I suspect that in the future we will have to seek out speciality stores for our needs. Kodak claims that they will continue to make films like Tri-X for the foreseeable future (however, they did not define "foreseeable"). It could be that black/white film and chemicals will be more of an "artist" supply than an "imaging store" supply. The biggest problem is going to be chemicals - Kodak is getting out of it and even basic stuff like Metol, Hydroquinone, and Phenodine is getting difficult to find and the prepackaged stuff - D76, Microdol-X etc. in the stores now is more often than not old stock. Well, pick up a copy of Steve Anchells' "Darkroom Cookbook" and make your own. The Photographers Formulary stocks most of everything you need and as a bonus - it is considerably cheaper than buying "ready-mix". We should remember that the idea of packaged developer is fairly recent. As late as the 50's it was quite common to mix your own from scratch (with the added benefit of adjusting formulas to your own shooting style). As for film, try the Chinese "Lucky" - its 400 ASA film is quite good. The base is different from Tri-X but the sharpness and grain is good (grain is finer than Tri-X). You can develop it as if it is Tri-X in D-76 but in Xtol it does not work very well (almost two stops off!) At $ 1,69/roll it is a bargain and as I buy film in quantity (600-1200 rolls at a time) a $2 saving per roll makes a big difference. The difference pays for a couple of interesting lenses or more camera bodies - or even more important - airline tickets to places I haven't been to yet! There seems to be enough interest among camera users to ensure that the old mechanical cameras will survive and the black/white devotees among us might have to change some of our ways, but for the foreseeable future I think we are safe. Maybe if enough of us ask Epson or HP for a dedicated black/white printer they will make it. I would use it for proofing but for final prints - nothing beats fiber base in a darkroom - at least in my opinion. Tom A --------------------- Tom Abrahamsson Vancouver, BC Canada www.rapidwinder.com