So, yesterday, I stopped off at the purveyor of all things
photographic to get a roll of film developed (and that's how it all
starts), and I moseyed over to the used camera bin and noticed several
full-frame Canon cameras with decent prices on them.
There sat an absolutely prestine 1Ds Mk2. Not a scratch, no wear,
nothing. The only sign that this camera had ever been used was a
little bit of patina in the hot shoe. Only 30k clicks on the shutter.
Yes, only 30k. The price? A true Fang. I was REALLY tempted. Really,
really, really tempted. It took me all day to deliberate on this one.
I even got to talk with the guy who owned it.
But this nagging voice echoed through my scalp. I could hear Moose
ridiculing me for only having obsolete boat anchors for cameras. And
nothing says "boat anchor" like a 1Ds body. I really wanted to buy the
camera, as the price was an embarrassment--pretty much a gift. But the
lack of video and the omnipresent porkyness held me back.
Also in the bin was a 5D mk2 and a 6D. Both for fair prices, but out
of my budget. (which really didn't exist in the first place and I had
to beg for forgiveness last night). The 5D was a decent camera with
normal use. Somewhere in the 100k shutter click range. But was priced
as no Fang.
The 6D had a decent price on it, but showed a bit of use. Turns out
that the bit of use is more like 200K plus shutter clicks. Owned by an
astrophotographer who would have it automatically take a couple
THOUSAND pictures in a night. So the physical wear was minimal (I
don't think it was ever taken out of manual exposure mode), but the
odometer as high. The store had accidentally valued the camera based
on appearance and not on shutter clicks when they took it in on trade.
Later, when they figured out the shutter count, they realized they
were really inverted on that deal.
I was not happy with the asking price for a high-mileage camera, so I
asked them to reconsider it. After a couple of minutes, I was offered
the camera with battery grip for a price that is borderline Fang. I've
got 30 day return policy on it, so that's comforting.
So, now I've got a three year old camera with plenty of bells and
whistles to play with. Best of all, the way I've got my camera gear
configured, it will slot in alongside the E-3 or E-1 for
wedding/portrait/event shoots.
In all honesty, I'm not seeing this as a long-term camera. But it buys
me time until I can get either a Sony A7 series camera or whatever
Canon comes out with that competes with the A7. And given the overall
price stability of the 5D and 6D cameras, I shouldn't lose too much
money on the deal.
--
Ken Norton
ken@xxxxxxxxxxx
http://www.zone-10.com
--
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