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Have folder prices gone up?
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 10, 2010 12:17 pm    Post subject: Have folder prices gone up? Reply with quote
Last year I seemed to be able to pick up decent folders for £5 or £10 (on e-bay), now I always seem to get outbid.

Maybe I'm getting meaner and expect things to be unreasonably cheap, or maybe I am looking at things in better condition. Or maybe the prices actually are going up.

Has anybody else noticed this?


PostPosted: Sun Jan 10, 2010 12:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
I note the demand is a sinus curve: there are times nearly everything sells high, but then there are times when seems like items start to fall off. I couldn't say about the price trends on really desirable cameras as I tend to stay away from them Wink


PostPosted: Sun Jan 10, 2010 4:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Your published pictures surely increase their prices Wink


PostPosted: Sun Jan 10, 2010 5:39 pm    Post subject: Re: Have folder prices gone up? Reply with quote
PaulC wrote:
Has anybody else noticed this?


Yes. It is my personal observation that about 12-24 months ago you could still get Zeiss Ikons in repairable condition for 50-100€ (incl. 25€ shipping) on eBay. Now decent copies seem to sell for about 200-250€ plus shipping, and CLA'd versions of the 532-533-534 versions sell for even more, especially if since they're equipped with the faster Tessar.

Posting photos on Flickr surely boosts the value. If you want to make really large prints those folders are in their own league compared to 35mm.


PostPosted: Sun Jan 10, 2010 6:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
I am not sure. Having seen the results of Veijo Vilva with uncoated Schneider Radionar 105mm I searched for a folder with that lens to put it on my DSLR. Found a Hapo 45 (prewar Balda 6x9) with Compur shutter for € 3,59 + pp in Germany. When it came it loooked surely not mint, but quite reasonable. The the aperture, shutter and focusing worked properly. Even the bellows was light tight, so I put a film in it instead of butchering the folder. I cannot say that's expensive. But I am not focused on the higher appraised lenses.


PostPosted: Mon Jan 11, 2010 10:00 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Attila wrote:
Your published pictures surely increase their prices Wink



Damn! It's all my own fault!

I've just been looking for cheap stuff - anything, really, as long as it isn't obviously broken.

I also have the impression there are not as many on sale as there used to be.


PostPosted: Mon Jan 11, 2010 10:04 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
It's inevitable -- posting results with old lenses and cameras (folders) will lead to more interest, higher demand, higher prices and ultimately less available items. What's left are the so-so items, like folders that were also cheap in their days. The top-quality stuff is already sold to the baby-boomers so not likely to hit the market again, maybe around 2015 this will change Wink


PostPosted: Mon Jan 11, 2010 11:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Spotmatic wrote:
It's inevitable -- posting results with old lenses and cameras (folders) will lead to more interest, higher demand, higher prices and ultimately less available items. What's left are the so-so items, like folders that were also cheap in their days. The top-quality stuff is already sold to the baby-boomers so not likely to hit the market again, maybe around 2015 this will change Wink

Yes, time has taken its toll on the huge numbers of even the good ones that were sold in their day - an awful lot of them landed in the trash bins instead of going to estate sales. Of course, there are greedy sods who see a movement in the market and ask many dollars for unremarkable and still plentiful cameras - like the early Kodak folders (made by the million). I consider myself lucky I managed to snag a couple of half-decent ones before the supplies run out.
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