DCS prices on the rise

Discuss older Nikon-based Kodak digital SLRs, including DCS 100, DCS 200, NC2000, DCS 400/600/700-series, etc. Ask questions, post general comments, anecdotes, reviews and user tips.
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Stan Disbrow
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DCS prices on the rise

Post by Stan Disbrow »

Hi,

Once a week or so, I run an eBay search for Kodak DCS series stuff. I'm always looking for low priced units, maybe working and maybe not, as I'd like to have some spare parts sources on the shelf.

I notice that there is a tendency for these things to be offered at higher prices 'BIN' than has been the trend for the past couple years.

Here's a list of what I've recently seen:

520 for $375
420 for $395
520 for $387

620 for $450, listed as a Nikon F5 Digital / Kodak DCS (note the Kodak model # is not in the listing header, so this seller is going for the oddball F5D aspect).

Here's the real kicker: A *330* for $699! The guy even has a ebay auction page look-alike inside his auction showing a BIN for a 315 for $777 - as if that makes his price tag on the 330 seem reasonable!

I think some folks think that these things are a bit more collectable than they actually are......

Anyway, I thought I'd share the observation.

later!

Stan
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Re: DCS prices on the rise

Post by NikonWeb »

I don't keep any statistics, but I have the opposite impression: prices are generally lower than they used to be. Sure, there's some overpriced stuff being sold (or at least offered), but with a little patience you can get a DCS camera way cheaper than you could a few years ago (especially 600/700-series cameras). But like I said, I don't keep any statistics. Just a feeling. I could be wrong.

Jarle
Stan Disbrow
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Re: DCS prices on the rise

Post by Stan Disbrow »

Hi,

Yes, I had the same feeling. It seemed for the past couple years that the prices were on a slow decline. In fact, I wound up with the 760c and the 720x for really low prices in the same time frame.

However, in the past few months, there was one, then two, now several auctions with unusually high price tags. Most of the time, they're not selling, but every so often one does. It's a trend that just struck me as something to think about yesterday, so I stuck the observation out here for whatever it may be worth....

This may be the writing on the wall for someone wanting one to go for it sooner rather than waiting for prices to go even lower...

later!

Stan
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NIKON KIU
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Re: DCS prices on the rise

Post by NIKON KIU »

What about the price of the original DCS? seeems to be going tru the roof...that's if you can even locate one.

Kiu
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Ashley_Pomeroy
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Re: DCS prices on the rise

Post by Ashley_Pomeroy »

I remember, shortly before this site's article about the 720X went up, there were two separate auctions for 720Xs with a "buy it now" price of $700+, and I think a pair of 620xes from Israel for about twice that. Dunno if they sold.

In general it seems that buyers now describe the DCS cameras as e.g. "PERFESSIONAL Nikon F5 SLR with DCS 620" or "Canon EOS 1n PRO CAMERA plus Kodak DCS 520", perhaps on the chance that buyers might assume the F5 / EOS 1n can be removed from the digital part and turned back into a film camera.

There are a bunch of essentially unsellable DCS cameras cluttering up the eBay auctions. A DCS 315 that doesn't work; a couple of DCS 520s without chargers or batteries. They have gone the same way as the original D1, in the sense that they probably still work but no-one really wants them. As I understand it the 315 and 330 run on AA batteries although the cameras themselves aren't very appealing.

The few working, intact DCS 760s with chargers and batteries have held their value pretty well. I was lucky to get my DCS 560 at a relatively low price; the auction was for "KODAK / CANON SLR" or something similarly non-obvious, and it attracted very few bids. The few DCS Pro Backs I have seen do not appear to have crashed in price, and the full-frame DCS cameras are depreciating gracefully. Nikon users don't have much choice if they want a full-frame digital camera for less than £1,000.

I suspect they're all reaching a point where the expense and hassle of selling the item on eBay, of packaging it and paying the listing fees and designing the auction and dealing with feedback etc, is no longer worth the hassle. I have a few searches for used eBay curiousity, but they are all undergoing "death by lens cap", whereby the auction listings are dominated by lens caps that have been put in the wrong category (perhaps to circumvent the rule whereby some auction categories are compelled by eBay to offer free postage).

The DCS 100 is interesting on account of the fact that there are almost no sample images on the internet, and it looks like a beast.
cgrab
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Re: DCS prices on the rise

Post by cgrab »

From what I have seen, reasonably complete, working F5 based DCS are selling between 300 and 400 Euro, older models based on other bodies for somewhat less, but in Europe they seem much rarer then in the US. There are almost never any Pronea-based DCS on German ebay.

Christoph
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