Sad Used Prices for EM-1 first edition

Tom Caldwell wrote:

jwilliams wrote:

hindesite wrote:

jwilliams wrote:

Probably one of the best buys in m43 right now is lightly used EM1 IIs going for around $800 or so. Fred Miranda is full of them. Probably people just dying to throw $1K to the wind to get the latest model.

I have noticed prices for m43 gear there are in a severe slump and often just never sell even at pretty attractive prices. Seems to be a flood of used m43 gear as people move to larger format systems.

May not be the case - we have a flood of barely used GH5 round here, as people sell them because they didn't have time to get into video after all.

Probably just going to use their phones in many cases.

Great thing is, the resale price for GH5 and GH5s have just plummeted.

Well I bought a PL 8-18 and Oly 40-150 2.8 last year and both owners said they were selling because they changed over to FF mirrorless. Small sample size indeed, but in my case 100% of sellers were going to a larger format. Both may be sold by me soon for the same reason, so there is definitely a trend.

I have an S1 - great camera. I bought it to fourth* purpose my existing EF mount lenses on a new FF camera body. But my expense was only an S1 camera body and a MC-21 adapter.

I have no intention of moving away from my first love the M4/3 format where I have also become heavily involved. Nor am I about to sell off any of my gear.

There is such a thing as sunk-costs which means that you buy something because you can afford the full price at the time or at least afford to pay it off. Money is gone - tied up in the asset - maybe I can sell it but I chose to keep it. This is something like the mining industry where they can write off plant when it is bought and it is often abandoned on site when the mine ceases. Scrap value only ... maybe. But the intention is basically to use it until it dsoe become scrap.

It is a theory opposed to use-rent (depreciation) where the loss in value is accepted as rent and the old gear is replaced entirely by new gear (often before it is worn out and on a whim). Probably more efficient in some ways than the sunk-cost theory - but I still use my old EF mount lenses and in use-rent I might have replaced them several times - with FE lenses during my flirtation with Sony FF. Completely with M4/3 lenses with that mount system - I have had a good lash at doing that but the EF lenses are adapted as well. Surely as a mad sunk-coster I could sell EF and M4/3 lenses and serially buy L-Mount lenses in future?

So sunk-cost is a recognition that the cost may not ever be recoverable and the cost can be afforded at the time of purchase. It gives use-rent in spades when first acquired then this tapers off (just like depreciation) of time and usage. If I only use my EF lenses occasionally under sunk-cost rules then I still get some use-rent. When I stop using it entirely it becomes scrap-value - which for camera gear is usually not much at all - especially in Australia - the ends of the earth

But surely the S1 plus a few great lenses does not really sit well with someone who also is a fanatical GM5 user? Can I swap from being pop-eyed about GM5 to being just as enthusiastic about my beefy L-Mount gear. But I am still getting use-rent out of my long time written off sunk-cost EF mount lenses.

With the slow down of digital camera gear evolution sunk-cost (buy and keep) must be getting more economical than forever rolling over use-rent (roll-over) gear.

*

First purpose Canon EOS dslr user 15 years

Second purpose Sony A7R and NEX6 user 2 years

Third purpose M4/3 mount user 6 years

Fourth purpose L-Mount user 1 year

(There has always been an overlap in mount systems - I have used systems in conjunction)

I've been an early adapter of both digital and m43 in particular. It is inevitable that doing such a thing entails buying equipment that is what I call 'Beta' gear. You are a guinea pig for the manufacturer so to speak.

Of course the first affordable DSLRs were Canon.

Skipped the original affordable (to mere mortals) DSLR, the D30 and bought the gen 2 D60. AF was horrid, but otherwise a very good camera. Skipped the 10D with the new EFS mount. Bought the next one, the 20D. This was the first DSLR that got pretty much everything right. Very good camera that I kept for many years. The D60 was sold promptly at a loss, but not huge like you would incur today. Kept the 20D for quite some time and shot it alongside this newfangled camera type called mirrorless and a format with a funny name - m43. Little did I know this newfangled format would have me waste more money on cameras than ever.

Started in m43 with the GH1. Had little kids and one device that could do both still and video seemed perfect as at the time I of course took the obligatory video of the kids growing up. Initially loved it. It could produce great output. Unfortunately reality set in quickly and the cameras awful AWB and really poor JPG engine meant that only carefully crafted pictures with the white balance set manually and then run thru the Silly Pix software were likely to come out good. Video was similar with the funny vide format the camera used. It quickly ended up mostly sitting on a shelf. I bought the GH1 at full introductory price. Sold it for a pittance many years later. Ouch. Double ouch really.

Meanwhile Oly came out with the EPL series. Seemed to be a great idea. Small camera body with a flash. Add an EVF when desired. Eventually got an EPL1 and then later an EPL2 that seemed to have some nice improvements. Bought them as either refurb or closeout deals of some sort so investment was small. Nice little cameras with one huge problem - the IBIS system was horrid and may have ruined more shots than it saved. Eventually sold for a pittance many years later, but they didn't cost me much to begin with so not a big financial loss. Unfortunately as picture taking devices they were ultimately poor much like the GH1. The lost photos hurt more than the lost money.

Next bought the revolutionary EM5. Knew I had to put out extra $ for the grip as for some unexplainable reason Oly forgot to build it into the camera. Paid full retail which was quite frankly overinflated, especially with the necessary grip. Mostly a good camera, but lots of small annoyances and I always hated the clunk, clunk, clunk of the shutter from all early mirrorless cameras. Later Oly would implement (sometimes thru firmware updates) EFC in their cameras. Sadly for whatever reason the EM5 was never updated. And yes shutter shock is a real, if often overstated problem. Eventually it sat mostly idle while I mostly used my Canon gear. Almost had to give it away many years later.

Then Panasonic came out with this tiny camera, the GM1. Along with its tiny 12-32 lens could easily be carried in places the other m43 gear would never fit. Price seemed a bit high but I eventually bought one on closeout when the GM5 came out. It works as well as one could possibly expect given its diminutive size. Still have it. A unique camera for sure.

In recent years I've bought and still have an EPL7, EM10 III, GX9 and G9 all of which I still have. All have some sort of niche they fill. All bought as reurb, used, or on a big sale discount at XMas. With these cameras, m43s teething problems are pretty much all gone and these are very usable cameras.

Back in Canon land I skipped all the 5D series eventually settling on a 6D when a refurb on the Canon site dipped below $1K. Great camera for its time. Also eventually got a SL1/2. The SL2 is very close to the top of my all time favorite camera list despite being a low cost plastic bodied camera that is rather simple (its charm really).

All the Canon DSLRs are gone. Purged about a year ago to go all mirrorless. Was intending then to be solely m43, but then bought an R and fell in love with it. My EF lenses have the view they were intended to and AF better than any DSLR I've ever attached them to. The future it appears will be a mix of a limited amount of smaller m43 gear and the R for everything else. Inevitably I'll buy some more gear at some point but I see keeping the R for many years as it simply works great as a camera. Same for the smaller m43 cameras that make the cut eventually.

So looking back, what are the lessons? First and foremost, avoid being a beta tester. Second, make sure the company making the camera is really good at making cameras and not just shoving technology in a box hoping it all works together. Third, be patient. Fourth, scour used camera forums and manufacturer refurb sites for deals. Fifth, when a camera starts being used very little (or none) just sell it for whatever you get so it hopefully gets used by someone else and go buy yourself a nice lunch or dinner with the money (about what most used cameras are worth now).