Vintage cameras: not as valuable as I thought they might be?

[shamraphy]

Hi,

So my mother has asked me to offload 5 or 6 cameras she owns from her father, all in really good condition.

Now, I'm not a photographer myself but I work in tech and I found these objects fascinating. They are:

- Paillard Bolex B8 serial number 430 474, which would make it a 1954 model with Swivel dial, complete with box, manual and a set of extra filters.
- Cine Kodak eight Model 20 with box and manual, as far as I can tell this was released in 1932
- Alsaphot Dauphin I or II (not too sure, need to verify)
- A couple of rather interesting foldable Kodak pocket series III
- A Kodak Retinette
- A Gaussen sixtomat (the one with the blinds, gold on white plastic)
- A sixtino 2 meter

So all and all, I thought we had hit jackpot. After all, not of this was manufactured past the 50's.

Yet, from what I can read online, none of it is worth more than 30 to 200 us dollars. Am I looking in the wrong places?

Cheers!

 

[Alastair]

There's a lot of old cameras on the market. Ebay is full of them. Most are at the lower end of the market.

Cine cameras (the Bolex B8, Kodak 20) are a very niche market, most on Ebay seem to go unsold or attracting very low bids.

With stills cameras it's all down to the appeal to the buyer, people are looking for:

• Usability - generally means either 35mm or 120 format, anything too exotic and it becomes a shelf queen;
• Condition - does it work? do the shutter speeds sound about right on all speeds? - for a non-usable shelf queen condition is everything, unless it's so rare that there are no minters left;
• Aesthetics - does it look good? the Dauphin certainly looks like an interesting camera and the TLR aesthetic appeals to a lot of people and would pair nicely with the Sixtomat.

If the condition is good and they're both usable, the Dauphin and the Sixtomat would definitely have Lomo appeal. Good marketing and they could be the surprises of the bunch. I suggest giving these two a test run.. check the Sixtomat against a modern meter, and put a roll or two of film through the Dauphin to see the results. Being able to demonstrate images taken with a camera alongside it will always help the sale.

 

[JSER]

Unfortunately just becaquse something is old does not make it worth anything

 

[MartynK]

You might try reposting this in the Talk Film and Conventional forum here, or ask a mod to move it? A lot of the guys who use older film gear post there.

 

[Harvey_nikon]

- A couple of rather interesting foldable Kodak pocket series III

I managed to get myself a rough condition mk1 from ebay for £3.50

Needs a lot of TLC but even then, it might just end up sitting on my side looking nice.

As said, not worth a great deal to in the majority of cases.

I'll offer £20 for the lot

 

[Grendel]

You might try reposting this in the Talk Film and Conventional forum here, or ask a mod to move it? A lot of the guys who use older film gear post there.

 

[freecom2]

Cine cameras have very little fanbase compared to still cameras. And many cameras were mass produced but the ones with the greatest number of collectors and which get the most sales from eBay and dealers tend to be Leicas of any age, and SLRs and rangefinders from the 60s onwards. Particular models always have a cult following, for instance the Pentax K1000, partly buoyed on by their reputation over the years and partly also boosted by articles on the internet.

What I will say is that if you want to sell the meters, a listing with a full set of high quality photographs and checking and ensuring that they are accurate against a digital camera/another light meter will make them go for more.

 

[Strapps]

Now, I'm not a photographer myself but I work in tech and I found these objects fascinating.

Get a couple of rolls of film and use them. Small outlay but it might help with any sale if you can show that they work.

You never know, you might even enjoy it and decide to keep one or two of them ...

 

[Morinaka]

Like others have said, just because it's old doesn't mean it's worth much.

Having looked up the Cine cameras they just look like basic consumer level models that would have been mass produced, i'd say £20-30 for the Bolex, £15 tops for the Kodak one.

The Dauphin is a pseudo-TLR making it pretty cheap, takes 6x6 images on 120 film so you could use it still if you wanted, probably worth £10-20.

The Kodak Retinette is a very common camera, nearly worthless, i had 3 of them at one point as i got one free from the family member, and the other two i got in auctions lots for the equivalent of £2 each. Takes 35mm film so very usable, particularly if you have one with a built in light meter, ran a roll of film through one myself and was happy with shots, good sharp lenses and well exposed.

The Gossen light meters are in the same boat, i've got a couple, one of them being a sixtomat and paid £5 for each of them on eBay. I find them very useful with my old cameras that have no light metering.

The Folding Pocket Kodak's are probably the most valuable ones in the lot, if they are in excellent condition then i'd say £30-40 each, if they are rusty or have crappy leatherette then chop that in half.

If you are interested in shooting film then keep the light meters, Dauphin and the Retinette so you can try medium format and 35mm respectively.

 

[jorge.pedro]

usually most old cameras we have at home, or our parents had, are from mass productions, so they don't have a great market.
some might have depending only on the lens, that are now having a big demand in Asia, but that doesn't seem to be the case
any way good luck selling them