Contax 645 lenses

[Evanjoe610]

Majority of the prices has been falling. However, the 35mm, 55mm, 120mm,300mm, and the 45-90mm zoom has held their prices pretty well.
The 35mm and the 120mm are common, while the 55mm, 45-90mm zoom, and 300mm are not as common as these were available almost toward the end of the production. Yes the rarer lens hood are very expensive, again due to short supply and high demand...

I would love to buy a 55mm mainly for the AF ability. Because I refuse to pay the high prices, I am using my Hasselblad 50mmF2.8F with a MAM-1 adapter in Stop Down Mode.


Evan

Those zooms on eBay look a little pricey to me, $2500-2900 for used zoom is not realistic anymore - I saw  a totally brand new boxed one go for $2500 earlier this week on Ebay - a good/fair price indication.

Actually I think Contax lenses/gear are now beginning their decline in prices - after they initially went out of production, prices spiked and stayed high for a year or two, but now I see lenses easing down a good deal on actual realized prices - the 140 and 210 are much below their peak, and the 45 is affordable again, the 55mm - harder to find is also better, when you can spot one, and the zoom is down in the 2000-2500 range for very good condition, and even in the 1800 range for a decent but used one. 120mm Macro too has dropped from crazy peak prices.

Of course this doesn't stop some 'ambitious' sellers from trying on silly high prices, but they nearly always fail. I see one person asking $450 for a lens hood... nuts.

Inevitably Contax gear will come down, despite having many years of life in it, it has to fade in its desirability as newer digital options from Mamiya, 'Blad etc come through.
I love mine, and use it often, but am thinking of a platform switch soon, to something with a development life, digital era lenses, and a future... plus its a good idea to sell while I can still get a decent price.

[narikin]

the later/rarer lenses have held up better, but they too are declining. A well used but optically ok zoom failed to reach its reserve at $1050 bidding last week. that was unlucky, but still, a sign of the times.
the 120 is down to around $1000 from being up in the $1600+ area.
and certainly the basic lenses - 80/140/45 are 30-40% below what they were a year or two ago. I see 140's for $600 in some places.

agreed prices are declining now, and over ambitious sellers dreaming of 2007 prices are wasting their time, especially in this recession.

[David Klepacki]

... agreed prices are declining now, and over ambitious sellers dreaming of 2007 prices are wasting their time, especially in this recession.

Yes, the same is happening with the MFDB prices.  The later model 22MP backs are down to the $5000 range.  These are probably the most difficult backs to sell right now, as buyers will have even less to look forward to when it comes time for them to sell.  In this case, I think the DSLR market is making some inroads, since the resale value there seems to remain relatively higher to the original purchase cost.  Also, I have seen some 39MP backs go for around $10K - $11K.   It's a buyer's market in just about anything these days.