The Pendulum Swings - To Secondhand Canon

Here in Camera Electronic one of the core areas of the business has always been the trade in secondhand photographic equipment.

Cameras, lenses, enlargers, processors, and lots of other things have come in and gone out over the years. While I was just a customer and not yet on staff I remember buying a number of lenses and other items at the older premises - and I enjoyed using them for years. Indeed two of my core digital lenses and all of my analog lenses had previous owners. I benefitted when I bought them from the drop in sticker price that always accompanies secondhand sales and they have performed magnificently.

So if you have any interest in professional work - or high-end enthusiast photography - you might like to look at the line-up of cameras in the secondhand cabinet this week. For some unfathomable statistical reason, we seem to have about a tonne of Canon 1D cameras.

This is where the pendulum reference comes from - at any one time we might have have a preponderance of Canon or Nikon equipment in the shop. It often happens that one or other of the companies bring out some new model and the owners of the previous one - or the model back from that one - feel impelled to trade up. The real fun comes when the Big Two bring out competing models at the same time and then everyone wants everything.

You score well from this if you are a student, enthusiast, starting professional, or canny shooter. The class of camera we take in for trade is high, and we make sure the cameras are good before we accept them. They all carry warranty. Many of them are fully-accessorized and in all cases we can point you to instruction manuals and assistance. In the case of the Canon cameras that you see in the photo there are a number of Canon shooters here on staff to walk you though the menus and features. ( I'm of the Nikon persuasion - plus I can deal with Hasselblads, Linhofs, and .69 Charlevilles. )

Note that the 1D cameras are really big and sturdy things - they take the L series lenses. They work fast and can be used in poor weather conditions without worry. This should be a boon to sports and wedding shooters.

We are filling up here and would appreciate it if you could wheel a barrow down here and take some away. Thank you.

Uncle Dick