The price of lenses!

[Avantime]

A couple of years ago, after some successful PPI claims, I started to buy some Canon L lenses to go with my Canon 6D. I bought a 70-200 F4 and a 400mm f5.6 L. Both great lenses that I regularly use today.

I upgraded to a Canon 5 DSR about 18 months ago - a great camera; not the fastest for shooting rugby / cricket (I prefer timing the shot to rapid shooting), but with the 50m pixels I can crop into the centre 24m with some reasonable results.

Anyway, I was looking at the cost of L lenses now - the 400mm f5.6 is now about £300 more than mine when I bought it new! I guess it's to do with the £/$ rate, but a huge difference!

I think any future L lenses will be second hand from now on!!

[Tony1963]

Sometimes Canon offer cashback deals, and of course there are alternative sources for new Canon lenses.

Immediately after 'that' vote prices climbed. Coincidence or not, it's a fact.

I paid £900 on eBay for my 70-200 2.8 IS back in 2008. That was new and from a trusted seller. Looking at current prices, that's one purchase I don't regret!

[SCEtoAUX]

Almost entirely due to the weakness of the pound. Quality costs though and there's very little technology that holds its value quite as well as decent camera lenses.

Most of my lenses were bought second hand, the exception being my Nikon 200-500mm AF-S, which I bought when it was launched.

[singlecoil]

I bought all my L series lenses from Panamoz and if I need any more I expect I will do the same. Camera bodies I would be more wary of grey imports though.

[ukaskew]

SCEtoAUX said:

Almost entirely due to the weakness of the pound. Quality costs though and there's very little technology that holds its value quite as well as decent camera lenses.

This. I've actually found it cheaper to buy used and sell it on rather than hire a lens for certain jobs, well regarded lenses hold their value incredibly well, particularly L glass.

[MysteryLemon]

The whole camera industry has gone a bit bonkers with pricing over the last few years. Down to supply and demand I imagine as there are far less camera users than their used to be with the rise of the smartphone.

I've been totally shafted if I ever want to upgrade my body. For example, 3 years ago I bought a new Lumix G7. Cost me £450 with a kit lens. They still sell new for anywhere between £300-£450 and that's for a body that came out in 2015. If I wanted to upgrade my body, the next logical step would be a Lumix G80. £750 thank you very much!... or what about the newer G9? Well that's £1000+ just for the body...

I'll stick with my G7 until it dies I think. The 12-60mm F2.8 lens I just bought for it is a cracker anyway.

[ashleyman]

Avantime said:

I think any future L lenses will be second hand from now on!!

I agree. But you have to be careful about them.

My 24-70 F2.8 L II and 70-200 F2.8 L II were both bought brand new from Wex and are fantastically sharp on my 5D4.
I bought a 50 F1.2 and 85 F1.2 used and I've never been blown away by their sharpness. I'm not even speaking about shooting wide open, but sometimes around the 2's they still seem a bit soft.

I know you can't compare primes to zooms but I still sometimes wonder had I bought a 50 brand new would it be sharper. I'm planning on upgrading my 35 F1.4 to the new version and I think I'll buy that brand new so that if it's not pin sharp I can swap it until I get a good one.

Also if you're VAT registered it's sometimes to cheaper to buy New and reclaim the VAT!.

[rich888]

singlecoil said:

I bought all my L series lenses from Panamoz and if I need any more I expect I will do the same. Camera bodies I would be more wary of grey imports though.

Cheers singlecoil, have been racking my brain for several weeks now for the name Panamoz because of their 3 year UK warranty and the way they handle the delivery, taxes and duties.

[steveatesh]

I’ve recently moved to Sony and bought two of the GM lens, the 24-70 f2.8 and the 70-200 f2.8. I saved a fortune by buying from a trusted seller on eBay, they both came as EU stock too.

The bigger lens was £500 cheaper than mainstream stores. Astonishing difference.