Where the Smart Money Goes in Photography
I'm generally a very saavy second-hand buyer. I'll get onto a couple of tips for second hand buying in a second, but I hate it when I make a loss on something. In the past year or so, I've bought and sold over a dozen pieces of camera gear second hand. I've lost money on three items - they are all camera bodies. That's right, I have bought lenses, shot thousands of images with them and sold them for more than what I've bought them for! The takeaway lesson from this is that camera bodies are bad investments. People have an obsession with purchasing expensive camera bodies, but if you spend thousands of dollars today on a Nikon D4s or a Canon 1Dx, your investment will be worth half of what you paid in about two years.
The Best Investments are Lenses
The best investment you can make in photography are in lenses. Lenses are important because, in terms of equipment, they actually have a discernible impact on your image quality, unlike camera bodies, where the cheapest and most expensive bodies have extremely similar image quality.
Professional photographers buy expensive cameras such as the Nikon D4s and Canon 1Dx because they need the features those cameras provide, such as tougher build quality, faster autofocus, dual card slots, higher frames per second...etc. They don't actually give you better image quality than lower-end models. In fact, the Nikon D4s and Canon 1Dx have worse image quality than the Nikon D810, a camera less than half their cost.
In terms of lenses, however, more expensive lenses generally give you better image quality. Of course, the law of diminishing returns applies, but more often than not, when you upgrade from a budget lens to a mid-range lens, you will see a difference, beyond that, the difference is marginal and usually requires special situations to realise.
The reason why lenses depreciate so slowly compared to camera bodies is because of their slower product cycles. Nikon and Canon release cameras every year, they're refreshed regularly and every time they are, photographers rush to sell their old models and buy the new ones. Why do Nikon and Canon do this? Easy - to sell more cameras and make more profits. What happens? The second hand market gets flooded with past generation models and their price plummets, as per supply and demand. This doesn't happen with lenses, lenses are much more expensive to design and engineer than camera bodies, and thus, are revised much less often.
The Nikon 50mm f/1.4G has been out since 2008, with no plans of a refresh. Back then, the best Nikon camera is the D3. The 50mm f/1.4G still sells for around what it did when brand new. Second hand prices have kept steady. The D3 will fetch around 1/3rd of the price you paid for it back in 2008. In that time, Nikon has released four successors to the D3, with more to come - D3x, D3s, D4, D4s. No update to the 50mm f/1.4G. You'll see a similar pattern with most lenses - they have extremely slow upgrade cycles.
Zoom lenses tend to have slightly faster upgrade cycles because most photographers today use zooms. Nikon's 70-200mm f/2.8 is one of their newest professional zoom lenses and it was released in 2009, making it around the same age as Nikon's D3s. You could have bought one of them at retail price new and fetch around 75% of the price on the used market today. The D3s fetches well less than 50% of the new price at launch. Nikon's professional standard zoom, the 24-70mm f/2.8 was released in 2007 - that's around the same time as the original D3. Guess what, if you'd bought the 24-70mm and taken hundreds of thousands of shots with it, you'd get around 70% of what you paid for it new, if not more. If you spent your money on a D3, you'd probably be getting around 30% of what you paid for it new.
Lenses are far better investments than camera bodies and they're where the smart money goes. Remember that people are still using the lenses they bought decades ago, Nikon's Ai-S lenses from the 70s and 80s still work perfectly on modern Nikon DSLRs. Nobody practically uses camera bodies from the 70s and 80s anymore.
Professional photographers buy expensive cameras such as the Nikon D4s and Canon 1Dx because they need the features those cameras provide, such as tougher build quality, faster autofocus, dual card slots, higher frames per second...etc. They don't actually give you better image quality than lower-end models. In fact, the Nikon D4s and Canon 1Dx have worse image quality than the Nikon D810, a camera less than half their cost.
In terms of lenses, however, more expensive lenses generally give you better image quality. Of course, the law of diminishing returns applies, but more often than not, when you upgrade from a budget lens to a mid-range lens, you will see a difference, beyond that, the difference is marginal and usually requires special situations to realise.
The reason why lenses depreciate so slowly compared to camera bodies is because of their slower product cycles. Nikon and Canon release cameras every year, they're refreshed regularly and every time they are, photographers rush to sell their old models and buy the new ones. Why do Nikon and Canon do this? Easy - to sell more cameras and make more profits. What happens? The second hand market gets flooded with past generation models and their price plummets, as per supply and demand. This doesn't happen with lenses, lenses are much more expensive to design and engineer than camera bodies, and thus, are revised much less often.
The Nikon 50mm f/1.4G has been out since 2008, with no plans of a refresh. Back then, the best Nikon camera is the D3. The 50mm f/1.4G still sells for around what it did when brand new. Second hand prices have kept steady. The D3 will fetch around 1/3rd of the price you paid for it back in 2008. In that time, Nikon has released four successors to the D3, with more to come - D3x, D3s, D4, D4s. No update to the 50mm f/1.4G. You'll see a similar pattern with most lenses - they have extremely slow upgrade cycles.
Zoom lenses tend to have slightly faster upgrade cycles because most photographers today use zooms. Nikon's 70-200mm f/2.8 is one of their newest professional zoom lenses and it was released in 2009, making it around the same age as Nikon's D3s. You could have bought one of them at retail price new and fetch around 75% of the price on the used market today. The D3s fetches well less than 50% of the new price at launch. Nikon's professional standard zoom, the 24-70mm f/2.8 was released in 2007 - that's around the same time as the original D3. Guess what, if you'd bought the 24-70mm and taken hundreds of thousands of shots with it, you'd get around 70% of what you paid for it new, if not more. If you spent your money on a D3, you'd probably be getting around 30% of what you paid for it new.
Lenses are far better investments than camera bodies and they're where the smart money goes. Remember that people are still using the lenses they bought decades ago, Nikon's Ai-S lenses from the 70s and 80s still work perfectly on modern Nikon DSLRs. Nobody practically uses camera bodies from the 70s and 80s anymore.
Invest in Accessories
Accessories are also a great investment. They don't have the great resale value of lenses, but they also change extremely slowly, lending themselves well to buying for the long term. I don't use camera bags and straps (as I prefer to just carry my camera by hand), those I know who do have managed to buy good quality straps that last several camera body upgrade cycles.
Filters are also an important accessory that can last you a long time. Buying yourself a good quality circular polariser or neutral density filter can set you back over $100, but they'll easily last you over one lens upgrade cycle. People tend to have strong views on UV filters - some love them and swear by them, some hate them, I don't really care for them much - it's a matter of personal preference. However, circular polarisers, neutral density filters and graduated neutral density filters are not a matter of personal preference. They're needed in many areas of photography, especially if you do landscapes. If you cheap out on your filters, they'll leave nasty colour casts and haze in your pictures. It doesn't matter if your pictures are tack sharp, if there's haze or colour casts, they'll be ugly.
Spend some decent money on buying yourself a great camera strap, that'll make carrying your camera more comfortable, allowing you to go further and get more shots. Also spend some decent money on getting nice filters and you'll be set for perhaps the next few decades. As long as you take care of them and don't break them, they'll last a lifetime.
Electronic accessories, such as flashes, won't last as long, because they will get upgraded, but many people are still using ancient Nikon SB-28s as their off-camera flash, so flashes are great investments too. They'll last much longer than camera bodies, especially if you do strobist work. I know many people who've bought tonnes of old manual flashes to use off-camera and they still work amazingly well.
Filters are also an important accessory that can last you a long time. Buying yourself a good quality circular polariser or neutral density filter can set you back over $100, but they'll easily last you over one lens upgrade cycle. People tend to have strong views on UV filters - some love them and swear by them, some hate them, I don't really care for them much - it's a matter of personal preference. However, circular polarisers, neutral density filters and graduated neutral density filters are not a matter of personal preference. They're needed in many areas of photography, especially if you do landscapes. If you cheap out on your filters, they'll leave nasty colour casts and haze in your pictures. It doesn't matter if your pictures are tack sharp, if there's haze or colour casts, they'll be ugly.
Spend some decent money on buying yourself a great camera strap, that'll make carrying your camera more comfortable, allowing you to go further and get more shots. Also spend some decent money on getting nice filters and you'll be set for perhaps the next few decades. As long as you take care of them and don't break them, they'll last a lifetime.
Electronic accessories, such as flashes, won't last as long, because they will get upgraded, but many people are still using ancient Nikon SB-28s as their off-camera flash, so flashes are great investments too. They'll last much longer than camera bodies, especially if you do strobist work. I know many people who've bought tonnes of old manual flashes to use off-camera and they still work amazingly well.
Invest in Your Skills
Of course, one of the most important things to invest in is your education. Today, there's an abundance of resources everywhere, from paid workshops, to online information, to traditional forms - such as books. Unlike"buying things", developing your skills requires time, patience and actual shooting. That's the best way to improve your photography. You can spend thousands of dollars on lenses and camera bodies, but nothing beats your time spent out shooting and learning how to use your eyes to spot a good shot, to read the light and to understand the basics of composition and exposure decisions.
What Body Should I Buy?
The entire point of this article isn't to say go and buy the cheapest body - not at all. Expensive bodies exist for a reason and that's because there are people out there who need the features they provide. If you need precise, fast AF, shooting at 10+ fps, then your only choices are the Nikon D4s or Canon 1Dx. The point of this article is to discuss budgeting. Many beginning photographers buy the most expensive body they can buy and then buy lenses with whatever cash they have left over. This is the wrong way of going about it.
It's important to set out how much money you want to spend on each item, with the knowledge that if you do decide to upgrade later or if you do decide to change your gear and style, that you'll lose much more from selling your body than you do from selling your lenses.
It's important to set out how much money you want to spend on each item, with the knowledge that if you do decide to upgrade later or if you do decide to change your gear and style, that you'll lose much more from selling your body than you do from selling your lenses.
Second Hand Tips!
There are several key tips when buying and selling things second hand that will make sure you always get a great deal. Firstly, you have to know how much the item you're purchasing is worth - if you're better at valuation than others on the market, you'll always have an advantage. Secondly, you need to know the importance of liquidity. I have university degrees in Finance and Econometrics, liquidity is extremely important in any business situation because it allows you to more financial freedom. If you see a good deal and you don't have the cash on hand to snap it up, that's no good. If you have to sell something and you need cash quickly, that's no good either, because you can't wait around for a buyer who will pay how much you want. Those are my two key tips for buying second hand.