Photography gear and equipment

A few weeks ago, the Poll option was; “Are you planning on buying new gear?” That was simply because I was going to purchase new gear for myself but I didn’t know what and when I was going to get some. I had to decide between getting new gear or getting good used gear. Looking at everything and the time of year, I decided to get some used gear. This time of year, all the new toys are starting to come out as it’s the end of the year and all camera companies are working extra hard to get new toys out before the Holiday Season.

So being we’re so close to the holiday season, I decided to get used gear. I took to Craigslist and decided I wanted to get a 5D Mark II and a 60D. I figured they would compliment each other as they have almost the same processors and I’m used to both the full frame and 1.6 crop. I had decided that the 5D II would be used since the 5D III is out and most likely will be replaced next year around end of Summer. I decided that 1,500.00 would be my max limit. After doing some searching, I found that 5D IIs were going for between 1500-2,000! I found three guys that had really good 5DII but they wanted 1,600.00. I decided to call around to the different camera stores to see how much a NEW 5D Mark II would be, since if they are selling for 1,600.00 used, a new one had to be about 1,900-2,200.00 I would just spend the extra 400 and get one with zero mileage. I ended up calling my friends at Englewood Camera and discovered the 5D MK II was 1,799.00 NEW as it had an instant 400.00 rebate! That TOTALLY changed my mind and I went back to these guys and advised them a 5DII is 1800.00 NEW, no way would I spend 1600.00 for used! I would be a fool. Some of them told me it was my loss, others gave me a “break” and dropped down to 1500.00. To top that, they lived about an hour and half away which is 90.00 gas both ways. I decided that that would be stupid on my part to spend that much on used when I can go new. I spoke to one gentleman who has really good work! He shot the video mostly and figured his 5DII would be worth the 1500.00 It’s still used and I can still get NEW with ZERO video frames for +300.00! Dejected, I decided that new would be the best route for me to go. I was in the process of going to get the brand new II when I got an email response that said he would meet me in the middle and do his 5DII for 1,200.00 (Originally I had said 1,150.00). This was a guy who knew and understood that you can’t price your gear according to what it means to you, but according to what value it has on the market. The 5D Mark II is officially retired, so why pay new price on a no longer processed body? I ended up getting the 5D Mark II and after some serious thought, decided that I needed to get another body since the 5DII would be a bit too powerful.

After doing some looking around, I ended up getting a Canon 7D as well as a 60D as back up. I have three (four actually as I still have the 5D “classic”) and set to go. I paid a total of 2,800.00 for all three bodies and couldn’t be happier. I will use the 7d/6d combo for web work and general model portfolio work, the 5DII for weddings and other “major” client work. Work where printing big will be the focus and I’ll want the extra pixel push.

Being in business, we have to seperate our personal feelings from business. The one video mostly gentleman told me he couldn’t sell his 5DII for so little and that he would send it to a large camera store in NY. I didn’t have the heart to tell him they would offer him 900.00 MAX on his camera. Why? Because they have to turn a profit and the camera is no longer in production. Why would they spend big bucks on it?

Are you able to separate personal from professional?

Jay Kilgore Photography


Comments (1)

Pingback: Best foot forward

Leave a comment