For the next auction November 17, 2007 Westlicht has again issued a free catalog on CD. I’ve already ordered mine.

They also offer a catalog on paper. Even if you don’t plan to bid at the auction, get hold of a catalog because it’s a great reference for classic cameras and their values. Fetched prices are published on their website after the auction.

As you probably remember, last time Westlicht set a world record price for a Daguerrotype camera. This time they’ll be selling over 400 Leica items with an early Leica with serial number 107 (!) and an M3 in gold (only two of these in the world). And part of a large collection of stereo cameras.

I’m amazed every time to see what kind of items turn up for sale.

Triggered by a question in the Forum , and a post on The Digital Story discussing that the bajonet mount lenses of analog Pentaxes fit the Pentax K100D Digital SLR, I had a look on eBay. If you search for “adaper EOS”or “adapter Nikon”, all kinds of adapters turn up for using old lenses on digital cameras. For example on the digital Canon EOS models,  or for fitting a Hasselblad lens to a Nikon D50.  Wouldn’t it be fun to experiment with those old M42-mount lenses from Carl Zeiss Jena and many others?

PS. A cross-reference of mounts and lenses is in Steimer’s Fotoliste discussed here.  Other websites covering lens mounts are in the Vintage Camera Online links section

As mentioned in the book “Collecting Cameras Through The Internet” it pays to work internationally and profit from market differences. Two factors are often overlooked, although they can have considerable impact on the price of a vintage camera:

• currency
• customs
• shipping rates

For example, if you were in the US and would buy a classic camera on eBay Germany now, you would be bidding in Euros. A Euro currently being about $1.35, whereas it was about $ 1.19 the beginning of 2006, makes quite a difference in the dollar amount you would have to pay. Customs may want to have their share (depending on value and shipping costs).

A factor with an increasing impact is shipping rates. After recent increases internationally, shipping rates can easily be $25-$35 if you don’t choose for the cheaper economy services (with long delivery times or no registration). That has a big impact for cameras in the $50-$150 price range, for instance. 

Customs rates will depend on your own country. Currencies and postage rates from Germany, France and Netherlands are available in English at  EasyPostageRates.com. Helpful for deciding where to buy or where to sell.

In the March 4 blog the Westlicht PHOTOGRAPHICA AUCTION in Vienna was offering their auction book on CD for free. That they’ve established an excellent worldwide reputation is again evidenced by the exceptional items at the auction and astonishing prices fetched.

How about this:

• 1839 Daguerrotype camera sold for a hammer price of € 480,000. Meaning the buyer was prepared to pay € 576,000 when auction costs and tax are added (about US$ 774,000)
• 1957 Leica 72 sold for € 11,500 hammer price
• Nikon black S-36 motor drive,  hammer price € 9,000
• 1972 Nikon F High Speed camera + accessories “Sapporo”, hammer price € 18,000
• 1951 Zeiss Ikon Contax pinhole lens, hammer price € 6,500

For the results of the entire site you can visit Westlicht’s site. Interesting to get price ideas!

Sorting out my collection I found accessories for ALPA cameras. These cameras were made to order and are extremely well made. In 50 years only 50.000 cameras were built.As a coincidence, Lindemanns bookshop yesterday announced they have an offer for a book by ALPA authority Lothar Thewes. Here’s their message:ALPA. 50 Jahre anders als andere. Von Lothar Thewes.

Calumet (the online store for photographic equipment) and supplies has announced they’re prolongating their offer for free shipping for orders over $50.

The offer runs now through 6/30/07. Discount automatically applied at checkout.

For details see the March 4 blog.

The annual photographica fair in Bièvres, France this year is on Saturday and Sunday June the 2nd and 3rd 2007. An international event that draws busloads of visitors.

In the Netherlands the next big event is in Doesburg, an open air fair on Sunday, August 19. Or in Wormerveer June 17.

The coming two months, just to name a few, there are fairs and trade shows in Carson, Paron, Darmstadt, Leipzig, Berlin, Ratingen, Kiel, Hamburg, Dortmund, London, Antwerp, and Frankfurt.

Opportunities enough to buy or sell your favorite photographic equipment!

PS if you have a meeting to announce, place a free ad at the Classifieds section.

As you know, knowing exactly what you are buying or selling, for example on eBay, can make a big difference saving you money (i.e. not paying too much, or selling for too low).

Apart from the standard resources like McKeown’s, Kadlubek, Camprice, etc, here’s an underestimated resource for technical information I’ve come to appreciate:

Steimers Fotoliste.

Well known in Germany, this is a CD with detailed information about 8800 classic cameras, 3400 lenses, and 2000 accessories. There are also price indications based on 450,000 sales results. Many photo’s and many details.

There are two reasons I’m mentioning this CD.

1. The way the information is structured, allows for getting all kinds of related information. This is extremely powerful. For example: a Leica IID has a M39 screw mount. With one click you can also see which other cameras in the world have M39 screw mount. Franz Steimer has put an effort in this project which is astonishing.
2. There is a new version 2007-2008 available from Lindemanns, with even more information, including 1700 articles from Color Foto.  What’s not evident from the site is that there’s an upgrade from previous versions of the CD for half price.

The CD is in German, but the many pictures and graphical user interface shouldn’t withhold anybody to use it.

One of the first steps in determining vintage and classic camera values is finding out as much as you can about which model you have.

In the ebook “Collecting Cameras Through The Internet” ways are described to figure out this information.

One easy way is to find the user manual of your camera online in the Vintage Camera Online links section. Often you can download manuals for free or for a little compensation to the people who have made this information available. Apart from how-to-use instructions, most manuals have one or two pages with specifications and information about accessories. Useful!

If you have hundreds or maybe thousands of items in your collection, do you still have the overview? Maybe it’s just the age, but often I have to lookup details because I don’t remember them anymore.

It seems more people have the same problem considering the questions about available collecting software.

I’ve been using a self designed Excel spreadsheet for years, the Autofilter function is excellent for finding data fast.

There is specialized collecting software though. If you don’t need complicated functions it doesn’t have to be expensive either, as Niche Software, Inc proves with their $14.95 KollectAll V8 software. And they have a free 30 day trial too