Do Any Digital Cameras Increase in Value?

[Paul Reading]

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The most likely candidates for value retention are R8/DMR or just the back and the Digilux 2. Both are unique and the nearest to a collectors item. Long term say 30 years they will be value less unlike a 3G(providing film is still being made).

[AlanG]

I don't think collecting has anything to do with losing value as technology in the item becomes dated. After all, old cars that are technologically obsolete are worth a lot. It all comes down to whether the collector market for cameras (digital or analog) will be there in the future. Just as camera swap meets have been dying out, I bet camera collecting won't be a growth industry.

 

I think for the digital camera to hold value, it will have to be functional. And many collectors may not want to put much money into something that will be difficult or impossible to fix if it fails and then has a commensurate loss in value. But if the idea of collecting cameras continues out into the future, it will have no choice but to include digital cameras or else it will stagnate or shrink as a hobby.

 

Electronics have been making inroads even in unexpected fields. High end Campagnolo and Shimano bicycle drive trains have had electronic gear shifting for a little while now. I bet this starts filtering down to less expensive models soon. And electronic shifting in race cars is nothing new.

 

I can certainly see a future Leica having electronic linkage between lenses and the rangefinder instead of the mechanical system of today. Hybrid viewfinders, electronic frame lines... why not? And even if the optical rangefinder/viewfinder does not change much I could see it being moved electro-mechanically instead of mechanically. Mechanical technology in cameras, as in many other things, has gone about as far as it is likely to go on its own.

[bill]

I am not buying a Leica with a flappy paddle gearbox...

 

Regards,

 

Bill

[sblitz]

Cameras are investment we consume. Its value lies in what it returns to you while you use it. It's value at the end is a nice plus but meaningless unless you are a collector. As for a digital not lasting forever. Nothing does. I prefer to think of the m9 eventual replacement as part of the cost of not having to buy film for a lot of years and developing etc etc etc. Who cares what it will be worth. It's value is what it brings me now. And right now thatches the m9 a bargain

[lykaman]

The only Digital Camera that DID & Does increase in value is the original one built in the Laboratory.....