Glass is a good investment

CabanSail

It actually is a Good Investment. This is for Canon glass but I am sure it would hold true for other leading makers.

magicbastarder

i read that in a completely different way - that canon prices have completely outstripped inflation.
granted, there may be external influences such as the cost of glass, etc., but i'd regard the conclusions from that article as being negative rather than the positive spin they're trying to put on it.
especially since i would imagine SLR ownership is going up, not down.

Ghost Train

Surely if you buy a new lens, if you try sell it on you won't get whatever the current new retail price is. Second hand price with no warranty won't give you same as new price?

magicbastarder

the author makes this point near the end:

From a value point of view, Canon lenses beat the stock market.

stock prices are going down. canon prices are going up. he has a poor grasp of what the word 'value' means.

lenses possibly *are* a good investment though - because of canon's pricing policy, which is an artificial way of creating this effect.
e.g.

EF 50mm f/1.4, not wanting to be outdone, has made a sharp rise of 55.2% from $290 to $450

if you bought it for $300 a few years ago, you *may* be able to sell it for $350 to someone now who doesn't want to pay $450 for a new one.

tororosso

Ghost Train wrote: »

Surely if you buy a new lens, if you try sell it on you won't get whatever the current new retail price is. Second hand price with no warranty won't give you same as new price?

You're right but the prices are so high for some of them (300mm f2.8 etc) that buying one guarantees being able to sell for a decent price down the line. I have seen some lenses on adverts that are 10 years old and selling for between 2-4 grand. Alternatively the bodies are a nightmare for holding their value as they depreciate ridiculously quickly because of newer models being churned out every 1-2 years

Dades

Surely a lot depends on how much and where you paid for the lens in the first place. Buy online and sell offline, and you might well break even.

gloobag

I don't feel so guilty about the ridiculously expensive purchase I made a couple of weeks ago now