Expert: John Oliverio - 5/5/2009

Question
Would you give me a general estimate of a 35mm Minolta camera Maxxum 7000 I have a 35-70mm lens and a 70-210 lens also a 2800 flash all are in excellent working order

Answer
Raymond,

Hello and thanks for the question.

Unfortunately the value of film cameras have dropped dramatically over the last several years.  Even the prices of the super expensive German collectible cameras have dropped.  It's because film is getting tougher to use.  And also because there are so many used cameras on the market.  Add into that how big the market audience is (eBay, Craig's List, etc.) and it is very hard to say what a camera is worth.  I usually say it's worth what ever you can get for it.  For example, I found a kit similar to yours going on eBay (with about two hours left on the auction) for around $100 dollars.  But it was also a charity auction so you have to take that into account.  On the same page I found the Body and one lens with a starting bid of $12 dollars and no bids.  There are no longer any updated "blue books" giving value.  And you can't draw conclusions from "direct replacement" because they don't make film SLRs any more.

If it was my kit and I was pressed to assign it a value for sale, I would probably start at around $50 dollars.  If you are in a small town and sell it locally (pawn shop or antique store) you may be able to get more.  

I know this is heart breaking news when you think back on how much you paid for it.  Same thing happened to me when I got out of film cameras 8 years ago.  I was selling 3 professional Nikon SLRs... each with a lens.  I figured the value at around $2000 dollars and was lucky to get $500.  And that was a long time ago.....  before the market was saturated with them.  


Hope this helps.

John