These aren't all the digital cameras I've owned and used since I got my first one in 1999 — over the years I've given one to my late friend Charles-Henry; one to my sister; one to my mother; and one to a charity shop; and one to an old friend in California. I was never much interested in photography before digital cameras became available at reasonable prices. I regret that. I'd love to have some photos of the years and months I spent in Paris; Rouen (Normandy); Aix-en-Provence; and Grenoble back in the 1970s, '80s, and '90s. Also in California, after Walt and I moved out there in 1986. Anyway, there's nothing I can do about all that now.
Starting in the late '90s, I had a series of Kodak digital cameras that I really liked. And several Canon models too. In the early 2000s, thanks to a friend in Paris who had one, I bought and used a series of Panasonic Lumix cameras. As you can see in the recent photo above, I still have four Lumix models. The last digital camera I bought was a Sony that I still have. I kept taking photos with Lumix cameras and the Sony until a new gadget came along. I mean the Samsung smart phone I bought nearly six months ago. I use it for taking pictures now, pretty much exclusively.
What is wonder is: what can I do with all these cameras that I still have and that are in very good condition and still take good photos. Is there any market for them? Does anybody really want a compact digital camera these days?
Ken, you could look on eBay for the models and see what there is by way of asking price? Note I say asking price.... there is no guarantee that that is what it will go for.
ReplyDeletePanasonic are a respected make that give good quality images....
"Does anybody really want a compact digital camera these days?".... personally, I wouldn't be without my Pentax/Ricoh WG-6 because it is convenient to lug around... [it lives in my man-bag]... because although it has a lower resolution than my current iPhone... the iPhone changes the picture too much in the small detail because of the alogrithms it uses to get to the "incroyable" resolutions it gives... for everyday use, that isn't a problem... landscapes, plants, street photography... you wouldn't notice, and the pictures would look better than those from the Panasonics.... close up work with insects for example, and my iPhone does strange things to legs, feet, antennae... and they can often be distinguishing features between species.... and, if you want to enlarge or crop deeply, the quality isn't there and they look strange and wavy... but, for a convenient, always with you, carry around camera... then sorry Panasonic and other such compacts... you are dead in the water.
ePhotozine [an online independent photo magazine... based in Manchester...] started reviewing 'phones a couple of years ago as "cameras that you can do other things with" and the adverts for the Xiaomi 15 Ultra smartphone don't mention that it is a 'phone at all.... they concentrate on the Leica lenses and the Pro Photo Pack which adds a handgrip, filter holder and removable shutter button that gives you remote control up to 200ft line of sight.... only the retail adverts on Amazon, Pixmania, etc use the word smartphone.... Xiaomi don't!!
However!
If your cameras are not worth even advertising, how about donating them to a local school... or similar...
I don't want to get involved in selling things on Ebay. I guess donating the cameras to a school is the way to go. Or maybe donating them to Emmaüs would be a good plan. I gave them a year 2000 Canon a few years back. It produced good images but was too bulky and heavy for me to carry it around on my walks in the vineyard.
DeleteI don’t use Facebook but I found Facebook Marketplace is widely used in my part of the world and I live in a town between two very small cities. Because you live in a fairly isolated hamlet in France, you might try leboncoin.fr If you are not at all motivated to sell and potentially having to package and send off heavy cameras, then Emmaüs is the easiest solution in rural and semi rural France.
DeleteI brought all my old digitals to the charity shop. None were worth enough money to bother trying to sell them, I discovered. But I still have my last Cannon because, although my iPhone has an exceptional camera, it just can’t zoom like a good digital. So I’m back this week to using both.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what you say about zooming. I need to figure out which one (or ones) I might want to keep.
DeleteI honestly don't think that a school would use them, either, Ken. If they were interested, sure, that's a great thought, but in what I've observed in the past 5-10 years, everything is done with phone cameras... still and video. It's far easier for the kids to get the image or video file into the software or program or whatever, that they need it for... yearbook, project being turned in online, etc. Most teenagers have never really even seen or used a camera that wasn't in their phone.
ReplyDeleteA YouTuber, Thomas Heaton uses MPB.com to sell used cameras in England, I have bought several lenses from an online dealer in Atlanta. I would do a search, you enter the information on what you want to sell and they will quote you a value. New compact digitals have gotten very-very expensive, making some of the older one's worth selling. I have a Samsung compact that I take when I don't want to take my DSLR along, it fits in a pocket and takes great photos.
ReplyDeleteI still have two and don't know what to do with them. My granddaughter is a little bit interested and wonders how they work.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, I think cameras like yours (I have a couple too) have gone the way of the buggy whip.
ReplyDeleteBettyAnn
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I'm sure you are right.
DeletePerhaps if you can find a Photography Club somewhere, they might be interested....
ReplyDeleteGood idea.
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