Canon FD - ebay Price Guide

Canon FD - ebayPrice Guide
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/starka/CanonFD_ebay2.htm



NEW - February 2006 Update

It's been a while since I last updated this list. So here's a partial update since I don't track everything below $100 anymore. However I've made a small effort to try to give all you die hard FD users some more recent price guidelines. Keep checking this site as I will update whatever is missing between now and end of February 2006. If you see an asterisk (*) near the price...it just means that I don't have many data points for that particular item. In general I try to have at least 10+ data points for every price. Most prices have 20-40 data points. The information on lenses $100+ is good.....the rest needs a little work....so keep checking this weekly.

I have left some of the old information on the list...just in case you want to compare and look at how much prices have fallen over the past 1 1/2 years.

Feb 03, 2006

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Welcome to the new and expanded ebay Price Guide web page! This site was designed for the Canon FD camera and lens community in hopes that it may benefit from information on used Canon equipment prices on ebay. I have compiled this information over a period of 3+ years (Jan 2000-May  2003) plus an update in Dec.2005 on an intermittent basis.

Since September of 2001, I have been mainly tracking lenses that cost over $300. I have seen a noticeable slowdown and price erosion since the events of September 2001 which I believe are partly due to the economic slowdown in the US market. The same trend can be seen on prices from some of the camera shops such as KEH, Adorama and B&H Photo. The erosion of prices is in the 10-20% range on almost all lenses and cameras. Accessories such as special screens and other hard to find items seem to maintain prices a little better.  I'm still amazed and awed by the amount of FD stuff that is being sold and bought. Even though many people are switching to either AF (auto focus) systems or digital.....a rather large amount of people are still buying up the older FD stuff. Even though you would expect market saturation of FD stuff at some point (and the lower prices may be indicating this trend)...most of the equipment still sells at reasonably high prices. Some of the more expensive lenses sometimes even sell higher than the equivalent AF current model. The higher priced items seemed to be driven by collectors with deep pockets. The rest is just people who enjoy and appreciate the value of good old FD equipment made in the 60's, 70's and 80's !

I have reconstructed the database and have now separated prime lenses from zooms and other specialty lenses. A new section has also been added with some typical accessories for the cameras such as screens, winders, etc.... Also please note that there is a new column titled " Current Avg. Price". This reflects the current average price since the last update made to this list which in this case means from Nov. 2002 to May 2003.

Please Read- One of the most common complaints I have heard and read on the net about this database is that it does not categorize the lenses and cameras by condition. People would like to have this data divided into different categories similar to the one's used by KEH, B&H or any other major seller of used equipment. To those who criticize this database as incomplete I have only one observation to make : "You guys really don't have a clue about what ebay is all about !".  I tried once to categorize lenses by their "advertised" condition. The data is all over the map and has absolutely no meaning whatsoever. Here's a couple of examples to illustrate my point from my own experience:

a) I had a 14mm f2.8L lens which was in good condition (almost a KEH Excellent). I purchased another 14mm 2.8L on a BIN of $550 which was in Like New condition. Sold my Excellent for $1300. How can you have a consistent rating system when things like this happen ? I was lucky that the seller didn't know the current value of his lens and got this jewel for next to nothing. I was also lucky that these are extremely rare so when I sold mine...I got top dollar. So what sense does a Mint- lens at $550 versus an Excellent at $1300 have ? That's ebay for you......

b) I have bought in the last 5 months (and returned) five (5) 28mm f2 lenses. All were described as Mint, Mint-, Excellent ++, 9 + , 9, etc.... All had to be returned because of either, fungus, oil in the blades, scratches on the rear element, thick coating of grime in one of the inside elements, bubbles in the coating, defective coating, etc... The advertised condition was very far from the true condition of the lens. So making a database of lens value based on sellers description is a totally false illusion just because sellers on ebay tend to over advertise what they sell. Luckily I was dealing with good sellers and all refunded me the money after I pointed out the defects . However these two examples just prove my point that making a classification of sold lenses on ebay based on "advertised" condition is a totally futile endeavor. Prices are all over the map, prices change weekly and there is no hard fast rule for pricing. The only items that are relatively consistent in price are items in mint condition, never used with box and documentation. Even then the price may vary from one week to the next depending on which collector is buying that week and how deep his pockets are.

c) Screens for the New F1 are another typical example. The same screen can sell one week for $50 and reach $130 the following week. Price in general has no relation to condition of the screen. I have purchased from a reputed seller on ebay a screen advertised as Mint/Never used. Unfortunately never thought about taking a look at the screen with a 5X loupe. When I did, I discovered that someone had tried to clean the matte fresnel with what looked like a Brillo metal pad. Even though the screen still works fine.....it is very far from either Mint or Never used ! How can you account for things like this (which are more common than you think) on a price list.

So what good is this price list ? It's just an indication that most likely you will pay around $700 for a 24mm 1.4L and not $150. It just gives you a base point from where to start when shopping on ebay. You may get lucky and find that 24mm 1.4L for $250....but the odds are against that happening. In general expect to pay anywhere between $600-$800 for one of these lenses. And if your neighborhood store has one of these for $500.....and in good condition....you will be probably better off buying there and not on ebay.

Use this database at your own discretion and please read the notes, explanations and tips contained at the bottom of this page. If you have any questions, doubts or comments ( praises, thank you notes and $10 bills are also welcome) about the contents here....please feel free to e-mail me at : stoli_photo@yahoo.com

Canon FD Discussion Group : if you're a Canon FD aficionado (at whatever level of expertise) please visit and join one of the best and most civilized Canon FD discussion groups on the net at : http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CanonFD/

                                                                                   

Prime Lens (mm)	f	Description	Hi Price	Lo Price	No. polled	2000-2002  Avg. Price	May 15, 2003 Avg. Price	Avg.Street Excellent 2005	Dec.2005 Avg.Price
7.5	5.6		$822	$395	23	$564	$516	$550	$441
14	2.8	L	$1650	$550	20	$1,074	$1,074	$1250	$1004
15	2.8	breech/new	$1100	$203	72	$513	$503	$550	$376
17	4	breech/new	$585	$180	101	$329	$306	$350	$244
20	2.8	breech	$350	$100	45	$246	$251	$265	$185
20	2.8	new	$590	$140	123	$293	$258	$275	$199
24	1.4	L/Aespherical	$1000	$357	61	$688	$516	$627 / $479 (**)
24	2		$380	$153	48	$254	$232	$275	$160
24	2.8	breech/new	$270	$50	229	$138	$110	$165	$81
28	2		$289	$89	46	$183	$168	$245	$132
28	2.8	breech/new	$129	$24	332	$66	$59	$55	$46
28	3.5	breech	$88	$23	36	$48	$37	$50	$22
35	2	breech/new	$225	$40	139	$127	$110	$140	$88
35	2.8		$148	$25	56	$52	$45	$50	$27
35	3.5		$59	$25	25	$39	$32	$40	$29
50	1.2	L	$910	$213	127	$381	$337	$500	$431
50	1.2		$320	$91	69	$214	$191	$225	$173
50	1.4	breech/New	$380	$29	306	$65	$64	$65	$52
50	1.8	breech/New	$76	$5	304	$25	$24	$25	$19
50	1.8	AC Auto Focus	$56	$11	11	$37	$37	(*)
50	2		$36	$22	3	$29	$29	$27	(*)
55	1.2	breech	$371	$58	77	$180	$183	$165	$180
55	1.2	Aespherical	$1,500	$455	22	$688	$450	$600	$598
85	1.2	Aespherical	$1285	$530	19	$810	$810	$600	$646
85	1.2	L	$1289	$340	162	$634	$544	$570	$566
85	1.8		$355	$99	132	$182	$164	$170	$115
85	2.8	soft focus	$715	$330	6	$440	$440	$450	$490
100	2		$380	$123	28	$245	$207	$310	$182
100	2.8	breech/new	$216	$38	103	$113	$98	$100	$71
135	2		$500	$175	93	$316	$305	$340	$244
135	2.5		$203	$35	84	$100	$95	$90	$76
135	2.8		$239	$39	80	$94	$69	$80		$64
135	3.5		$125	$35	124	$64	$79	$40	$51
200	1.8	L	$3000		1	$3000		(*)
200	2.8		$495	$118	218	$229	$229	$175	$144
200	4	new/breech	$147	$48	74	$74	$74	$65	$58
300	2.8	fluorite/L	$3,000	$500	91	$1,146	$978	$1,100	$702
300	4	L	$869	$318	50	$598	$562	$450	$367
300	4		$605	$145	120	$329	$265	$175	$181
300	5.6		$200	$79	35	$130	$102	$115	$85
400	4.5		$911	$300	57	$553	$493	$500	$368
400	2.8	L	$2,950	$660	33	$2,082	$1,620	$2,570	$2,446
500	8	Reflex	$675	$179	66	$295	$281	$245	$236
500	4.5	L/fluorite	$2,425	$988	22	$1,589	$1,446	$1,500	$1,100
600	4.5		$2,800	$1,050	29	$1,655	$1,433	$1,370	$1,037
800	5.6	L	$2,775	$1,138	28	$1,879	$1,751	$1,950	$1,310
800	5.6	SSC	$1499	$1,000	2	$1,250	$1,250	$1,250	$1,259
Zoom Lens (mm)	f	Description	Hi Price	Lo Price	No. polled	2000-2002  Avg. Price	May 15, 2003 Avg. Price	Avg.Street	Dec.2005 Avg.Price
20-35	3.5	L	$1125	$315	44	$679	$633	$500	$543
24-35	3.5	Aespherical/L	$590	$225	28	$421	$409	$274
28-55	3.5-4.5	macro	$168	$64	22	$114	$101	$150	$79
28-50	3.5	macro	$225	$128	5	$164	$164	$255	$194
28-85	4	macro	$811	$101	86	$321	$266	$265	$213
35-70	2.8-3.5		$300	$97	20	$209	$203	$190	$110
35-70	3.5-4.5	macro	$155	$54	169	$104	$93	$80	$70
35-70	4		$202	$63	85	$112	$100	$90	$57
35-105	3.5	macro	$465	$125	296	$280	$249	$190	$153
35-105	3.5-4.5	macro	$255	$67	25	$173	$162	$215	$152
50-135	3.5	macro	$204	$153	6	$191	$200	$185	(*)
50-300	4.5	L	$1495	$450	15	$1,000	$952	$790	$834
70-150	4.5		$150	$25	42	$74	$68	$65	$45
70-210	4	macro	$235	$45	314	$139	$106	$90	$81
75-200	4.5		$202	$33	87	$114	$87	$80	$55
75-200	4.5	AC Auto Focus	$203	$67	8	$145	$159	$89	$85
80-200	4	macro	$274	$66	58	$152	$138	$145	$71
80-200	4	L	$743	$234	38	$411	$409	$400	$267
85-300	4.5	breech	$630	$279	38	$433	$413	$325	$314
100-200	5.6		$114	$26	104	$65	$55	$70	$27
100-300	5.6	new/breech	$277	$91	150	$186	$149	$110	$183
100-300	5.6	L	$540	$290	19	$400	$342	$365	$277
150-600	5.6	L	$4,000	$2,057	4	$3,009	$3,009	$2,825
Special Lenses (mm)	f	Description	Hi Price	Lo Price	No. polled	2000-2002  Avg. Price	May 15, 2003 Avg. Price	Avg.Street	Dec.2005 Avg.Price
20	3.5	micro	$214	$150	10	$186	$227	$257
35	2.8	micro	$511	$150	7	$231	$231	$243
35	2.8	TS	$815	$300	55	$553	$433	$525	$459
50	3.5	macro	$269	$67	150	$150	$117	$120	$60
100	4	macro	$441	$96	89	$256	$224	$215	$98
200	4	macro	$919	$275	24	$513	$555	$350	$376
Ext. 2X-B			$232	$78	79	$142	$113	$70	$74
Ext. 2X-A			$270	$46	68	$129	$106	$80	$70
Ext. 1.4X-A			$315	$153	26	$188	$192	$120	$104
Cameras		Description	Hi Price	Lo Price	No. polled	2000-2002  Avg. Price	May 15, 2003 Avg. Price	Avg.Street	Dec.2005 Avg.Price
A-1		Body	$423	$58	510	$183	$144	$165	$123
AE1/AE1P		Body	$450	$61	473	$122	$88	$130	$100
AL-1		Body	$158	$14	92	$67	$65	$149	$44
AT-1		Body	$166	$20	90	$71	$49	$139	$61
AV-1		Body	$182	$20	112	$58	$45	$89	$41
T-50		Body	$133	$14	216	$48	$48	$49	$35
T-60		Body	$110	$35	19	$63	$64	$139	$27
T-70		Body	$190	$30	166	$99	$56	$84	$43
T-80		w/lens	$267	$25	41	$96	$68	$84	$66
T-90		Body	$910	$182	202	$366	$326	$325	$181
F-1 Old		Body.	$1136	$100	150	$268	$205	$310	$173
F-1 New		Body	$1600	$190	85	$499	$473	$379	$304
FTb&FTbN		Body	$310	$30	269	$89	$67	$150	$72
EF		Body	$252	$40	44	$116	$85	$225	$137
Flashes		Description	Hi Price	Lo Price	No. polled	2000-2002  Avg. Price	May 15, 2003 Avg. Price	Avg.Street	Dec.2005 Avg.Price
011A			$40	$10	12	$25	$20	$22	(*)
133A			$38	$9	13	$19	$24	$27	$10
133D			$68	$13	11	$39	$31	(*)
155A			$71	$13	107	$30	$31	$25	$27
166A			$40	$10	27	$26	$31	$31	$19
177A			$50	$10	44	$32	$38	$23	$27
188A			$66	$21	93	$42	$46	$33	$29
199A			$188	$40	184	$81	$75	$62	$51
244T			$86	$19	79	$36	$31	$35	$31
277T			$90	$26	54	$66	$72	$53	$37
299T			$136	$32	20	$79	$79	$99	$60
300TL			$228	$93	81	$148	$130	$109	$68
533G			$204	$67	27	$123	$145	$115	$117
577G			$255	$69	8	$189	$189	$250	$194
ML-1			$305	$85	12	$213	$282	$199	$273
ML-2			$305	$203	5	$213	$213	$144	$183
ML-3			$300	$104	46	$204	$157	$144	$96
Accessories		Description	Hi Price	Lo Price	No. polled	2000-2002  Avg. Price	May 15, 2003 Avg. Price	Avg.Street	Dec.2005 Avg.Price
FD50			$61	$25	26	$44	$38	$40	$33
FD25			$51	$18	60	$30	$32	$25	$17
Bellows		Auto	$361	$79	65	$162	$149	$100	$116
Bellows		FL	$205	$41	43	$90	$117	$70	$54
Bellows		M / R	$64	$25	12	$45	$45	$65	(*)
Slide Dup.		Duplicator 55	$66	$11	11	$31	$41	$20	$16
Slide Dup.		Duplicator 35	$50	$32	4	$52	$52	$49	$31
Screens		F1 New	$136	$13	125	$55	$54	$80	$53
		F1 Old	$153	$8	85	$37	$29	$50	$39
		A-1	$76	$15	10	$24	$24	$17
		AE1/AE1P	$103	$11	54	$31	$19	$30
		T90	$116	$5	26	$49	$49	$80	$51
Booster		FTb/Pellix/FT	$34	$10	17	$24	$24	$38
Angle Finder		A2	$55	$21	11	$37	$35	$22)
		B	$135	$40	61	$71	$66	$57
		C	$174	$148	22	$165	$162	$160
Winder A			$102	$16	133	$47	$45	$56	$33
Winder A2			$140	$38	64	$66	$62	$49	$45
Winder MA			$275	$66	77	$158	$151	$109	$97
Winder F		Old F1	$199	$53	11	$131	$126	$235	$143
AE Power Winder FN		New F1	$184	$100	15	$130	$146	$89	$87
Motor Drive MF		Old F1	$229	$150	15	$178	$195	$250	$265
AE Motor Drive FN		New F1	$315	$80	27	$185	$188	$149	$122
Finders	F1N	Waist level	$163	$90	5	$106	$106	$98
	F1N	Speed finder	$272	$156	11	$198	$198	$165	$212
	F1N	Waist Level-6X	$204	$123	4	$153	$153	$223
	F1N	AE Finder	$380	$65	6	$176	$110	(*)
	F1N	Eye level	$175	$50	14	$90	$90	$105	$67
Finders	F1	Servo EE	$256	$104	12	$155	$155	$166
	F1	Speed Finder	$188	$47	18	$118	$121	$133	$84
	F1	Waist Level	$105	$55	10	$72	$72	$115	$97
	F1	Booster T	$160	$75	15	$124	$121	$185	$127
Data Backs	A	A-1/AE-1P	$105	$22	28	$48	$38	$33	$26
	FN	F1 New	$153	$33	9	$69	$69		(*)
F	F1 old	$16	$16	1	$16	$16	(*)
	T90	T90	$241	$80	9	$144	$144	$179	(*)
T80	T80	$80	$50	5	$71	$71	(*)
	T70	T70	$154	$75	5	$93	$93	$23	(*)
LC-1		IR Remote	$240	$40	9	$92	$92		$111
LC-2	T90	IR Remote	$130	$50	13	$122	$122		$63
Polaroid	T90	Polaroid Back	$204	$100	3	$166	$166		(*)
Film 250	F1	Film Back	$130	$63	7	$97	$97		$289
34mm		drop-in filters	$68	$28	13	$54	$54
M Tube Set		ExtensionTubes	$50	$20	6	$33	$33		$25
Film FN 100		$225	$175	2	$200	$200

(**) - Aspherical SSC / New FD

Dec 2005 Update -  

Cameras - The most difficult part to asses are cameras. It is very frequent that I find camera values of $0 ! The reason is behind many sets being sold where the value of the lenses and accessories is higher than the sale price of the set and therefore the camera comes out as a freebie. So many people will buy the set....sell off the lenses for what they bought the set for and then keep the camera for free. Likewise many times they will sell off the camera and keep the lens as a freebie. This makes tracking of camera prices extremely difficult. Where I can , I try to list camera bodies only. However many times I have to deduct the cost of the lens in order to search for a camera body price.

BL vs. New FD mount lenses - In most cases I really don't see any major price differences between old BL mount lenses and the newer bayonet mount. Where there is a difference...I have separated them. The majority are bundled together as less than 5% difference really doesn't make worthwhile tracking both versions in separate categories. However I have noticed lately that on the more expensive lenses such as the 24mm F1.4, 20mm F2.8 and others that there is a trend of higher prices for the old BL lenses.

Many people have asked what "Average Price" means. My feel for this is it means that you will be getting an "average" product that probably qualifies as a Bargain to Excellent at KEH or a 8 to 8+  at B&H. Items at the highest prices will generally be in mint condition and in a box. This is not to say that sometimes you can get real nice stuff at bargain prices……however the norm is that the better the "perceived" condition of the camera or lens…the higher the bidding will go. Lowest prices are generally items that have poor cosmetic condition. I do not include items that are defective or don't work.

This list includes lenses sold on e-bay from 1/00 to 12/05 for N.America, Canada, Autralia and NZ and some European countries . Most priced over $200 are checked more frequently by me and the list will probably have around 60%-70% of lenses sold in this category. Prices are in $ US.

All lenses are Canon FD original - Older FL lenses are not included in this list.

Use as a guide....price depends on many factors including quality of lens, condition and market demand at a given moment. .

Final Words - Over the last 5  years I have seen prices come down both on ebay as well as KEH.com. The average decrease has been around 20%-30%. There is seasonal variability so it's hard sometimes to define a trend. However....prices have been dropping which is an advantage for collectors and users. More and more camera stores are selling on e-bay and therefore there's a little bit higher offer than demand and prices have steadily decreased  over this 5 year period. I am no longer be monitoring continuously most of the equipment since I see very little variation over time and this activity is taking up too much of my time. I will concentrate from now on on the harder to find and statistically less found "L" lenses as well as some other lenses that are not often sold and accessories.. Same for the cameras….there is little or no variation in the average price. I will check prices once every 6 month (a 4 week sampling) just to make sure that this premise still holds true.

Buying TIPS - Patience...patience and Patience. I've bought some stuff at higher than average prices because I was not willing to wait. This is a place where patience pays dividends. The item will show up again and probably at a better price. Ask a lot of questions to the seller...if you don't get responses that satisfy you.....don't bid unless you're willing to take a risk. If there are many "newbies" (people new to e-bay with zero (0) or low number of feedback) ...careful. These guys generally don't know much about the pricing conditions and will drive prices way up beyond the reasonable. Wait for the next camera or lens. It doesn't make any difference whether you bid early or during the last seconds. The guy who is willing to pay the highest amount will always win the bid. If you are buying....the best deals are when you buy a whole kit (camera, flash, lenses, etc...). If you are selling ....the best deal is to sell everything separately.

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© Vladimir Antonov, January 2006