Sony How come the RX1 depreciates so much in value?

eye2i

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I'm just curious. Its well built and has no known issues. The RX1 has an amazing, AMAZING sensor. A remarkable Zeiss Sonnar lens and is the ONLY fixed lens full frame camera in the market. It's a camera that has earned praises from every reputable testers.


The market for these RX1's (without any accessories) seems to be around the $1900-$2100 range.


I bought mine on EBAY for close to $2150 about a month ago. The camera is like new and was purchased by its original owner, June 2013, making the camera barely 2 months old. I received a copy of the invoice and the original owner bought it for full retail price (around $2800). In less than 2 months, the owner loss more than $700, including the Paypal and EBAY fees he accrued.


I've owned a Nikon D700, Canon 5D Mark II, Fuji X100 and Canon 6D and none of those bodies dropped as much as the RX1.


Any explanation why this is?
 
I'd guess because if someone can't get a pretty large discount, if you're going to spend $2100 on a camera, may as well spend $2800 and get one new with warranty coverage.
 
I think part of it explained by the giant user installed base of potential upgraders. There's already a gazillion Nikon and Canon DSLR owners who are potential upgraders. When the RX1 was released, there was a small number of people willing to spend $2,800 for a compact camera with a fixed lens. There were also some that were willing to check it out if it dropped to $2,000. I think a lot of those people have already jumped in. The marketplace for expensive compacts is getting kinda crowded and now we're into camera announcement season. Some will wait to see what the next cameras are going to look like.
 
I didn't know they were that cheap.
Then again, perhaps the owner has quite a bit of disposable income and "breaking even" wasn't his/her goal. :)
 
I think part of it explained by the giant user installed base of potential upgraders. There's already a gazillion Nikon and Canon DSLR owners who are potential upgraders. When the RX1 was released, there was a small number of people willing to spend $2,800 for a compact camera with a fixed lens. There were also some that were willing to check it out if it dropped to $2,000. I think a lot of those people have already jumped in. The marketplace for expensive compacts is getting kinda crowded and now we're into camera announcement season. Some will wait to see what the next cameras are going to look like.

I agree with Supply and Demand and with your thoughts as well Luke.


My guess is those people who don't mind losing several hundreds of dollars simply treat the loss as a rental fee. Honestly, this was my thought process as well. I was going to rent the camera for $150.00 for exactly one week. I figured, testing this camera for one week won't be enough, and I'm going to end up extending the rent for another week which will run me another $125.00, so I decided to just buy the camera and use it for as long as I want and truly test the camera (if it's for me) and will end up paying less by owning it as opposed to renting it for a month or two.


I originally put my RX1 up for sale for $1950.00, I didn't get any offers so I lowered it to $1750.00 but I just can't do that. At this point, I'd rather sell some other Canon lenses than to let this camera go for such price. The engineering and craftsmanship placed in this camera deserves so much more respect, I think most people doesn't see much value in this camera.
 
I'd say the market for such cameras is very limited; even at $2000 it's decidedly less practical, less versatile — and more expensive — than something like a Canon 6D or Nikon D600. My guess is that most people who want a full-frame sensor are simply buying DSLRs.
 
Actually I would guess that most people looking at $2800 compacts are already in Leica M territory and would rather just buy the real thing.

I am actually looking to trade my M8.2 for an RX1.
 
There were RX1R upgraders/X100s downgraders who sold their cameras. Also the new coming FF sony doesn't help esp on the demand side:

(SR5) New Zeiss 24-70mm FE (Full Frame E-mount) lens coming too with the NEX-FF in October! - sonyalpharumors

These are the SR5 ranked NEX-FF lens info: Zeiss 35mm f/2.8, Zeiss 55mm f/1.8 and Zeiss 24-70mm.

As you say the RX1 lens is perfect match for the camera/sensor. Even the new FF Sony will not match as the 35mm f/2.8 lens is same size as RX1 lens.

The engineering and craftsmanship placed in this camera deserves so much more respect, I think most people doesn't see much value in this camera.
 
If I'm reading this correctly, you bought it and tried to sell it a month later. Why did you want to sell it?
 
If I'm reading this correctly, you bought it and tried to sell it a month later. Why did you want to sell it?

Honestly, it was an itch. I wanted to see if the RX1 can fulfill both my needs, which is to have a compact full frame camera that I can use both for work and travel. My vision was to keep the 6D strictly for portraits (85mm) and the RX1 for a moderate wide end.


I wanted to sell because for this price, I can just get a Sigma 35 1.4 and save some cash since the novelty is wearing off but for the price of $1750.00, since I can't get $1950 for it, I'd rather keep it and use it more since I'm beginning to fall in love with it.
 
You might have hit something there, then. If the RX1 is an "itch" camera, a novelty, then perhaps not enough people are willing to spend $2K for an itch, and those that were might already have.
 
I haven't seen that many RX1's for $2k or less. Quite honestly, next time I am in the US I will hunt on ebay like a madman.

Where did you find those $2k RX1s? I want a back up to mine.
 
Hi Roger. EBay has tons of it. Craigslist, though it's rare to find one on that marketplace. Fred Miranda had a few too but EBAY offers the best selection.
 
Honestly, it was an itch. I wanted to see if the RX1 can fulfill both my needs, which is to have a compact full frame camera that I can use both for work and travel. My vision was to keep the 6D strictly for portraits (85mm) and the RX1 for a moderate wide end.


I wanted to sell because for this price, I can just get a Sigma 35 1.4 and save some cash since the novelty is wearing off but for the price of $1750.00, since I can't get $1950 for it, I'd rather keep it and use it more since I'm beginning to fall in love with it.

Seems like there were a lot of people with some cash and an itch to scratch. Maybe those with less expendable incomes are less itchy or can't spend that kind of money for a one trick pony; they need more versatility in their gear.
 
Sorry to be contrarian, but, honestly, if a camera which lists for $2800 is selling for a quarter less, used - $2100 or 2K - that doesn't seem like truly excessive depreciation to me. It seems to me, on the contrary, that many if not most excellent digital cameras tend to appreciate in a quick falloff within the first year or so after their release - but after that they stabilize. Then there's another falloff a year or three down the line when their once-new (and cool) technology gets leapfrogged and surpassed either by competitors or newer models. This phenomenon seems to have occurred in most of the digital cameras I've ever bought or owned. Before shooting micro 4/3, I had a truly fine Pentax DSLR system which underwent a similar steep depreciation/decline in list prices vs used prices during the first year or two after its release.

So, I guess to me, the notion that a $2800 camera is still worth $2100....seems about right.

The only obvious exceptions tending to be Leicas - and, these days, certain more 'collectable' film cameras which, years ago, were relatively worthless but now, with the new trends (crazes?) towards digital phographers re-embracing their film roots, have acquired more value.

Just my .02.
 
2009, the Olympus EP1 for USD 800 and the Leica M9 for USD 7000 are released.
Used, excellent condition EP1 go for about USD 150 on e-bay. Used M9s are traded around USD 3500-4000. 60% depreciation of the Oly and 40%-50% of the Leica. The loss in absolute USD is another story. Used RX1s for about only 25% less than new ones are actually showing tat it holds its value pretty nicely. For a factory new Leica XV an official Leica dealer offered me a 15% discount the other day (no buy for me). Unthinkable for a RX1 in its year of launch as demand outstripped supply.
 
depreciation matters less the longer you use something
if you use for 2 years and loose £500 per year that could be quite acceptable.

the good news about the RX1(R) is that it is quite unique. Its unlikely that you will rush to change it. The shutter is silent, the detail is massive, the lens is good.

Lets say you are using a RX1, the RX1R probably only tempted a few of the original users (idiots like me ;) ). But then, what can Sony do. 36mp ? nice but I wouldn't upgrade for that. Focus point pixels to speed AF ? I wouldn't upgrade for that as it reduces acuity (Sony, interestingly, has this on the A7 but not on the A7r and states this is to increase detail). f1.4 lens - this could tempt me but physics would dictate a much larger lens. Better construction - no. built in EVF - no, as I have said before I like the option to go as small as possible. An f-speed dial ? nice but no.
I am not saying the RX1 is at the end of devlopment but unless sensors go to 1 billion pixels could be good enough for many years
 
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