What's hasselblads next move ?

[JackieS]

potentially tough times ahead

i'd like to find a way to give up some of my Leica M and purchase an H3DII-31 but I am afew thousand quid short. A secondhand kit would probably just about do it but there are none for sale at present at secondhand prices. Used H3d39's appear cheap but there is no way I could live with that small screen. Its not even good enough to check focus.

would anyone care to speculate what might happen to prices and the MF market in general next year ? I am almost certain that it won't be worth holding out for the Leica S2 due to its likely high price so what do you reckon my best move is ?


cheers

JS

 

[Chuck Jones]

I doubt highly that we will see prices this low on used gear ever again, and fully do expect to see prices substantially up from this level by end of first quarter next year.

 

[woodyspedden]

I agree with Chuck.

The die was cast when Hassy cut their list prices on the H3DII-39 from $29K to $21K. They wanted to move people up to the H3DII-50 (or 60) and to cut the used guys out of the market. For instance I have a H3DII-39 bought in June for the $29K list and couldn't sell it two months later for $17K. Although this was a stunning price for a system two months old with 10 months left on warranty, I feel that most people wanted to take advantage of the $21K price with a dealer backed up warranty. Frankly, if the shoe were on the other foot i probably would opt for that as well.

So basically left all of us in the lurch when it comes to moving our used Kit. The only solution of course is to recognize that the H3DII-39 did not get worse as a product as a result of Hasselblads new pricing strategy. So I will keep mine, use it incessantly and let the market ultimately decide. Perhaps in two years I will be able to sell it for $14-15K and have had the use of it for two years as well.

Just my silly thoughts

Woody