Help with estimate on swapping things out

[7enderbender]

Hi there,
Haven’t been on here for a long time. Botched eye surgery and diminished interest put a damper on things.
I still have my 5D Mk2 in good working order, a 50L, 135L, 200L, and a 24-105 4L (first series).

I’m not looking to switch over to the new R series or anything mirrorless. I feel Canon just screwed me over for the second time since the FD to EF switch. So if I stick to photography I’ll ultimately have to suck it up and buy a Leica M.

Long story short, for what I still do (mostly people photography, and I have shoot with a band coming up) I’m thinking about trading my 200 2.8 (fixed) and my 24-105 for the original non-IS version of the 24-70 2.8L.
Does this line up for an even trade give or take?

 

[JPAZ]

If you can, go for the EF 24-70 f/2.8 MKii. A stellar lens on the 5 series. But, will you miss the reach?

 

[neuroanatomist]

Check prices on keh.com. What your lenses are worth depends on their condition and how you sell them. You’ll get more if you sell direct (Craigslist, eBay), less if you sell to Keh/B&H/Adorama. The former is more hassle, though.

Personally, I only sell on Craigslist – local, cash transactions. Last weekend I listed both my EF 70-200/2.8 L IS II and 70-300L, both sold by Wednesday (living near Boston certainly helps).

 

[unfocused]

Check prices on keh.com. What your lenses are worth depends on their condition and how you sell them. You’ll get more if you sell direct (Craigslist, eBay), less if you sell to Keh/B&H/Adorama. The former is more hassle, though.

Personally, I only sell on Craigslist – local, cash transactions. Last weekend I listed both my EF 70-200/2.8 L IS II and 70-300L, both sold by Wednesday (living near Boston certainly helps).

Living near a large city I imagine is the key to Craigslist. Since I live in a city of only 115,000 there doesn't seem to be a large enough market.

I almost always sell through eBay. I have no complaints about the prices I've gotten, however, I am very frustrated by the increasing number of scammers who try to rip you off. So far, I've avoided getting taken, but I've learned to be very strict about not communicating with anyone except through eBay and being very careful about not shipping anything until eBay has confirmed payment. I've learned that, unfortunately, it doesn't pay to be a nice guy when dealing with bidders on eBay.

As per the original post my advice to @7enderbender is to take a few minutes and look up each item on eBay and select "sold items" in the filters. This will give you an accurate picture of what these lenses have sold for recently.

 

[neuroanatomist]

Living near a large city I imagine is the key to Craigslist. Since I live in a city of only 115,000 there doesn't seem to be a large enough market.

I almost always sell through eBay. I have no complaints about the prices I've gotten, however, I am very frustrated by the increasing number of scammers who try to rip you off. So far, I've avoided getting taken, but I've learned to be very strict about not communicating with anyone except through eBay and being very careful about not shipping anything until eBay has confirmed payment. I've learned that, unfortunately, it doesn't pay to be a nice guy when dealing with bidders on eBay.

Happens on CL, too, which is why I insist on cash. For the lenses I sold last week, one buyer asked about using PayPal and told me it was safe. In fact, it is for sellers who ship items, but for in-person transactions there's no proof of transfer of the item so there's no seller protection (only way to do that would be to have a business PayPal account and use their QR code transaction setup). I said no PayPal, he brought cash, done. The other buyer asked about Venmo...same deal – I said cash, he brought cash.

 

[JPAZ]

Check prices on keh.com. What your lenses are worth depends on their condition and how you sell them. You’ll get more if you sell direct (Craigslist, eBay), less if you sell to Keh/B&H/Adorama. The former is more hassle, though.

Personally, I only sell on Craigslist – local, cash transactions. Last weekend I listed both my EF 70-200/2.8 L IS II and 70-300L, both sold by Wednesday (living near Boston certainly helps).

I'd add MBP to the list of companies that will appraise and buy your lens. I did sell a few items locally for cash to people I know through my camera club (met in the bank lobby and did the exchange there for cash). This can probably net a few dollars more. But, I've had good luck with MBP and KEH. They will not give you as much as you'd get on your own but there is no fear of being scammed, either. You can look online to get an idea of what your lens is worth in the used market. Be realistic about the condition of the lens you are selling.

 

[Del Paso]

I'd add MBP to the list of companies that will appraise and buy your lens. I did sell a few items locally for cash to people I know through my camera club (met in the bank lobby and did the exchange there for cash). This can probably net a few dollars more. But, I've had good luck with MBP and KEH. They will not give you as much as you'd get on your own but there is no fear of being scammed, either. You can look online to get an idea of what your lens is worth in the used market. Be realistic about the condition of the lens you are selling.

Fully agree!
I sold and bought several items via MPB.
They are absolutely reliable and professional, in estimating realistically the value of what they buy, and the condition of what they sell.
I never had a single issue or complaint dealing with them.
Caveat: I've been speaking of MPB Europe, MPB USA could be different, even though I doubt they will.

 

[HenryL]

Fully agree!
I sold and bought several items via MPB.
They are absolutely reliable and professional, in estimating realistically the value of what they buy, and the condition of what they sell.
I never had a single issue or complaint dealing with them.
Caveat: I've been speaking of MPB Europe, MPB USA could be different, even though I doubt they will.

The last few lenses I've sold to non-individuals have been to MPB (USA). They consistently provided higher prices than KEH, had more realistic grading of equipment (it was not uncommon for them to pay slightly more than initially offered). They also offer faster payment than KEH, or at least they did up to last year. Can't speak to current practice. MPB and KEH are both solid, but I prefer MPB for future sales.

 

[neuroanatomist]

Thanks for the MPB recommendations – if I can't get something out on CL, I'll consider that approach. Honestly, the main driver for me now, as I switch move to more RF lenses, is a self-imposed limit to not buy more Pelican Storm cases. I told myself that the RF 70-200/2.8 sitting vertically instead of flat in a case is not cheating...

 

[7enderbender]

Thanks everyone for the feedback. Just been following up now. I haven’t sold anything yet and have been planning to go shoot some photos this weekend after a very long hiatus and see how I feel about it all. Been tossing around the vague idea of selling the whole thing and get a Leica from the previous serious now that they came out with the new body. A good rangefinder like that and a fast 50mm lens is actually all I’d want these days. But that would still set me back a pretty penny. Utterly disappointed in everything I see Canon is doing with their new models and lenses.

 

[Blue Zurich]

I have had very good experiences with MPB. From the website simplicity, quote system and customer service followups. Their prices are a bit better than Keh.com and they respond much faster to inquiries. I believe their rating systems are equal. If Keh had a new webmaster things might be a bit more even but it's a mess imho. MPB has really helped facilitate my switch from EF to RF glass smoothly and at great trade prices.

 

[privatebydesign]

Thanks everyone for the feedback. Just been following up now. I haven’t sold anything yet and have been planning to go shoot some photos this weekend after a very long hiatus and see how I feel about it all. Been tossing around the vague idea of selling the whole thing and get a Leica from the previous serious now that they came out with the new body. A good rangefinder like that and a fast 50mm lens is actually all I’d want these days. But that would still set me back a pretty penny. Utterly disappointed in everything I see Canon is doing with their new models and lenses.

Before using melodramatic sentences like "I feel Canon just screwed me over for the second time since the FD to EF switch" you might be wise to actually use your EF lenses on an R camera, they often work better than they do on EF cameras. The switch from EF to RF is incomparable to the switch from FD to EF.

 

[neuroanatomist]

I have had very good experiences with MPB. From the website simplicity, quote system and customer service followups.

I had a terrible first experience with MPB when selling them my EF 24-70/2.8L II and EF 16-35/4L IS lenses, in November of last year. The initial part was fine – online quote, shipping label provided, items received. Despite their promise of 2-3 business days, I heard nothing for 6 business days so I emailed them. They replied a couple of hours later with the email requesting my banking information, which I provided. The next day I received an email saying payment had been made and would be deposited within two business days. The funds didn't arrive, so I emailed them again and they replied they would look into it. Again I did not hear back, so a day later I emailed them and they said they were having trouble with their bank making payments and were looking into it. They did eventually get it sorted, but in all it was about 3 weeks between them receiving the gear and me actually getting paid. I'm glad I didn't actually need the funds.

I did try them again, with just an ST-E3-RT, and that went what is probably (hopefully) the norm for them - about 5 business days from them receiving it to the money being in my account, and I did not have to email them several times to move things along.

 

[privatebydesign]

How much are ST-E3-RT's worth to a company like MPB?

 

[neuroanatomist]

How much are ST-E3-RT's worth to a company like MPB?

They paid $89. It was the v1 model, in like-new condition. Sold it because I bought the ST-E10 – conveniently small, no batteries to change, and I never actually used the controls on the ST-E3 itself, just the camera menu. That's even easier to access on my R3 since I have Flash Function settings linked to the(illumination) button. If I need to have a master on one of my other bodies, I can just use one of my 600EX flashes.

 

[privatebydesign]

They paid $89. It was the v1 model, in like-new condition. Sold it because I bought the ST-E10 – conveniently small, no batteries to change, and I never actually used the controls on the ST-E3 itself, just the camera menu. That's even easier to access on my R3 since I have Flash Function settings linked to the(illumination) button. If I need to have a master on one of my other bodies, I can just use one of my 600EX flashes.

Yes the ST-E10 looks like a good upgrade and I always hated the screen angle and the fact it was mounted so you couldn't change the angle annoyed me.

I still have two of them but just got a set of Profoto B1's so not sure how much I'll use the 600's going forwards. I do wish the Canon flashes had optical triggers though. When I used mixed flash systems Canon PCB and Profoto, I have to use the Canon's as 'masters' because they are the only ones I can't trigger optically.

But $89 seems reasonable.

 

[neuroanatomist]

I do wish the Canon flashes had optical triggers though. When I used mixed flash systems Canon PCB and Profoto, I have to use the Canon's as 'masters' because they are the only ones I can't trigger optically.

You can stick a Sonia Green into the PC sync terminal on your Canon flashes to make them optical slaves. Might be useful for fills when using your B1's. Have to use manual flash, else the ETTL preflash will prematurely trigger them.