On Saturday I took my Canon 20D into a camera shop here in Cork and asked how much they’d give for it as a trade in against a Canon 40D.
After a few minutes I found out the disappointing answer. €300. Depreciation is a bitch isn’t it? The Canon 40D body is €1200 here. I need to start saving.
In other camera news, the M/AF switch on my wide angle Sigma lens fell off! I noticed it gone this afternoon and can’t find the switch anywhere. Hopefully it won’t be too expensive to replace.
12 replies on “How much is your camera worth?”
I bought a 40D in September and love it – but it’s an upgrade from a 300D for me. What do you think you’ll be able to achieve with a 40D which you can’t with your current 20D?
The Canon 20D is quite capable, but my camera is getting old. The stuck pixels on my sensor really annoy me when I take any sort of long exposure shot, or any shot with a cut down aperture.
The 40D has a new processing chip which apparently improves noise levels and picture quality. The extra pixels in the sensor aren’t that big a deal for me, but would be nice when cropping. Even Scott Beale of Laughing Squid has expressed interest in “downgrading” from a 5D because of the excellent image quality of the 40D.
First things first, get the lens fixed.
Personally i think you would be nuts to upgrade to the 40D at the moment, there just isn’t a whole lot between that and the 20D. Ok, so the 40D has that little bit more MP’s, you wouldn’t notice that anyway, the noise is that much better (which is a reason to get it, but not enough!) and it has the self cleaning sensor, which is just a gimmick! i know granted the stuck/dead pixel is a pain in the arse on your 20D, i had the same problem towards the end on my 10D. But, I bit the bullet and got the 5D eventually, i know it’s expensive, i just saved up for it.. Took a while, but i was determined, i couldn’t justify upgrading to the 20/30D, there just wasn’t that much of a difference, i thought. With 5D fullFrame, 12 odd MP’s and incredible lack of noise of very high ISO’s. Huge difference. If you don’t want the 5D but want the better image quality, keep your money and buy an “L” lens. You will, i lie not, see a difference in contrast and overall quality.
Personally, i think that Scott Beale would want his head checked for doing such a thing… that is crazy. I still have my 10D, i just cannot get over the MASSIVE difference looking through it’s viewfinder compared to the 5D.
I’ve a feeling i know what Camera shop you went into aswell, they tried to shaft me too. €300 WTF, i presume you laughed in their faces? Sell privately. And buy that camera online, either Pixmania or Komplett.ie.. Better/cheaper prices…
Just one question, was €1200 the price they gave you with the trade in???
Thanks Alan, that makes me feel better for not being able to upgrade now! 🙂
The shop in question was McSweeney’s on Oliver Plunkett Street. I was a bit shocked alright at what they offered me. I’m not really interested in a 5D though because of my investment in EFS lenses. The quality of images from it is amazing however!
I’ll soldier on with the 20D for the time being.
And I forgot to price fixing the lens. Tomorrow, must ring tomorrow.
Ya, McSweeney’s… Will never in my life purchase anything from them. i honestly don’t know how they’ve managed to keep the reputation they’ve got. The one guy in there who knew his stuff is gone and they just replaced him with “Salesmen” not “Camera People”, ie, they don’t have a clue… and that can be frustrating to deal with..
Absolute shite talk from McSweeney’s. They’ll give you €300 and mark it up to a thousand on the resale. When I was buying my 10D a few years back they had a second hand D30 (D30 not 30D!) on sale for €1100, body only! The only reason I’d upgrade from the 10D now is for a full frame sensor as this is what killed off most of my interest in photography. The focal lengths of my two prime lenses became almost useless when I switched over to the 10D’s 1.6x magnification milarky.
Flog it on ebay if you really want to get rid of it. I bought all my old Olympus stuff from McSweeney’s on Marlboro street years ago, thats when they were a camera shop and not a franchise selling machine.
[…] it was with some shock that I looked around O’Learys Camera World while waiting to have my lens looked at and I saw two of my images in an electronic photo frame. The two images are Clouds Move At Night […]
Lens was brought into O’Learys Camera World and is on it’s way to Bandon, but I forgot to/didn’t bother asking about a trade in on the 20D after what happened there. I did see the 40D there for €1349 I think.
Those are crazy prices for a 40D. 7DayShop have it for the equivalent of well under €1,000.
Paul – see my 7dayshop.com review to see what I think of 7dayshop. I’d never shop there again, especially for something as expensive as a camera.
hi im wondering can you help me please!!!! I have a Minolta 500si and i am wondering is it worth my while bringing it to a shop to sell or get a trade in for a 10 mega pixel digital camera???
Just came across this forum while looking for portable mains-free video lighting;
if you’re looking for good prices, try the electronics shop in departures at Schipol airport in Amsterdam, if you happen to be passing through, I kid you not. You might not find exactly what you’re looking for, but I saw the Canon 550D on sale there last November for 2/3 what I paid for it here on main street (Ireland). Same goes for spare batteries, SD cards etc.,
I almost wished I’d hung on and saved myself about €350… but I’m not a person to moan over spilled milk either, so I consoled myself with the fact I already had my 550D when I was in Amsterdam and needed it.