What will be using in 10 years?

so,, here is a interesting question,, say 10 years from now.. does anyone have some favorites that the would pick up and what is your strike price..

I am thinking 10 years from now... 800e for 1000 dollars, but I bet 10 years now will still be around 1300 dollars, but if mint..... maybe

sometimes I think of picking up a D3 10 years from now.... for say 800 dollars.

D300 S for say 300 dollars (now that would be sweet).


will these cameras still work 10 years from now.. yup.

Re: Price for used D3?

stmv said:

so,, here is a interesting question,, say 10 years from now.. does anyone have some favorites that the would pick up and what is your strike price..

I am thinking 10 years from now... 800e for 1000 dollars, but I bet 10 years now will still be around 1300 dollars, but if mint..... maybe

sometimes I think of picking up a D3 10 years from now.... for say 800 dollars.

D300 S for say 300 dollars (now that would be sweet).


will these cameras still work 10 years from now.. yup.

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Honestly, I don't see anyone bothering with today's cameras 10 years from now. So many people have gone tech crazy with cameras, just like computers and especially cell phones, upgrading them every couple of years without really needing to. I don't want to go as far as calling them "disposable" but the electronic wizards will probably not even be working any more in that time frame. And I think the same could be said for lenses. The reason why the old mechanical Nikons and Nikkors still sell is that the are still reliable even after 40 years.

Re: Price for used D3?

You can get more money by selling the lens and body separately, especially since the 14 mm isn't a lens than anyone would want with that body. Since yours is like knew, just go to Ebay and search for nikon D3 body and sort based on price from high to low, then select "used" in the left column, not new. Then you will see the prices for the newest used D3 bodies and what they are going for.

Re: Price for used D3?

It's an interesting question. My brother started shooting digital back in the very early 90's and has since been collecting old working examples of those original beasts, for not a lot of money. These at least have some historical context. In 10 years I suspect that a D800e could be had for well under a grand and closer to $500, if it's in good working order. Ten years is a long time with technology.

Re: Price for used D3?

BackdoorHippie said:

It's an interesting question. My brother started shooting digital back in the very early 90's and has since been collecting old working examples of those original beasts, for not a lot of money. These at least have some historical context. In 10 years I suspect that a D800e could be had for well under a grand and closer to $500, if it's in good working order. Ten years is a long time with technology.

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It certainly is when you are talking about electronics. Although good condition Nikon F's are plentiful, finding one with a still functioning meter is very difficult. With today's cameras and lenses which are essentially ALL electronic, finding one that still works perfectly I suspect is going to be difficult as well. And with the pace that things are changing nowadays, something 5 years old is considered old technology. That is why I am such a big fan of mechanical cameras and lenses. There is not that much that will go wrong with them, lenses especially. What really concerns me now is the fact that a 24 exposure roll of TX is now almost $10, which is ABSURD. Film, paper and darkroom chemicals are going to start getting more and more scarce and expensive. It chaps my butt to no end but it is what it is.

Re: Price for used D3?

BackdoorHippie said:

It's an interesting question. My brother started shooting digital back in the very early 90's and has since been collecting old working examples of those original beasts, for not a lot of money. These at least have some historical context. In 10 years I suspect that a D800e could be had for well under a grand and closer to $500, if it's in good working order. Ten years is a long time with technology.

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At least for this generation, the gear will last.

My wife is still using my 10 year old D80, and it is in perfect shape, not even at half life.

and technology is compressing,, the gain of the 7100 over the 7000, very incremental.

Now that the D800e is close to the limits of the lens,, I think its value will be totally there in 10 years, just have to find some babied versions.

I am helping my nephews all become photographers.. What did I start them out on.... D70s awesome little cameras. Each of them got one,, and they are great, almst new looking and still taking awesome shots..

now,, I do think the lens are getting cheaper with each generation. Go check out the 20-35 2.8,, such a tank.

and wait until the new enviromental regulations kick in,,, no more lead, and the solder joints won't hold up any more.

so,, maybe in the near future,, the gear will only last 10 years, such a shame,

My oldest lens dates from late 60s.. and many are from the 70's and 80's.

So,, yes,, I think the D600 or D800(e) will be still awesome 10 years from now..

I've heard they are making 40 MP phone cameras now...LOL

In ten years I think a lot of the classic film cameras will bring a lot more money than they do now. Digital cameras less so.

Legacy lenses is where the money is going to be at...

Good question. Though, i am thinking the prices are way off. A D800e for a thousand bucks in 10 years time?? Today, you can find a D1X for a couple of hundred dollars on Ebay and it was around $5300 bucks when it first came out! I can't see a a D800 in 10 years at $1000.

Re: Price for used D3?

STM said:

... So many people have gone tech crazy with cameras, just like computers and especially cell phones, upgrading them every couple of years without really needing to. ...

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Well said. I shot with my Nikon N2020 35mm for 25 years and probably took over 15,000 slides with it. I saw no reason to abandon it until Kodak quit producing Kodachrome film. My D5100 is my very first digital camera and I absolutely love it. At this time I cannot envision technology that will cause me to "upgrade". The only doubt I have about my D5100 is that digital cameras have more semiconductors to fail or drop out of tolerance and repairing an older model would be beyond economic sense.

AC016 said:

Good question. Though, i am thinking the prices are way off. A D800e for a thousand bucks in 10 years time?? Today, you can find a D1X for a couple of hundred dollars on Ebay and it was around $5300 bucks when it first came out! I can't see a a D800 in 10 years at $1000.

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rubbing hands,, a d800 e for 300 dollars in 10 years.. that would be awesome! I bet not,, but I would take 500 dollars at say 30-40K shutter count.


I used to buy used film cameras, and was amazed at some of the samples, I remember a
nikon FA, that was so new you would have swore only 10 rolls had been shot thru. and
I have used friends D100, 80s, etc that are still brand new.

I know professionals that are still getting fantastic results with D2x.

This gear is going to be around for a long long time,,,,


on legacy lens -> YES! I love my set.

any Nikkor Manual les AIS,,, are awesome.

I recently picked up a 85 1.4 AIS,, a joy to use. going to take that out West.

Well, 2015 is when the movie Back to the future time traveled to. So if I'm going to have hoverboards and self tying shoes in 3 years, in 10... I'm going to have a camera implanted in my eye. haha

Re: Price for used D3?

Sandpatch said:

Well said. I shot with my Nikon N2020 35mm for 25 years and probably took over 15,000 slides with it. I saw no reason to abandon it until Kodak quit producing Kodachrome film. My D5100 is my very first digital camera and I absolutely love it. At this time I cannot envision technology that will cause me to "upgrade". The only doubt I have about my D5100 is that digital cameras have more semiconductors to fail or drop out of tolerance and repairing an older model would be beyond economic sense.

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I will bet I have put a half mile of film of all descriptions through my F2 since 1975 and it has never been to Nikon for repair. It has been to the repairman for CLA's but that is it. I have shot a lot of film through my Hasselblad too, but not as much as my F2. Quite a bit film through the Nikkormat FT3, FE-2 and F4 as well but my go to 35mm camera is still the F2. And if I can still find, and afford, film 10 years from now, they will still be in service. Regardless, my AI and AIS Nikkors will still be working with whatever camera bodies I have, assuming Nikon does not pull an Canon and change their mount, screwing their old users in the process.

I hope in 10 years I'll still be using my D900 I got five years earlier

I have used a well-worn D80, which was a lovely camera, and still worked a charm, but the problem was the poor noise capabilities. I now use a D90 which is much better, but is now considered old technology. However, I am happy with it and will continue to use it for maybe years to come. Now people have said that the D90's noise capabilities are poor compared to the newer cams, and that is true. But the fact remains, that if you keep looking at the new models that keep coming out, you will always become dissatisfied with what you've got. So I am just going to enjoy my D90 until I consider that I have really outgrown its capabilities. I am a long way off that yet. I don't know if I will still be using it in ten years time or not.

From what I have seen of the local second hand market, DSLR's seem to keep their resale value rather high, so who knows what they will cost in ten years time. If say, mirrorless cameras become mainstream, then of course DSLR's will go down in value, at least until they become collector's items.

Hopefully I'll have a D300 by then! Hopefully before! lol

Pro Level Cameras will probably always be on the higher side. The semi pro and consumer models are going to be cheap.

I don't think they are going to change the mount but I could be wrong too.

The Ai and Ais glass especially legacy glass is going to be worth a lot more in the future than it is now I bet you...

A super duper cell phone with a 100mp camera with a hologram display & projector

a shiny D5!

There won't be pixels anymore, some kind of plasma sensor with billions of floating cells that are only confined to the shape of the sensor.

stmv said:

so,, here is a interesting question,, say 10 years from now.. does anyone have some favorites that the would pick up and what is your strike price..

I am thinking 10 years from now... 800e for 1000 dollars, but I bet 10 years now will still be around 1300 dollars, but if mint..... maybe

sometimes I think of picking up a D3 10 years from now.... for say 800 dollars.

D300 S for say 300 dollars (now that would be sweet).


will these cameras still work 10 years from now.. yup.

Click to expand...

​After the EMP from the nukes fries the memory chips and circuit boards in all the digital cameras, my brushes will still be working. I just hope I'm a LOT better then!