Thoughts on D800 purchase w/ lenses aimed at the "boss"

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DW_

Senior Member
I'm working on a justification/rational for my up-coming large purchases that the "boss" has not been appraised of. I'd like to hear some feedback, and if needed a couch I can crash on for a few nights if this fails. lol

Okay, here goes -

D800 @ $3000
A D700 was introduced in 2008 at a price that varied between $2499 and $2399. It is now ~5 yrs later and a new D700 runs $2200 and a used ranges between $1799-$2000. This represents an average loss of ~15%. Assuming a similar performance for the D800, we can say in 5 yrs a $3000 investment will return ~$2550 w/ a loss of $450

14-24mm F/2.8G - sells new @ $1996 and resale runs ~$1599-$1899 with an average return of 87.5% with an average loss of 12.5% or $250

24-70mm F/2.8G - sells new @ $1889 and resale runs ~$1549 to $1790 with an average return of 88% with a loss of $220.

Therefore, total investment cost = $6885 with a total return of $5965 with a loss of $920 over an estimated 5 yr period works out to a daily cost of 50 cents a day. Putting in perspective, I'm paying $4.50 a day for the boss and my smart phones (that I seldom use) and $3.60 a day for cable/internet/house phone. So I can "borrow" an amazing camera and two pro lenses for less than half the price of the universally applicable $1.50 cup of vendi dark roast at Starbucks.

Sounds pretty convincing, huh?
 
F

fotojack

Senior Member
DW_ said:
I'm working on a justification/rational for my up-coming large purchases that the "boss" has not been appraised of. I'd like to hear some feedback, and if needed a couch I can crash on for a few nights if this fails. lol

Okay, here goes -

D800 @ $3000
A D700 was introduced in 2008 at a price that varied between $2499 and $2399. It is now ~5 yrs later and a new D700 runs $2200 and a used ranges between $1799-$2000. This represents an average loss of ~15%. Assuming a similar performance for the D800, we can say in 5 yrs a $3000 investment will return ~$2550 w/ a loss of $450

14-24mm F/2.8G - sells new @ $1996 and resale runs ~$1599-$1899 with an average return of 87.5% with an average loss of 12.5% or $250

24-70mm F/2.8G - sells new @ $1889 and resale runs ~$1549 to $1790 with an average return of 88% with a loss of $220.

Therefore, total investment cost = $6885 with a total return of $5965 with a loss of $920 over an estimated 5 yr period works out to a daily cost of 50 cents a day. Putting in perspective, I'm paying $4.50 a day for the boss and my smart phones (that I seldom use) and $3.60 a day for cable/internet/house phone. So I can "borrow" an amazing camera and two pro lenses for less than half the price of the universally applicable $1.50 cup of vendi dark roast at Starbucks.

Sounds pretty convincing, huh?
Click to expand...

Yeah, that should work. Go with it. ;) Let me know how that turns out. ;) LOL
 
Marcel

Marcel

Happily retired
Staff member
Super Mod
Does it really have to be all rational? Also if you include the sale of your present camera, wouldn't you be investing less?

I don't think I can give you arguments to win over your spouse. I think you'll just have to have a honest an open talk with her about this. There should be no beating around the bush. If she can understand that your camera desires (make sure you mention that there is no need) would make you happy, if you won't be depriving her of any basic needs AND you agree to fill some of her desires as well, there should not be a problem. Now I don't know about your financial situation, but unless you're a professional, you would be ill advise to borrow money to get this new camera.

But maybe you just need arguments to convince yourself (This happens to me quite often). Then maybe we can help. ;)

Since we are on this forum I would say we all suffer, to a certain degree or another, of NAS. New toys are always nice to have. But I try to remember what it really feels like after getting it. I sometimes wonder if it was really money well spent...
 
D

DW_

Senior Member
Yes, I suppose a big part of it is to wrap my head around the expenditures and to also have a reasonable cost vs. return analysis, similar to what I do in my on-line coin business. Putting it in perspective, I made my bones back during the big dot.com boom and my take-away lesson was that everything, and I mean EVERYTHING in life is a trade. You trade one thing for another for another. Whether it's a personal choice, a financial choice or a spiritual choice, it's all a trade for one thing vs. another. Putting dollar figures in their simply put a tangible relativity to the whole process. The final key to my quest is whether my local store will accept my resale tax id (I did list camera equipment on the application) otherwise I'll have to buy them via the Internet since tax kills my figures. And the fact that no one wants to buy my camera equipment at 8x retail isn't my fault! I just suck at being a camera retailer...who coulda known?!?
 
D

DW_

Senior Member
Also, I'm running out of time before the D800 shows up on my doorstep, but I've not yet made a move on the lenses. So this is why I'm preparing the way for the coming surprise when the mailman rings the bell looking for a signature. :redface-new:
 
P

Philnz

Senior Member
DW_ said:
Also, I'm running out of time before the D800 shows up on my doorstep, but I've not yet made a move on the lenses. So this is why I'm preparing the way for the coming surprise when the mailman rings the bell looking for a signature. :redface-new:
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Good luck with that. I ordered quite a few dollars worth of lens before getting all the permissions in place, had to put up with a few days of being out in the cold but back in the warm now so was worth it in the end. As you say everything is a tradein one way or another.
 
J

jcottone45

Senior Member
I want to wish you lots of luck with the D800, I think your view is very sound.

Being I am married to a Sicilian, I would have to sleep with one eye open for the rest of my life & have my armored suit on at all times.!!! It's either that or I'd be pushing up daisy's.!!!

Again lots of luck with the new toy!!!
 
R

Rick M

Senior Member
Do you make any money with Photography? If so, it would reduce your overall costs and add to the arguement that you "need" it.

If you are not using it for business, 36mp Fx is allot of firepower for a weekend warrior :) Just curious since I would love one too, but can't justify the expense to myself (let alone my wife).
 
E

Eye-level

Banned
Women only want two things in life really...to be wanted and to be protected. They have no business worrying about how much you spend on a camera as long as the house payment is made and the Colt 45 is loaded...try running that argument past her...LOL

Or you might just give her a bunch of money to go spend on the grandkids or take some trip far far away...LOL :)
 
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LensWork

Senior Member
If you can sell your "boss" using this logic, great. However, I would point out that assuming the minimal devaluation of these items five years hence is a bit optimistic. My rational is that you are, for one, quoting a new price of $2200 for the D700 and a current used value of between $1799 - $2000; the D700 when first introduced was $2699, not $2399-$2499. The price reduction of a new D700 was just announced a couple of weeks ago (March 1, 2012) and therefore we have not yet seen a corresponding drop in the average selling price of a used D700. Also, the selling price of a used D700 has over the past year actually increased due to the extremely limited availability of new ones because of production issues that have affected Nikon since the earthquake in Japan and the flooding in Thailand. As new D700s return to dealer's shelves at the new lower price, the selling price of used ones is certain to decline. Also, I anticipate that there will be an increase in availability of used D700s as some owners sell-off their D700s to get the new D800. In summation, with the increase in availability of both new and used D700s, the lower new price of D700s and the availability of the D800, as well as the certain fact that five years from now the D800 will most probably have been superseded by a new model as well, your estimation of only a 15% decrease in value of a D800 is most likely very optimistic.
 
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D

DW_

Senior Member
LensWork said:
If you can sell your "boss" using this logic, great. However, I would point out that assuming the minimal devaluation of these items five years hence is a bit optimistic. My rational is that you are, for one, quoting a new price of $2200 for the D700 and a current used value of between $1799 - $2000; the D700 when first introduced was $2699, not $2399-$2499. The price reduction of a new D700 was just announced a couple of weeks ago (March 1, 2012) and therefore we have not yet seen a corresponding drop in the average selling price of a used D700. Also, the selling price of a used D700 has over the past year actually increased due to the extremely limited availability of new ones because of production issues that have affected Nikon since the earthquake in Japan and the flooding in Thailand. As new D700s return to dealer's shelves at the new lower price, the selling price of used ones is certain to decline. Also, I anticipate that there will be an increase in availability of used D700s as some owners sell-off their D700s to get the new D800. In summation, with the increase in availability of both new and used D700s, the lower new price of D700s and the availability of the D800, as well as the certain fact that five years from now the D800 will most probably have been superseded by a new model as well, your estimation of only a 15% decrease in value of a D800 is most likely very optimistic.
Click to expand...

You make a number of very good points. However, you have excluded the high probability that inflation will seep into the equation and this could very easily off set the numbers such that I end up with a positive return. Granted, I would be losing money in a real sense, but with the predictions running the gambit from moderate to hyper-inflation, there's a small yet tangible possibility I will suffer no dollar loss on these purchases in the next 5 yrs.
 
Marcel

Marcel

Happily retired
Staff member
Super Mod
LensWork said:
If you can sell your "boss" using this logic, great. However, I would point out that assuming the minimal devaluation of these items five years hence is a bit optimistic. My rational is that you are, for one, quoting a new price of $2200 for the D700 and a current used value of between $1799 - $2000; the D700 when first introduced was $2699, not $2399-$2499. The price reduction of a new D700 was just announced a couple of weeks ago (March 1, 2012) and therefore we have not yet seen a corresponding drop in the average selling price of a used D700. Also, the selling price of a used D700 has over the past year actually increased due to the extremely limited availability of new ones because of production issues that have affected Nikon since the earthquake in Japan and the flooding in Thailand. As new D700s return to dealer's shelves at the new lower price, the selling price of used ones is certain to decline. Also, I anticipate that there will be an increase in availability of used D700s as some owners sell-off their D700s to get the new D800. In summation, with the increase in availability of both new and used D700s, the lower new price of D700s and the availability of the D800, as well as the certain fact that five years from now the D800 will most probably have been superseded by a new model as well, your estimation of only a 15% decrease in value of a D800 is most likely very optimistic.
Click to expand...

I was informed last week by 2 Nikon reps that Nikon Canada will NOT have D700. For now they are out of stock at Nikon Canada and they will not order more. Now maybe Nikon international is reluctant to announce the end of the D700, but I'm not so sure they are making them anymore. This is something that is probably best kept secret by Nikon. If the demand for the D800 is such that they have a hard time filling the orders, I don't see why they would cut down the D800 production to make D700.

Now this is only my opinion, but I doubt that you will see new D700 in stores for a long time. There might be some left in some stores, but the market certainly won't be flooded with new ones. So I suspect the price will kind of keep up.
 
C

capitaltpt

Senior Member
DW_ said:
I'm working on a justification/rational for my up-coming large purchases that the "boss" has not been appraised of. I'd like to hear some feedback, and if needed a couch I can crash on for a few nights if this fails. lol

Okay, here goes -

D800 @ $3000
A D700 was introduced in 2008 at a price that varied between $2499 and $2399. It is now ~5 yrs later and a new D700 runs $2200 and a used ranges between $1799-$2000. This represents an average loss of ~15%. Assuming a similar performance for the D800, we can say in 5 yrs a $3000 investment will return ~$2550 w/ a loss of $450

14-24mm F/2.8G - sells new @ $1996 and resale runs ~$1599-$1899 with an average return of 87.5% with an average loss of 12.5% or $250

24-70mm F/2.8G - sells new @ $1889 and resale runs ~$1549 to $1790 with an average return of 88% with a loss of $220.

Therefore, total investment cost = $6885 with a total return of $5965 with a loss of $920 over an estimated 5 yr period works out to a daily cost of 50 cents a day. Putting in perspective, I'm paying $4.50 a day for the boss and my smart phones (that I seldom use) and $3.60 a day for cable/internet/house phone. So I can "borrow" an amazing camera and two pro lenses for less than half the price of the universally applicable $1.50 cup of vendi dark roast at Starbucks.

Sounds pretty convincing, huh?
Click to expand...

Good Luck!

If you're somehow justifying for yourself as well, remember how much nikon prices have increased over the past 4 years. I bought my 24-70 f/2.8 brand spanking new from B&H in January 2009 for $1429.95. That's a 8% gain if I sell it at the lowest price you found for it used :D.
 
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