A7 prices have dropped really quickly

[gr1]

I'm slightly kicking myself for buying an A7 as an early adopter -- I paid $1800 for an A7 body at launch. Now you can easily get a refurbished A7 body for $1000 and there's all sorts of deals for new ones. I assumed (wrongly) that a top-of-the-line, full frame camera wouldn't depreciate so quickly? 

 

Or I guess it's part of Sony's strategy to keep churning out bodies so that people keep feeling the urge to upgrade?

[thomas81]

Hello,

 

I'm sorry but, I definitely think cameras are object of consume, and lenses only can be thought as investments.

 

Personally, i've set up a nice Leica M serie, mainly from Voigtlander, they're compact and suit well hybrids, from Sony and others.

 

The long time spending to come will be an A7s, who's out of the game, being a short pixel count but with a nice pairing with old wide angles and very high sensitivity. Of the A7 present series it might be the longer lasting, but I could be wrong...

 

 

[sunnyvan]

I bought the a7 just days before announcement of the a7 2. Of course being a canon shooter I had no clue this would be coming so soon. An update in just one year?? Now I want to kick myself too.

 

On the other hand I'm very happy with the a7. I'd have been happier if I either got a refurbished a7 or get the new a7ii.

[Sinan]

Until A7 no FF camera ever lost its value so fast. Unlike consumer cameras FF cameras used to keep their value longer.

 

However until A7 no FF camera also was ever priced so reasonably. So, well..

[Vivek]

This post is a timely reminder just when the A7 II is announced. 

 

Don't get into the preorder mania. 

 

The prices do go down rapidly and when the slide starts, a newer model will be announced.

[Phillip Reeve]

Sony's e-Mount cameras have always lost their value quite fast.
This is bad for the early adopters, but if you are patient enough to wait for about 4 months you can save a lot of money.

[rocah360]

I still don't know why it's so bad to have a camera that gets a successor pretty fast. Is your camera now worse? Or what is it? You have the exact camera that you bought and that you would've if Sony waits 3 years for a successor. They just crank out the new features as they are implemented.

 

The line itself is too wide I've to admit, but at this time, all four A7 models have a purpose and make perfectly sense. If I had bought the A7 as an early adopter, I either would be happy with what it delivers or just sell it and go for the A7 because of the stabilizer. But I would be pissed if they have that technology ready to implement and wait only because the a7 it out only one year. I really appreciate having the choice and if I find that it's not worth the money to upgrade, my early adopted cam is still as good as it was always.

 

Tapatalked with a BlackBerry

[Cheatah]

Sony's e-Mount cameras have always lost their value quite fast.

This is bad for the early adopters, but if you are patient enough to wait for about 4 months you can save a lot of money.

 

This is unfortunately, a part of the technical innovations, and is existing at all cameras, except with the Leica stuff, which are technical running behind, since I can think about it!

[sonicbuffalo]

I bought a refurbed A7 and as such.....haven't found the bubble bursting so bad.  Cameras from all manufacturers lose value when newer models are introduced.  If you have an A7, as I do, just wait until something more significant comes out like the A9 series.  You might want to wait until they announce the A9's sucessor is announced, and the A9 prices drop.  I never buy the newest camera in the beginning.  I can deal with a refurb or demo model.  

[3dit0r]

I wouldn't sweat it, A7ii will also come down fast

[Pan]

Your A7 is nearly as good as the A7II, the only thing missing is IS and your AF is 2/3rds as quick. Does this REALLY affect your shooting? IS is only really useful when you're shooting low light scenic views. The A7II will depreciate quick as well once the A7rII the A7sII and A9 make their debut and even moreso if Sony decides to release an A7III next year. The biggest "investment" you can make is by getting quality glass.  

 

I foolishly listed my camera on Craigslist after the A7II was put up, but then I looked and asked myself some of those same questions. A lot of people were interested in it because of the AF and the IS, (it probably would feel better in hand with that grip... though) -- but after looking at my photos (and I do a lot of low light scenic shots), I felt that I don't NEED to sell my camera, pay $700 for a newer body, when I can use that $700 and get lights or lenses and filters SD cards and batteries instead. I took my listing down. 

 

The one thing that the A7 has that the A7II doesn't, is that sexy smooth magnesium finish that looks beautiful when paired to any lens from any year. You won't get that sense of awe when you look at the A7II with its textured heavy duty look.

[IronFilm]

Yeah, I never ever pre-order anything. Quite happy to wait and see prices drop drastically first!

However... if the presumed future Sony A7Smk2 (coming sometime 2015 I will guess/hope?) has internal 4K and IBIS then I might just perhaps be tempted to pre-order for the first time in my life! But also by then I should be getting myself sorted out professionally so would be able to make a business  case to myself to be an early adapter for that I suppose.