where there’s smoke there’s forum fire
1) When will the D3s be discontinued ?
2) Are the prices of a D3s (new) going to drop ? If yes, by how much and when? Or are they just going to sell every D3s letf in stock for more or less the same price as pre-D4 ?
What happens when Nikon releases a new flagship model ?
Thanks for your info
The D3s will be sold off at the current price, don't expect there to be any price drops. To be honest, I cannot find any major camera dealer that has any in stock anyway. I wouldn't be surprised if they are sold out already.
I wouldn't expect to see a huge (if any) price drop on used d3s - IMHO right now a good price for d3s is $3.5-$4k, wouldn't sell mine for less, especially considering the rather high price of d4
As it will be several months before most people will be able to get hold of a D4, even those that can justify and afford the expense, I wouldn't expect the D3s's demand to drop any time in the foreseeable future. In fact, if after all the reviews come out, Nikon releases a firmware update to overcome the inevitable teething problems, and the price drops it's customary 20-25% after a few months when the early adopters have finished snapping up the first lot of supply, if after all that I think it would allow me to take pictures that I can't currently with my 3s, I might be tempted, but even then it would be my 700 to face the chop and not the 3s.
adamz said:
I wouldn't expect to see a huge (if any) price drop on used d3s - IMHO right now a good price for d3s is $3.5-$4k, wouldn't sell mine for less, especially considering the rather high price of d4
Adamz, are you talking about used prices or new prices ?
I think you guys are right, let's not be to optimistic about the D3s prices... too bad ! I would love to buy a new D3s for 3800$ in a couple of months... I am not considering a used D3s, because of the warranty. Otherwise I'll wait for the D800 and chose between D800 or D700.
I'm talking about the used once of course. Why are You afraid about the warranty issues?
adamz said:
I'm talking about the used once of course. Why are You afraid about the warranty issues?
Because Digital cameras are complex electronic devices that can go wrong more often than not (I had to send my D90+18-105 5 times for repair in 1,5 year. Joystick left stopped working, fn button stopped working, af uncalibrated (by a LOT) rubber grip peeling off, rubber grip replacement peeling off, VR on lens stopped working). If you don't have the warranty anymore, you have to pay for every repair. I know I wasn't lucky with my D90, but when you buy a camera for 3,5-4k, you can't rely on luck and hope to save some money.
Well, that's my point of view ;)
I almost exclusively buy my lenses second hand, because they are less likely to stop working. Especially those Nikon MF lenses. If they are still working after 25 years, it's unlikely they'll stop working anytime soon.
I think Zlik is right to worry about warranty because apparently there isn't one on a used camera. All these camera on fleabay advertised as 'xxc warranty remaining' are phooey!
I contacted Nikon UK about a tiny and ignorable issue on my D90 which I bought at 10 months and 3000 clicks old. They told me I do not have any warranty as it is not transferable! It could be that the person on the phone was just flat out wrong, but she was very emphatic.
My issue was just a small line on my viewfinder was missing at certain settings. It only worried me because it may have been an indication of more serious imminent failure. Turns out not (so far).
Not hijacking the thread here, just offering my findings regarding used Nikon Vs new.
spraynpray said:
I think Zlik is right to worry about warranty because apparently there isn't one on a used camera. All these camera on fleabay advertised as 'xxc warranty remaining' are phooey!
Not entirely correct. Nikon does NOT offer warranty transfers or warranties on used cameras. You can buy 3rd party warranty/insurance for used equipment. KEH and a few other offer it with some cameras. They get serviced by someone other than Nikon, or they cover the repair cost with Nikon.
You could pound nails with a D3/s. A D90 is a far cry from the build quality of the pro series. Depending on where you are at, I know my homeowners insurance covers my equipment for most everything. I pay like $5/mth more for it.
Hi Tao,
I wasn't talking about third party warranties - the secondhand cameras I have been interested in were private sales and didn't have a third party warranty. Maybe now fleabay is doing them it would be worth it.
Regarding your relative robustness point - there is probably a similar difference in the repair costs too.
Excellent point about adding a camera to home insurance though - I don't know if that is available in the UK, but I'll find out.
spraynpray said:
Hi Tao,I wasn't talking about third party warranties - the secondhand cameras I have been interested in were private sales and didn't have a third party warranty. Maybe now fleabay is doing them it would be worth it.
Regarding your relative robustness point - there is probably a similar difference in the repair costs too.
Excellent point about adding a camera to home insurance though - I don't know if that is available in the UK, but I'll find out.
You can buy third party warranties yourself on equipment you already own - at least in the US. UK may change things due to laws. The seller does not need to but sometimes they act as the "Representative".
I would imagine the price would stay the same because of the demand for the new D4, and that there is not enough of them available to fill all the pre-orders. So pros will continue to purchase or hold onto their D3s bodies.
Zero Equals Infinity said:
Well the price at Downtown Camera in Toronto is $4,528.00 CDN. That looks like a price drop to me.
The D3s has been around $4500-$4700 in Canada for awhile so I don't really think that this is the sign of a price drop (yet). I will admit that it is indeed strange to see Canadian prices cheaper than the American ones though.
just saw some on eBay in pretty good condition around 3600 USD...
Supply and demand should affect price. At this time there is no supply of D4 bodies. A D3s owner cannot yet replace his/her D3s body so there should be no increased supply of used D3s bodies. Hence there should be drop in price at this time. We will have to wait 6 months to see just how much the reviews of the production models make people want to dump their D3s body for a D4: if that even happens. So no one can accurately predict the answer to the question posed by this thread other than to say the new generally replaces the old and the old generally drops in value. How much of a drop and how long will it take cannot be answered. Lets see where we are in six months.
Completed listings is what you need to search on ebay. 9/10 are at $4,000 and looks like they are really used. Looks like people are dumping their main bodies, going to their backups to free up cash for the D4 or D800.
If you are in the market, this is the time on ebay to start watching for D3, D3s, D700 as back-up/main bodies are going to start flooding in. Might same a couple of hundred dollars. By April the price will jump back up as the "glut" supply is gone.
Same if you are in the market for a used 85mm 1.8D lens as well.
Last I checked, D3s bodies were bid up to about $4,200 USD at final auction. Maybe not everyone knows about the D4 yet. I've asked several working photographers if they're planning on getting one, and a few didn't even know it was announced. I think it could go either way--D3s prices could go up if supply runs short, and Nikon soon discontinues the model, or they could go down because everyone wants a D4 instead. I'm personally not sure what to do--buy a used D3s, or a new D4 (I need a second FX body if I'm going to pursue more event shooting). Before the D4 was announced, I was considering finding a beat-up D700 on the cheap for use as a second body (keeping my current D3s as my primary body). But owning the new Nikon flagship, the D4, sure would be nice.
Guys, how much would you pay for a 1 year old (and still 1 more year of warranty) D3s that looks like new, and has only 3000 actuations ?
4k
zlik said:
Guys, how much would you pay for a 1 year old (and still 1 more year of warranty) D3s that looks like new, and has only 3000 actuations ?
Warranties are not transferable and the difference of what people are willing to pay and what they will go for, are two different #s. Something that new appears to be going for $4500 - 5k on ebay.
I just met the guy (I'm in Switzerland) yesterday. He was selling his one-year-old D3s with 2900 shots, with a second EN-EL4 battery, the EH-6A AC Adapter and the MC-30 cable release for 4350$, and after we talked a while, I managed to make him sell everything for 3900$.
We will meet next Friday again to make the deal.
The Craigslist postings by people trying to sell their D3 and D3S are starting to really ramp up now vs. one month ago. Most are asking roughly $2600 for the D3 and $4400 - $4600 for the D3S. As the D4 shipping date closes in desperation to sell will probably result in lower prices.
As history often repeats itself, many will sell - only to soon get a letter from the site they pre-ordered from telling them that their D4 didn't make it on the 1st delivery. Oh, the drama!
My take for what could happen until next year :
1) The D4 was announced but won't be available for the majority for a couple of months.
2) New D3s bodies still sell for 5000$ + , there isn't much stock left
3) Used D3s have kept their value because the D3s sensor isn't available in a smaller body (think D3 -> D700)
4) The D4 is a major upgrade for video, but my guess is it won't be a huge improvement in image quality (12->16mp like D90->D7000, slightly better high iso quality but not as much improvement as from D2 generation -> D3)
Today used D3s run between 3,500$ (very hight shutter count) and 4,7000$ (like new, low shutter count).
My estimation: next year, the D4 will be around 5,800$ new and the D3s around 4,000$ used but in excellent condition (maybe as low as 3,000$ whit a high shutter count).
zlik:
I concur. I believe used D3s prices will hold strong at a $4,000 USD price floor for quite some time. Since there isn't apparently a huge ISO improvement in the D4, a lot of pros and advanced amateurs will still be creating strong demand for the former flagship body, especially at a $2,000 discount from the D4's expected MAP of $6,000.
I agree that prices on the D3s aren't going to drop significantly. Why? Too many are like my friend with a D3 and D3s. He sold his D3 and is keeping the D3s and has the D4 on order. I was bummed as I wanted to buy his D3s and he just laughed and said, "no, not selling that body".
He did say the used D3 prices had dropped a bunch in the last month.
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