Amateur Photographer - UK (2020-08-22)

15

Grays of Westminster

● http://www.graysofwestminster.co.uk ● 020 7828 4925

Camtech

● camtechuk.com ● 01954 251 715

You only sell used gear, so what are the biggest

issues facing you at the moment when seeking

quality second-hand stock?

As we carefully vet the gear being sent to us, our

biggest problem is  nding enough stock, as a lot of

people try and get a bit more on eBay. There are good

protections for buyers via PayPal, but it is more

fraught if you are selling on there – the biggest

problem is people arguing about the condition of the

camera when they receive it. Selling to us, you won’t

get such problems. You won’t get ripped off and will

be offered a fair price. We urgently need second-hand

stock so we tend to offer the best prices. But to

recap, we tend to turn away heavily or professionally

used equipment. We have a reputation for buying and

selling nice gear and that is our niche.

Tell us more about your testing and vetting process?

We have been in the trade a long time and we only to

tend to buy boxed stock that is close to mint – we like

instructions too. We run a very thorough quality

check. You do get mould, fungus and fogging,

particularly with older manual lenses. We will always

ensure that these issues are sorted out prior to our

offering an item for sale.

What used gear is in demand at the moment?

All mechanical cameras, Nikon in particular,

Hasselblad, Contax... Not so much Canon. Older

manual lenses have found favour again, as you can

often run them on newer cameras with adapters, and

the quality is often very good. Older Olympus  lm

cameras, such as the earlier OM1s and 2s, 3s, and

4s, are also very desirable as there is such an interest

in  lm again. Leica has gone through the roof. The

brand has become very successful since it started

bringing out some very reliable digital cameras, and

the Leica M2 and M3 have soared in price.

You also offer a commission scheme for selling

used gear, right?

Yes, with this scheme we sell a customer’s used

equipment for them on a commission basis; this

means that the customer will get a higher price for

their equipment, and for the customer is a preferable

alternative to a straight sale or part exchange. It also

takes all the hassle out of selling your gear. We have

been offering this service for over seven years, and

have successfully sold many thousands of items on

behalf of our customers... we’re happy to take just

one item or a whole collection, payment is made as

soon as each individual item is sold.

Every item taken for sale on a commission basis is

given a thorough health check, cleaned, and prepared

for sale. The equipment is sold on our website, and in

our advert in AP every week. For the more collectable

or unusual items we regularly attend camera collector

fairs such as Photographica in London and this has

proven to be very successful over the past years,

though it’s not been on this year because of the virus.

As a specialist in rare Nikon
equipment, does this mean you are
not interested in newer cameras and
lenses from Nikon owners seeking
to upgrade?
Not at all, if you look on our website you
can see that we pay very good cash
prices for the full range of Nikon
equipment: DSLRs, AF and DX lenses,
35mm SLR  lm cameras, 35mm
range nder cameras, Nikon manual
focus lenses, speedlights, Nikon F
equipment and so on. We also seek
Nikon instruction manuals and early
advertising material. One big difference
between us and many other retailers is
that we cater for collectors, and have
done so since our inception in 1985.
We often locate the rare and unusual
for a client and the item is never shown
in the shop as it is delivered to the
buyer or the buyer’s agent. We are lucky
to have some very af uent customers,
all over the world.

What is your policy on original boxes
and packaging, being a Nikon-only
dealer with a lot of older, rarer models
passing through your store?
We will pay more for cameras and
lenses with the original box, packaging,
instructions and receipt/warranty. It
shows buyers that the original owner
has really taken care of everything; if
buyers have a choice of a camera or
lens with the box and original literature,
and one without, they will usually go for
the former. For us, it’s all about
attention to detail, which informs
everything we do in this business.

So does that mean you turn down

used Nikon gear that isn’t up to your

required standard?

Yes. If you see our grading description,

the lowest we will accept is VG (very

good). This is de ned as ‘may be

slightly scratched, scuffed or worn, but

in good mechanical order with clean

optics’. When applied to lenses it

means that the optics are in perfect

condition. What we are describing is the

cosmetic condition of the lens barrel.

When it applies to cameras, motor

drives, speedlights etc, the

understanding is that the item is in

perfect working order and the

description would mean the exterior

appearance. In other words we are

judging cosmetic appearance, so this is

very important to us. We give a full

one-year warranty on all our second-

hand equipment, so it needs to meet

our standards.

Where does the future of Nikon

second-hand equipment stand now

that full-frame mirrorless cameras play

such an important role in the line up?

I’m sure the market will continue to

thrive, as many photographers won’t

want to give up their DSLRs. Resolution

is a factor too, as there are many who

won’t want the extra  le sizes for the

type of work they are doing. Thanks to

the inclusion of an adapter for Nikon

SLR lenses, there will still be many

photographers who want to invest in

SLR glass, particularly as these can

then be used on DSLRs and newer

mirrorless systems.