DSLR: Sell it? Keep it?

If you would like to post, you'll need to register. Note that if you have a BCG store account, you'll need a new, separate account here (we keep the two sites separate for security purposes).

la551ve3

Well-known member
Supporting Member
Marketplace
A few weeks ago I took my D500 into a well known/respected camera chain here in Canada to see what kind of trade-in I would get for it when purchasing a Z9. This camera is next to brand new with a SC less than 4k. They offered me 50% of what I paid for it only weeks earlier and admitted I would be much better off selling it privately.
Since that time I watched used camera prices really take a drop. This same store is selling a used D500 (rated as excellent condition) with super low SC for 60% of the cost of a new unit. A D850 (rated as excellent condition) with a SC of 37K is going for 50% of a new unit.

If I pull the trigger on a Z9 in the near future I have already decided I will keep my D850. I had previously decided it would be the D500 I would sell/trade. Now I am not so sure. I absolutely love this camera and it would be difficult to let it go at 50/60% of what I paid only months earlier. So my question is, at what point do you say it's not worth to sell and keep it? With a Z9 in my hands I suspect the D500 will collect dust but still... :(
 
with a few exceptions for really hard to get items (like exotic glass, etc.) about 50% of new retail is about average for a lot of items. When I'm on the buying side, my going in assumption on price is it should be about 50% of the new retail (plus / minus a little depending on condition and how badly I really want it). I bought my D500 a few years back and paid 60% of retail but I knew the seller and the camera's history. It had less than 20K shutter actuations. He used it primarily indoors at high school basketball games. He was a coach and used the photos for training and also to offer parents action shots of the kids. In other words, it got used harder the first month I had it than it had in the time he owned it.

But if you can get 50% of retail on either of these cameras I'd think it was reasonable. You may hold out for more but in today's market, I wouldn't hold my breath.

There reaches a point where I'd rather hold on to something than give it away on the used market. I think when it comes time to move to mirrorless, I'll most likely hang on to the D500 if for nothing else all the fond memories created with this camera.
 
In all likelihood, you'll end up just using the Z9. I think I echo the experiences of many others when I say I intended to use both DSLRs and mirrorless, but once you start using a really high quality mirrorless camera, you just don't pick up the DSLRs anymore. I thought I'd use both for much longer, but I haven't used a DSLR in six months and even then it was only for 30 minutes or so because I didn't have the correct lens for my mirrorless gear. I also think that you'll discover that over the next year or so the market will continue to flood with used DSLRs and that will drive down their used value, so the sooner you let go, the better. (I easily lost $1000 on what I could have got for my D6 by waiting too long to sell).
 
I've heard people say that mpb.com offered them the best price for used gear. They will give a free quote.KEH.com is similar. You might get more with private selling but not enough to reflect your love of the camera.
 
I agree with what Steve and Jeff said. I plan to sell my D500 when I get back to my house after the holiday weekend. I know from experience that if you hold onto it because you’re not going to get “enough” for it, you’ll likely not use it anymore, end up getting much less for it in the end, and will have it sitting there reminding you of it the whole time. I think the biggest issue for you is that you recently purchased it and it seems like it lost so much so fast, but the unfortunate reality is with cameras is that the model itself is already quite old and it makes little to no difference in value whether you bought it yesterday or three years ago. You should check trade in prices at a few places and you can try to sell it yourself for a week or two as well. I often regret holding onto things after the fact.

the camera I decided to keep is the Fujifilm X-Pro2. It has actually held value fairly well for a digital camera. I rarely use it, but it is a unique camera that I really enjoy using when I do take it out. I feel like I’d miss it letting it go. I kept a few lenses to go with it.
 
Great post. I got into digital about 2 years ago roughly and bought a Canon 5d MKV, Loved the camera until I bought an R5 beginning of summer and got into the higher megapixel, faster frame rate, and omg I can configure way more buttons to what I want with the R5 than the DSLR. I picked up the DSLR for the first time since June only because I went on a shoot and needed a second body/lense. Soon as I can pull off another R5 the DSLR is bye bye. The newer/latest mirrorless cameras are mind blowing.
 
I've heard people say that mpb.com offered them the best price for used gear. They will give a free quote.KEH.com is similar. You might get more with private selling but not enough to reflect your love of the camera.
My experience too. Just shopped a bunch of Fuji lenses to mbp, keh, bh, and the former offered me about 15% more than the others.
 
If you are going to sell, I would probably do it pretty soon. Prices on D500s will likely continue to go down. Of course, you might not want to go without the D500 while waiting for the Z9 to show up. There's always the advantage of keeping a backup camera body around, too. There, I have offered no real help at all. :)
 
I sold my D500 two months ago for 50% of what I paid for it 4 1/2 years earlier with a shutter count at 75K. Tellingly, I wasn't looking to sell it but was approached by a friend who knew I looked after it. His existing D500 had a shutter count at 600K. Both parties happy. I will say that I loved that camera and it was (is) simply superb value.
 
I'm still using DSLRs, but plan on eventually giving them to my children when I no longer need them. As of now, they're not that serious about photography and the DSLR with a small lens suits them just fine. Even so, it's funny to think of my DSLRs as "snapshot cameras".

One alternative, if you are willing to forego some monetary compensation for your used gear, is to give some of it to a local school or student really interested in photography-as-art. The local high schools here all have a student yearbook staff and often, they are in need of cameras. While it may hurt too much to depart with a really high end camera to do this, some other cameras will not be so difficult. Instead of getting money, you'd get the satisfaction of helping the community out.

On a side note, I still have four 35mm film SLRs, two 35mm rangefinder cameras, a medium-format SLR and a 4x5 field camera. I guess I'm a camera hoarder, and probably should get rid of some of those.
 
Last edited:
Of course, you might not want to go without the D500 while waiting for the Z9 to show up.
That is the problem. I have not pre-ordered a Z9 as I want to see some field reviews by Steve and other WL photographers. Although leaning towards the Z9 I havent ruled out the A1 either. In the case of the latter I could trade in/up tomorrow but I think that would be a mistake not fully knowing how well the Z9 will perform for the likes of us. So I wait till I get more info to better compare my options. Who know how long it will take till pre-orders are fulfilled, field reviews posted and Z9 becomes more readily available in stores. If I sell my D500 today it could be a year if not longer before I get a replacement. Yup, I still have my trusty D850 but I have been spoiled. I can't go back to one camera now :unsure:
 
huh. i’m totally ditching my d500 even though i love it. 🤷
Well then you lose whatever enjoyment the D-500 will give you until you get a Z-9 and you probably save a few bucks. If you are early on the waiting list that makes some sense but most really have no idea where they stand concerning Z-9 delivery. More likely I will pick up a used D-850 when the used price craters as some suggest.
 
i’m on the waiting list but i figure it’ll get here when it gets here. my main point is i’m not going to hang onto it for sentimental reasons and i don’t see where the d500 is going to do anything for me the z9 won’t. and it shackles me to f-mount glass
 
  • Like
Reactions: Hut
A few weeks ago I took my D500 into a well known/respected camera chain here in Canada to see what kind of trade-in I would get for it when purchasing a Z9. This camera is next to brand new with a SC less than 4k. They offered me 50% of what I paid for it only weeks earlier and admitted I would be much better off selling it privately.
Since that time I watched used camera prices really take a drop. This same store is selling a used D500 (rated as excellent condition) with super low SC for 60% of the cost of a new unit. A D850 (rated as excellent condition) with a SC of 37K is going for 50% of a new unit.

If I pull the trigger on a Z9 in the near future I have already decided I will keep my D850. I had previously decided it would be the D500 I would sell/trade. Now I am not so sure. I absolutely love this camera and it would be difficult to let it go at 50/60% of what I paid only months earlier. So my question is, at what point do you say it's not worth to sell and keep it? With a Z9 in my hands I suspect the D500 will collect dust but still... :(
If you can afford to I'd keep it as a second camera body alongside the Z9.
If the latest tests carried out by Matt Granger are anything to go by as seen in his last few videos it looks possible to use your F-mount glass on the Z9 using the latest adapter with little or no affect to quality or the AF.
He admits that this primarily applies to prime lenses but even so it still makes it an interesting option for those of us that want to make the switch to mirrorless without the issue of changing all our glass as well!
Be interested in hearing some thoughts of anyone that has also seen his videos on this & hear what Steve thinks?
So far he's tested the 24-70 f2.8E, 70-200 f/2.8E, 500PF f/5.6 & 400 f/2.8E.
He did try the 200-500 f/5.6 but did notice a few issues with it.
 
My refurbished Z6II will be in tomorrow and I plan on getting a quote from KEH and MPB for my D7500, DX lenses and a few other things. I thought about keeping my D7500 for the 200-500 but honestly I think I'll just end up doing what people have been echoing, that I won't use it. I'll miss it a bit since it was my first nice camera and it got me into photography but that's probably not a great reason to hold onto it. If anything I'm still really intrigued by the Z50 which would be a good second camera or maybe a Z fc. I plan on going all in on the Z series and will be ready for a Z 70-300 when its released.
 
Consider selling on Ugly Hedgehog. I've done both and am pleased. This private party sale may net you a little more, but the market will continue to shift under our feet. I doubt I will ever outshoot my DSLRs but I keep them so that I have several mounted lenses within reach for a quick grab shot.
 
Nobody has mentioned lenses. There are few Z-mount lenses so far and no equivalent for some of the best F mount lennses. Also I haven't seen a review of how well the F mount lenses do on the Z mount adapter. I am not impressed with their performance on my Z50 but that probably is due mostly to the camera; the lenses may perform better on the higher quality mirrorless cameras. I will probably wait until more and better Z mount lenses are available before giving up the D850.
 
right. i decided to replace all my f-mount glass other than my 35 1.4, because, as you note, there isn’t a z-mount option. while my f-mount glass is all pretty good, the s-line glass is looking to be exceptional. i don’t think there is a wrong answer here, either way looks to be good
 
I'm faced with the same issue but it's not quite the dilemna I originally thought it was. I first had a D500 and bought a Z7 when I decided to go full frame. I've continued to use the D500 for faster moving subjects (i.e., BIF) because it's AF is superior to the Z7. Now I've ordered a Z9 and, assuming that the AF system is good enough the D500 will be superfluous and the Z7 will be my backup camera. Bottom line, I'll be selling the D500, along with my 200-500 f5.6 when the Z7 arrives. (Plan to buy the Z100-400 lens.) It's just money you know...
 
Nobody has mentioned lenses. There are few Z-mount lenses so far and no equivalent for some of the best F mount lennses. Also I haven't seen a review of how well the F mount lenses do on the Z mount adapter. I am not impressed with their performance on my Z50 but that probably is due mostly to the camera; the lenses may perform better on the higher quality mirrorless cameras. I will probably wait until more and better Z mount lenses are available before giving up the D850.
Matt Granger has released a series of videos where he uses F-mount lenses with the Z9 with great success but uses the new adapter which I don’t think is out yet.
Check them out it’s a real eye opener especially for someone who is still sitting on the fence regarding making the switch to mirrorless & I think this possible option meets you half way with that decision.
 
Back
Top