Last Updated on 08/04/2018 by Mark Beckenbach
Reports say compact camera sales haven’t been doing great, but there seems to be one compact camera that goes unfazed. And it’s probably one you wouldn’t have expected.
While overall camera sales are continuing to plummet, there are obvious winners (or at least those keeping afloat) and losers in the game this year so far. According to the latest Camera & Imaging Products Association (CIPA) shipping report shared by 43rumors., mirrorless cameras are still on top of the game, while DSLR sales continued to decrease. And compact cameras? Well, they’re at the bottom of the pile.
In the CIPA January – June 2018 shipment report, we see three things happening: the figures are pretty much unchanged for interchangeable lens cameras, mirrorless cameras are doing much better than DSLRs (up by 20% compared to June 2017, as noted by 43rumors.com), and compact cameras are plunging deeper down into the abyss.
It’s going downhill for compact cameras, except, it seems, for one unlikely camera: the Contax T2.
Say what you will about this long discontinued film compact. But over the years, there’s been nothing but increased demand and soaring prices for this camera. It wasn’t cheap to begin with, but its legendary status as the world’s trendiest compact camera, along with photographers believing it’s a camera worthy of the acclaim, and even celebrities picking it up to go #hipster4life, have all led to crazy prices. Just do a quick price check on ebay and you’ll see that the ones in good to mint condition can now go for over $1,000.
It can be hard to understand what’s going on here, but allow me to speculate. It can be two things: first, there’s hardly any need for these digital compact cameras anymore as smartphones have largely replaced them; and second, the serious photographers who still want a compact shooter in their arsenal, now want premium film compact cameras whose values will only continue to increase as long as the renewed interest in analog photography is sustained. It just so happens that Contax T2 is currently on the spotlight.
So, if you have a Contax T2, either keep holding onto it, or sell it if you don’t mind parting with it for some good $$$.
