How to Sell Your Photo Gear

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How to Sell Your Photo Gear

If you are a PEN member it’s likely you have found yourself with a camera, lens, or other bits of photo gear that you no longer need. In today’s tip I want to share some options for letting gear go to a new home, and getting a few dollars too - you know, so you can buy some other piece of gear.   I have these in order from most work with the most dollars for your gear to less work but less money for your gear. 

Selling Locally - Avoid fees and shipping costs by selling locally - options for selling locally include your local camera club and camera club message boards, local Facebook Photo Gear Group,  Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, and even eBay can be included in this list - though there will be some fees with the last three and you open yourself up to potential scammers when using FB Marketplace, Craigslist and eBay.

By selling within your local camera club or Facebook Photo Group you have the benefit of working with other people genuinely interested in photography and you are much less likely to run into scammers. 

Clean up the gear you are selling and take nice, well-lit photos of the gear, with lenses be sure to capture a clear look at the front glass element - showing any issues. And, be ready to share the shutter count for cameras. There are different ways to find the shutter count depending on your camera make and model. The best advice I can give you is to google “shutter count for [[Your Camera]]” and you will be pointed in the right direction. 

Selling locally means you can avoid shipping costs but that means you will need to meet the person- you might find some people are reluctant to meet during a pandemic so for the foreseeable future this will limit your potential selling audience.  If you do meet, be smart about the location. Many police precincts offer a spot to meet where everyone should feel safe. Inside a Starbucks or other fast food restaurant works too. Again the pandemic might limit your options. 

How to price your gear?  Search eBay for completed listings, look to see what B&H Used is offering, and cross-reference with used sales on Amazon.  That should provide a pretty solid starting point. 

If you have a local camera store you may check with them, they sometimes will buy used gear and resell it. You won’t get nearly as much as you would if you sold it yourself but it is an easy way to get some money for your gear.

Selling Online. Facebook Marketplace, eBay, and Amazon open up a much larger audience to you but it also opens you up to a world of scammers.  Take some time to familiarize yourself with scams and the settings in each selling platform that will minimize your risk. If you are selling from the United States I strongly advise that you limit your sale to inside the US. Several very effective scams take advantage of issues with international shipping.  I know of photographers that have great success selling on these platforms but the last few items I sold I had several scammers message for each real person that was interested. These days if I don’t sell locally I just use the next options.  

Selling Online - Third Party.  B&H Photo, MPB.com, and KEH.com all offer to buy your gear.  You won’t make as much as you would if selling directly to someone but this is the no-hassle approach. I have personally sold to B&H Photo and MPB and found the process very straight forward.   They provide a portal to enter the details on your gear and the quality and then provide an instant quote.  It’s worth using, sometimes the quote is close to what you were hoping to get when selling.  If you agree to the price a couple more clicks and you have shipping labels and instructions for sending.  In my experience the quotes were accurate and I received my payouts not long after the gear arrives.    In some instances, you can receive a slight increase in the payout if you opt to take store credit.   Be sure to check all three - I have found that MPB often provides the most $$$ for your gear. Once the company receives and evaluates your gear, if your description was inaccurate they will let you know the updated quote and give you the option to decline, shipping your gear back. 

Donating. If you don’t need the funds from selling your gear or the amount you would get for the work makes it impractical, consider donating.  Reach out to your local high school to see if they have a photography program. Many schools do have programs and are always looking for the gear they can loan to students.  You could also ask your local Boys and Girls club as they often provide education programs.   

I hope this article helps you Marie Kando a few pieces of photo gear that no longer sparks joy.

All the best,

Toby

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Stop Doing This to Improve Your Photography

I am usually a pretty positive guy but today I am coming to you with a short and sweet list of DONT’S that can save you frustrations and improve your photography. 

STOP Adjusting your tripod without loosening the knobs.  What!? Yes, I see it more often than I like. Here’s the scenario -you set up for a shot on your tripod and realize that the composition would improve if you shifted your angle a few degrees. Just give the camera a little muscle - it will move. This creates a serious issue- something has to give to allow you to move the camera and it usually results in the tripod plate becoming loose or the head of the tripod becoming loose. The end result is the same - your tripod is no longer providing a stable platform and eventually, your camera can just fall off. I have seen it happen more than once.  

DO - when you need to adjust your camera take a couple of seconds to loosen the appropriate knob, position the camera and tighten the knob.   If you are frustrated with your current tripod head consider upgrading just the head. I personally like the models with just one or two knobs Oben makes an affordable option and Really Right stuff has an expensive head but it will likely last you a lifetime.  Both of these heads have different sized or shaped knobs which makes it easy to know which one you need to turn without even looking.  I have one tripod head with three knobs - one for panning, one to loosen the ball head, and one for setting the tension on the ball head. After finding the perfect tension I place a piece of tape over the tension knob so that I don’t accidentally use that one in the future. 

STOP Automatically setting up your tripod at your eye level.  I know, it’s easy and comfortable to stand upright and not crouch over but too often you are missing impactful compositions if you just default to what is easiest for you.  

DO - When you walk up to a scene take a moment to hold your camera near ground level and slowly raise it watching how the composition changes - where is it most impactful?  Setup the tripod for that height.   

STOP taking a photo as soon as you bring the camera up to your eye.  The common scenario I see, and it happens to me too- something catches your eye, you bring your camera up - focused on that subject and snap a photo before moving on.  Later when you review the photo you realize that there is lots of other stuff going on that you missed - stuff that can potentially distract your viewers from immediately recognizing your subject and just presenting them with a busy scene.  

DO - When bringing that camera to your eye take a moment to take in the whole scene, not just fixate on what caught your eye. And now arrange your composition to avoid distractions and use elements in the scene to lead your viewer to the subject - this might include but is not limited to framing and the use of leading lines.  If you want to take this one step at a time - first just focus on removing distractions from the scene. Several years ago I became much more conscious of this and saw a noticeable improvement in the quality of my photos.  Distractions could include something poking into the frame, a bright spot of light or different color, or something awkwardly intersecting with your subject.   Move your feet, change your focal length or aperture to reduce and remove these distractions. 

NOTE -If you see a fleeting moment absolutely capture as soon as the camera is up to your eye - this is the safety shot and that was the subject of a tip back in 2019. 


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Lightroom's Color Grading Tool Explained

Lightroom released a recent update that introduced an entirely new panel to the editing window. I share two ways you might want to use this powerful new feature in Lightroom.

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EOS R5 Review Vs Sony a7Riii and Differences vs R6 - Worth all the $$$?

I spent a month shooting with the Canon EOS R6 (my full review) and the EOS R5. The R6 review was easy - at its current price, the R6 is a fantastic all-around camera that is suitable for photographers and even videographers (with the latest FW update camera is less likely to overheat). The R5 at $3900 is significantly more money and outside the USA the cost is even higher. In this review, I help you determine the value of this new camera or save you $1900 - Watch

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R5 Raw and Sony a7Riii RAW files shared in video- http://photorec.tv/r5raw

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Which Drone Is Best for You? Drone Guide 2020

Your Drone Choices in 2020

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Dji Mavic Mini - Released Oct 2019 - Price $399 Buy from B&H Photo | Buy from Amazon
DJI Mini 2 - Release Nov 2020 - Price $449 Buy from B&H Photo | Buy from Amazon (SOON!)
DJI Mavic Air 2 - Released Apr 2020 - $799 Buy from B&H Photo | Buy from Amazon
DJI Mavic 2 Pro - Released Aug 2018 - $1599 Buy from B&H Photo | Buy from Amazon
Skydio 2 - Releasing Dec 2020 - $999 (best drone for tracking)
Autel Evo II 8k or 6K Released Apr 2020 $1495 - $2095 Buy from B&H Photo | Buy from Amazon | Buy from Adorama

Don’t want to spend time reading or watching this video? Ok! Buy the Mavic Air 2. The Air 2 offers a fantastic feature set, great quality, and is robust enough/fast enough to be used without worrying that it will blow away.

The Affordable DJI Mavic Mini (Original Review from Alaska - Dec 2019)

$399 for the Mavic Mini is the most affordable way to get a modern DJI drone that offers easy to fly with reliable GPS hold - This means that when you let go of the controls the drone will hold it’s position very well. There are cheaper non-DJI drones on the market but they do not do this as well making it more likely you will crash. 2.7K video, JPEG photos only, no active tracking and WiFi connection are drawbacks but this small and lightweight drone provide good enough quality for beginners or travelers looking for the most compact package. Note: you do not need WiFi to fly the drone, it makes it’s own connection between controller and drone but based on your area you might find WiFi interference bad enough that you can’t fly the drone more than a few hundred feet away. In the wilds of Alaska I was able to easily control the drone over a mile away.


Releasing soon - The DJI Mini 2

The price will be around $500 for drone only and the main upgrades are 4k, Occusync 2.0 for drone to controller connection and using the new, larger style remote that comes with the Mavic Air 2. The Occusync upgrade is huge - this provide rock solid connections and a clear feed from miles away - rated up to 6 miles! So even those living in WiFi congested areas will be able to easily control and see the video feed.
UPDATES - since releasing video it has been confirmed that the Mini 2 will shoot RAW/DNG photos and will provide a follow mode that allows the drone to follow the controller - this is kind of like active track but very limited since it will only be using position of controller- not trying to keep the subject in the camera necessarily.

The Mavic Mini will remain on the market as a low priced option to get started with DJI. The Mini 2 will be positioned closer to the Air 2

With the higher price the Mini 2 sits closer to the Mavic Air 2. The Air 2 provides a faster drone with a larger sensor and excellent tracking capabilities along with smoother video. If you are looking for great quality photo/video with tracking and all packaged in a fairly portable body- the Air 2 is an excellent choice. Because of the price, size and feature set this is the drone to buy in 2020.

The Mavic 2 Pro offers a larger sensor and higher bit rate video files which will translate into more detail and better dynamic range but in my testing I saw very little difference in most real world shooting. At almost 2x the cost of the Air you will really need the absolute best or plan to often fly in lower light to make the case for the Pro.

More added soon.

Mavic Air 2 - This is the drone *MOST* of you are looking for

Watch the video for my full review…