F3: Why so many F3s for sale?

A

Andy Olson

Well-known member
Hey everyone,

I've noticed there are quite a few F3's for sale in the classifieds forum. I haven't been much of a Sony user since my VX2000 a long time ago, but the F3 seems pretty awesome. Why are people selling it?

Is it just the nature of the times that new options or a successor coming out every year?

Just wondering.

Thanks,
Andy
 
I'd assume it due to the release of the F5/55. I'll be adding mine to the mix any day. And your right, the F3 is pretty awesome.
 
Are there other major upgrades from the F3 to F5/55 besides the 4k raw option? I guess 4k raw is a pretty big thing in itself that I could see many people updating for.
 
There is a huge list of feature's upgrades. Image wise, going from the F3 w/ext. recorder to a F5 shooting HD internally in XAVC(not 4K RAW) there is not a huge difference. Image is a little cleaner, higher sensitivity, half to 1 more stop of DR in S-log. It is exactly as I expected it, it's the added features and capabilities that sold me. Now the 55 does bring a few unique exclusive features to the game image wise. Given the right scene all of these cameras could be intercut together fine.
 
Summer of 2012, knowing the successor to the F3 would be coming soon, I said to myself, if the next one has:

-a good EVF with power from body, no batteries

-ergos to fix handheld

-Some codec change that allows me to get away from external recorders

-path to 4K would be icing on cake

...then I'd jump. Those were my problems making me grumble, and I'm glad I made a list of them PRIOR to the announcement of the new camera, because it then made the decision MUCH easier.
 
Yoyodyne said:
C300.
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No offense, but if you think that the high number of F3's currently for sale has anything to do with the C300 your sorely mistaken. I'd be surprised if anyone on here sold their F3 to move to the 300, if Im wrong please let us know.. and why.
 
Well I may or may not be selling my F3 kit, not sure yet. The prices that they are going for makes one pause and think whether the camera is worth selling at all because it is still a great picture making machine. All the S-35 glass I have will be an easier sell I guess should I decide to divest myself of the complete kit.....
But in any event if I do sell I will not be chasing the next "F" from Sony or any other such S35 camera.
If anything I will step sideways and downwards in format and look for a deal on an Ikonoskop DII, then at least all my idle S16 glass will be working more! That's a fascinating little camera. A Leica M to the FF Canons and Nikon D's in the still camera world. I find that very appealing.
 
Really? No one here sees ANY connection between the C300 & all the used F3's?

Don't get me wrong, the F3 is an awesome camera, but in my market (Portland, Or) the major camera rental houses have been selling off their F3's and replacing them with C300s. Rental demand for the C300 has been huge, at least around here.
 
Yoyodyne said:
Really? No one here sees ANY connection between the C300 & all the used F3's?

Don't get me wrong, the F3 is an awesome camera, but in my market (Portland, Or) the major camera rental houses have been selling off their F3's and replacing them with C300s. Rental demand for the C300 has been huge, at least around here.
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Yes & no. Rental houses, yes. C300 rents way more than F3. But owner/ops, no.

The C300 just points out the sales power of practicality, it rents because people want to move up from DSLR and they have the EF lenses, and those lenses are cheap, bought or rented.

Owner ops have the lenses figured out or they wouldn't invest in first place. Sony could do themselves a huge favor by figuring a path to EF lenses w/control. I suspect they can't do it themselves because it exposes them to possible suits from Canon, but they should encourage and help a 3rd party to help themselves.
 
Nate Weaver said:
Yes & no. Rental houses, yes. C300 rents way more than F3. But owner/ops, no.

The C300 just points out the sales power of practicality, it rents because people want to move up from DSLR and they have the EF lenses, and those lenses are cheap, bought or rented.

Owner ops have the lenses figured out or they wouldn't invest in first place. Sony could do themselves a huge favor by figuring a path to EF lenses w/control. I suspect they can't do it themselves because it exposes them to possible suits from Canon, but they should encourage and help a 3rd party to help themselves.
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100% agree. Im sure the rental and the retail market for the C300 is huge. Like Nate said, every DSLR shooter probably looks to the C300 as the next step up due to owning the lenses already and being "familiar" with Canon.

As far as owner/ops, here in NY I know (personally) 5 DP's/Ops who own F3's and 1 that has a C300, he came from the 5DMKII and III. All the F3 guys I know came from traditional video cameras. Dont get me wrong, the C300 is a fantastic camera albeit way overpriced and feature/expandability lacking.
 
Nate Weaver said:
Yes & no. Rental houses, yes. C300 rents way more than F3. But owner/ops, no.

The C300 just points out the sales power of practicality, it rents because people want to move up from DSLR and they have the EF lenses, and those lenses are cheap, bought or rented.

Owner ops have the lenses figured out or they wouldn't invest in first place. Sony could do themselves a huge favor by figuring a path to EF lenses w/control. I suspect they can't do it themselves because it exposes them to possible suits from Canon, but they should encourage and help a 3rd party to help themselves.
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We already offer Canon EF adapters with drive by wire focus and iris control for these cameras:thumbsup:
Sony has been very encouraging and supportive...
Canon is really strange- they don't even offer (manual drive by wire)focus control for using their lenses on their cameras...weird:thumbdown
 
The only thing that keeps me from buying an F3 right this moment is that I suspect I would never be able to sell it (and accompanying external recorder) when the time comes.

The only thing that keeps me from buying an F5 right this moment is how quickly the prices on the F3 (and F35 for pete's sake) plummeted.
 
LyleGorch said:
The only thing that keeps me from buying an F3 right this moment is that I suspect I would never be able to sell it (and accompanying external recorder) when the time comes.

The only thing that keeps me from buying an F5 right this moment is how quickly the prices on the F3 (and F35 for pete's sake) plummeted.
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I think the current situation is unique. If you are ok with the ergos of the F3 and an external recorder, I don't think prices are going to go down again until 4K becomes much cheaper (under 8 or $10K). $6K for what the F3 does is a tremendous deal, and will be for another 2 years I think. At very least another 12 months.

Related to that is, I don't think F5/55 owners are about to let their cameras sell for an equal depreciation after taking a bath on the F3. I know I'm not. Part and parcel of the decision to upgrade was that I will NOT be selling for 40% of investment in 24 months. I just can't do that again. It's 3 or 4 years on this one, even if it hurts at end of year 2.
 
LyleGorch said:
The only thing that keeps me from buying an F5 right this moment is how quickly the prices on the F3 (and F35 for pete's sake) plummeted.
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Think thats the nature of the beast these days, we're also in a bit of a crossover phase where prices came down on almost every cam affecting the market overall. The issue I have with getting into cameras over that $20k mark once kitted is, as a shooter, producers/agencies ask more and more for different things, which unless its the camera you own, means your gear is sitting on a shelf. Also, you don't want to be getting into using your cam included in your day rate either, if you end up there then you could have probably gotten away with shooting it on an FS100. Buying and expecting to rent is another tough ask, with the rental houses offering many back up units if needed etc, the insurance and trouble of going that path means a lot of people savage the market on price because they need to make a minimum per month to pay for the camera.

My opinion for OP: Normal for when manufacturer releases new tech that supersedes the older. People sell gear toward new units.

FWIW if I'd purchased an F3 in Feb 2011, I wouldnt be selling it.
 
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