Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Diana+ and Diana?

No, I don't have the Diana+ yet. But Miku asked:

"Do you have any comments on what this will do to the prices of original old used ones for which the price have been very high?"

Not that I'm an expert or anything, but I do have opinions. Not particularly strong or well-informed opinions on this subject, but maybe a few thoughts. I think that the release of the Diana+ will probably have little effect on the price of the originals on Ebay. And I'm talking Diana, not the clones, which often sell for cheaper, and sometimes sell for more if it is a seemingly rare pseudonym. The originals, they aren't exactly rare. There are always at least 20 for sale at any given time...and the always sell for $35-$80. The release of the new Diana+ will certainly raise awareness of the original Diana, particularly with the purchase of the collection and presenting of all the models on the Lomography site. Will it make everyone run to Ebay to buy one of these originals? Maybe a few people...maybe more than a few. But I doubt most of those people would pay more than they would for a Diana+, which is $50. I absolutely am certain that the "Buy It Now" prices will increase substantially, and maybe a few people will bite. Sellers are greedy. I sell things occasionally and I want the most I can get from my sale. Naturally. No way would I pay $150 for a Diana, but they will appear more frequently at those prices. I'm betting that the average Joe will go to Lomography rather than pay those prices, though...eventually bringing the "Buy It Now" back down to a respectable (albeit still too expensive) price of around $75-$80, which is the average right now.
Will it make the prices of the Diana go down? No way. Most people that want a Diana...want a Diana. Not a Diana+. I know Lomography will sell tons of them, and they may become the new "Holga" in the hip circles, and many people will choose to buy the Diana+ over an original. But, I'm betting most of those people weren't aware of, or were only vaguely familiar with the Diana camera. The Diana+ looks to be a more attractive buy than an old camera, with all the fancy features and the warranty, etc. Just like you still see, every day, some Flickr post about "My new Holga! How do I use it?", there will always be Diana newbies, and they will see it on Lomography for the first time and just buy it. And there will be a few people that will buy them on Ebay, not realizing that the Diana camera is different than the Diana+. And maybe a few people will do a little research and decide that an original is cooler than the Diana+. And, of course, the people that just think it's a plastic piece of crap, plus or not. They don't count.
I feel like I'm going around in circles. To summarize: no. No price difference on Ebay. Maybe someday when all the old Dianas are broken and there aren't so many of them, the prices will go up. Geez, there seems to be an endless supply of them, though.
But I already own mine, so I don't much care. They break? I fix.
Anyway, I should be studying. I guess.

I love my Snappy. I want to marry it and have its babies.


Oh, on a side note...what's up with the butt-ugly gold Diana?

They haven't even shipped out the "vintage" Diana+ and they release a limited edition version. And it's painted gold. You can see the blue plastic inside the viewfinder. And those decals! Blech. Maybe if the gold was the actual molded plastic color and it didn't have the nasty logos, it might be cool. That...is just plain tacky. And not cool tacky. A bit interesting, it doesn't seem to have the + symbol on top like the blue version.
Anyway, haven't shot anything new for a few. Busty. I mean, busy. I must be dreaming of sweet things.

3 comments:

  1. Anonymous3:13 PM

    I live in London and today I had the chance to hold and have a play with the 'gold' Diana in The Photographers Gallery.
    The winding nob has an absolutely awful click to it, like a highly sprung ratchet, clicking away rapidly as you wind onto the next shot.
    Luckily, I just got me a free Diana clone, so I can put off buying one of these for a while.
    It's just whether I can resist that 20 rolls of film deal!

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  2. I never did get why anyone has such a sharp line of division between 'Diana' and 'Diana clone'. They're all the same freaking camera! Just some of them have a 'Diana' label and some have a 'Snappy' label and some have a 'Tru-View' label or whatever. There was nothing special about 'Diana' versus any of the other names for the same device.

    (and yes, I know you know this! but it seems that the collectors or whoever it is don't get this)

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  3. Interesting about the clicking, maybe it's meant to last longer.

    As for the clones, i love my Snappy, and it does shoot better than my two Dianas, but I know that's just the camera and not the name. There are, however, a number of clones that are very different. Banner and Arrow are the darker blue versions, and the lens is different...they even feel different. The output isn't the same as a straight Diana. and there are other clones with different barrels or bodies, like the Winner.
    Both of my original Dianas are different. One of them doesn't have a bulb switch. And some of the names are just cool. Reader's Digest isn't particularly cool, but Marwin? I would love to have a camera names Marwin. It's like anything else collectible, I guess. Like Pokemon.

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