Things that make you go "Hmmm"

I guess this is a comment on the throwaway mentality prevalent in modern
consumers. Today I wandered into one of the local pawnshops as I do
ocassionally and saw a Nikon Coolpix 990 on offer for $69 in apparently
excellent condition (including a 512 MB CF card). For those who don't know
this model, it was Nikons top non-DSLR prosumer offering of about 6 or so
years ago and sold for about $900 US at its introduction. It's a 3.34 MP
camera with a wide range of control options, a very good lens, and an
astounding macro capability, even by todays standards. It produces a very
nice 8 x10 with just a little care in use. Although I have a D70s and an
8MP Olympus I just had to give this poor stray a home since it was
essentially free (not long ago the CF card would have cost what the camera
was offered for. I'll keep it in the car or my tote bag as a standby
camera. I'm sure that progress will move on, but I wonder what sort of
person pawns a $900 camera for what must have been $40 or less. For 80% of
users, this camera could do all they need, and its build quality and "feel"
are way beyond what is offered now in the $250 plastic wonders. I dare say
its 3.34 MP are better than some of the 6MP models offered at that price. I
know that the images are certainly smoother and less noisy than some of the
low end 2006 5-6 MP models I've seen. I've got to go trade in my car now,
the ashtrays are full.....


Yoshi

On Mon, 2 Apr 2007 17:17:00 -0400, Yoshi wrote:
[...]
, but I wonder what sort of
person pawns a $900 camera for what must have been $40 or less.

A thief.

Yoshi,
You should'nt smoke. It causes cancer....
I just had to say that......... Good find!
John
"Yoshi" wrote in message
...
I guess this is a comment on the throwaway mentality prevalent in modern
consumers. Today I wandered into one of the local pawnshops as I do
ocassionally and saw a Nikon Coolpix 990 on offer for $69 in apparently
excellent condition (including a 512 MB CF card). For those who don't know
this model, it was Nikons top non-DSLR prosumer offering of about 6 or so
years ago and sold for about $900 US at its introduction. It's a 3.34 MP
camera with a wide range of control options, a very good lens, and an
astounding macro capability, even by todays standards. It produces a very
nice 8 x10 with just a little care in use. Although I have a D70s and an
8MP Olympus I just had to give this poor stray a home since it was
essentially free (not long ago the CF card would have cost what the camera
was offered for. I'll keep it in the car or my tote bag as a standby
camera. I'm sure that progress will move on, but I wonder what sort of
person pawns a $900 camera for what must have been $40 or less. For 80% of
users, this camera could do all they need, and its build quality and "feel"
are way beyond what is offered now in the $250 plastic wonders. I dare say
its 3.34 MP are better than some of the 6MP models offered at that price. I
know that the images are certainly smoother and less noisy than some of the
low end 2006 5-6 MP models I've seen. I've got to go trade in my car now,
the ashtrays are full.....


Yoshi

You answer your own question.

"But I wonder what sort of person pawns a $900 camera for what must have
been $40 or less. For 80% of users, this camera could do all they need"

Apparently unlike you this camera was no longer meeting the needs of the
user and so it was sold. I think selling it to a pawn shop is better than
tossing it in the trash. If the camera is not meeting the persons needs I
see little reason to clutter up ones home just because 6 years ago it sold
for $900 and for its time took very good pictures.

=(8)

"=(8)" wrote in message
...
You answer your own question.

"But I wonder what sort of person pawns a $900 camera for what must have
been $40 or less. For 80% of users, this camera could do all they need"

Apparently unlike you this camera was no longer meeting the needs of the
user and so it was sold. I think selling it to a pawn shop is better than
tossing it in the trash. If the camera is not meeting the persons needs I
see little reason to clutter up ones home just because 6 years ago it sold
for $900 and for its time took very good pictures.

=(8)

90% of consumer cameras are sold not because of "needs", but because of
"wants". The economy works on convincing you constantly that what you have
is **** and the new stuff is the holy grail.
I've bought into this myself, but some folks have it really bad, switching
equipment ever few months compulsively. A few of these folks may even
frequent this newsgroup.

Yoshi

On Mon, 2 Apr 2007 19:55:30 -0700, =(8) wrote:

"But I wonder what sort of person pawns a $900 camera for what must have
been $40 or less. For 80% of users, this camera could do all they need"

Apparently unlike you this camera was no longer meeting the needs of the
user and so it was sold. I think selling it to a pawn shop is better than
tossing it in the trash. If the camera is not meeting the persons needs I
see little reason to clutter up ones home just because 6 years ago it sold
for $900 and for its time took very good pictures.

Another possibility. Someone in desperate need of money may have
pawned it along with other things, perhaps thinking that someday
soon they'd be able to get it back. In the current economic
climate, pawn shops should be busy, with fewer people returning with
their tickets to reclaim their pawned former possessions.

Allodoxaphobia wrote:
On Mon, 2 Apr 2007 17:17:00 -0400, Yoshi wrote:
[...]
, but I wonder what sort of
person pawns a $900 camera for what must have been $40 or less.

A thief.

Probably spot on.

David

On Tue, 03 Apr 2007 07:46:09 GMT, David J Taylor wrote:

, but I wonder what sort of
person pawns a $900 camera for what must have been $40 or less.

A thief.

Probably spot on.

Not necessarily, for several reasons. I'd agree if the person
*sold* something valued at $900 for only $40. But pawn shops aren't
in business to *buy* anything for fair value. Their mode of
operation is to temporarily "lend" the use of a small amount of cash
for something worth far more, and presumably the item will
eventually be reclaimed. They'd *never* give anyone hundreds of
dollars for a $900 camera. Pawn shops don't operate that way.
While it's true that a thief might try to pawn such a camera for
$40, that's also what an honest person dealing with a pawn shop
would expect to get.

The other reason that should be considered is that the camera in
no way had a $900 value. As the OP said, that was the list price at
the time of its introduction, 7 years ago. It wasn't a relatively
new DSLR such as a D80 or Xti. One of these probably would fetch
under $100 from a pawn shop. Instead it was a 7 year old used
camera (DPReview tested a production CP990 in April 2000). What
would a used CP990 sell for today? $150? $200? I really don't
know the CP990's current market value but if it's in this range a
person shouldn't expect to be able to pawn it for more than $40.

Update: After checking B&H's website I see that they're selling a
CP995 (not the CP990) for $99. I stand corrected. A person trying
to pawn a CP990 shouldn't expect to get more than $20 for it, i
that. Are you still certain that a person pawning a CP990 for $40
must be a thief?


http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...ughType=search

ASAAR wrote:
[]
Update: After checking B&H's website I see that they're selling a
CP995 (not the CP990) for $99. I stand corrected. A person trying
to pawn a CP990 shouldn't expect to get more than $20 for it, i
that. Are you still certain that a person pawning a CP990 for $40
must be a thief?

Sounds like a fair cop.

G

David

On Apr 2, 4:17 pm, "Yoshi" wrote:
I guess this is a comment on the throwaway mentality prevalent in modern
consumers. Today I wandered into one of the local pawnshops as I do
ocassionally and saw a Nikon Coolpix 990 on offer for $69 in apparently
excellent condition (including a 512 MB CF card). For those who don't know
this model, it was Nikons top non-DSLR prosumer offering of about 6 or so
years ago and sold for about $900 US at its introduction. It's a 3.34 MP
camera with a wide range of control options, a very good lens, and an
astounding macro capability, even by todays standards. It produces a very
nice 8 x10 with just a little care in use. Although I have a D70s and an
8MP Olympus I just had to give this poor stray a home since it was
essentially free (not long ago the CF card would have cost what the camera
was offered for. I'll keep it in the car or my tote bag as a standby
camera. I'm sure that progress will move on, but I wonder what sort of
person pawns a $900 camera for what must have been $40 or less. For 80% of
users, this camera could do all they need, and its build quality and "feel"
are way beyond what is offered now in the $250 plastic wonders. I dare say
its 3.34 MP are better than some of the 6MP models offered at that price. I
know that the images are certainly smoother and less noisy than some of the
low end 2006 5-6 MP models I've seen. I've got to go trade in my car now,
the ashtrays are full.....

Yoshi

One of the problems is getting CF cards these days. It seems to be an
extinct format. I had an Olympus that used them and can't get new
cards any more. That was a real problem, as every time I changed
batteries, when I reinserted the card it would zap it! Something
wrong in the reformatting circuitry I guess. Anyway, after seeing
card prices go up on eBay, I decided to junk it.