How Can Someone That Can Afford A $500 Pen Not Have A Half Decent Digital Camera

[1point1mm]

Photography is a skill. People who do not have that skill shouldn't waste money on camera equipment.:roflmho:

 

That statement is true! The camera I have is somewhat decent (Canon PowerShot ELPH 300HS), though I'm a terrible shot when it comes down to it!

[mcnoodle]

Photography is a skill. People who do not have that skill shouldn't waste money on camera equipment.:roflmho:

 

That statement is true! The camera I have is somewhat decent (Canon PowerShot ELPH 300HS), though I'm a terrible shot when it comes down to it!

 

Skills can be learned.

[diensthunds]

If I'm going to drop money on a pen be it $3 or $300 I want to see darn good pictures of the pen first. It doesn't have to be done with a super expensive camera, but the pictures should be of good quality and sufficient size that I can get an idea of the pens characteristics. I've seen websites by professional dealers of pens that had such a poor layout and picture quality that I skipped right over them and went to the next one. It's not hard to get good pictures but it is hard to convince me to do business with somebody that isn't willing to put a little work into a nice presentation. Granted not everybody on ebay is a major distributor but I know that if I were to sell something on there I'd want to have as nice an experience for somebody as possible to show that I'm trustworthy and somebody worth buying from.

[XiaoMG]

I'm with others in that very decent or even good photos of products can be taken with minimal equipment. Many think that DSLRs and light boxes are a necessity, and they can be very useful tools, but practically any fool can be taught in a few minutes to take usable photos with a cheap camera and a bit of daylight.

 

My camera was bought in 2008 for around $200. I rarely use artificial light and only do very basic setups these days. Nothing fancy, nothing expensive, and perfectly usable if I were intending to sell the thing on eBay (I'm not, of course). Could I do better? Yeah, but it would be mostly in setup of light sources, and not so much in the camera/lenses, unless I were planning to get in extremely extremely close.

 

http://i.imgur.com/sD3Lk.jpg

 

 

[SamCapote]

Just to make a point, I put my new Etruria on a bag of coffee, and took this Verizon phone camera photo with little attention to composition or details such as the flash reflection. You can get decent photos with a camera.

 

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h75/pike444/IMAG0206.jpg

[Pepin]

The OP assumes that we're all Renaissance men. In the old days, there aren't many fields to master so it's not that hard to be well-versed, well-read, and well hyphenated pretty much everything. These days, there are too many disciplines to master so the best one can hope for is to be proficient at everything. For example, I don't have very expensive pens or expensive cameras but I do have a $45 haircut. In other words, being proficient doesn't mean having good scissors but a good barber. :roflmho:

Edited February 24, 2012 by Pepin

[mmahany]

Wow, I'm amazed at how many people's heads this went over. He isn't saying anything about having to have a nice camera, he's just saying that some people will sell a $500 pen and take a picture so blurry you have to ask yourself why bother. I know exactly what he's talking about. I saw a MB 146 on ebay the other day and the guy had an out of focus closeup of part of the cap. No other pictures. His feedback was even well into the 100s so it was safe to say he wasn't a scammer.

[mirosc]

When selling something as antique as a fountain pen on ebay it should be mandatory not (!) to use any photograph, but to show a handmade pastel painting, which - of course - has to be acquired before the actual deal.

 

I like rubbish photos, helps keeping the prices down.

[XiaoMG]

Wow, I'm amazed at how many people's heads this went over. He isn't saying anything about having to have a nice camera, he's just saying that some people will sell a $500 pen and take a picture so blurry you have to ask yourself why bother. I know exactly what he's talking about. I saw a MB 146 on ebay the other day and the guy had an out of focus closeup of part of the cap. No other pictures. His feedback was even well into the 100s so it was safe to say he wasn't a scammer.

I don't really think it is that folks missed the point; that there are terrible photos of very expensive goods is well-known and widely understood. There is not much one can really contribute to that lamentation besides additional examples.

 

Many of us simply wanted to point out that it's not even a matter of getting a nice camera. There are very few excuses apart from laziness, which in my opinion makes the point of the original post even more barbed.

[alexander_k]

I've always had a decent camera but my photographs are generally pedestrian, especially when it comes to close-ups of small things like pens. At the same time, my eldest takes very nice pictures of flowers and insects with my cameras and without any training. I'm now waiting for a macro lens that might improve matters because I agree with the OP: I'm fed up feeling disappointment every time I try to take a picture of a pen (especially details like nibs).

[fourseamer]

No, I don't expect folks to produce the best quality of photos, but too often, I see poorly composed photos of things people sell. Not just lighting and focus. Too many photos from poor angles and/or not showing crucial parts of an item. It's just laziness more than lousy photo equipment, and I believe if those sellers understood how damaging poor photos are to the market for their items, they'd put more than menial effort into it. Or so I wish...

[asaha]

This Ebay problem is kind of annoying.

 

To pacify you anger on the sellers' cameras, it is quite simple. Just reverse the sentence, "How can someone that can afford a $500 digital camera not have a fountain pen?" :roflmho: This situation is quite often and vice versa

[eric47]

Wow, I'm amazed at how many people's heads this went over. He isn't saying anything about having to have a nice camera, he's just saying that some people will sell a $500 pen and take a picture so blurry you have to ask yourself why bother. I know exactly what he's talking about. I saw a MB 146 on ebay the other day and the guy had an out of focus closeup of part of the cap. No other pictures. His feedback was even well into the 100s so it was safe to say he wasn't a scammer.

 

Then why is title "How can someone that can afford a $500 Pen not have a half decent digital camera"? Along with the included comment, "Surely if you have a $500 pen you have a half decent digital camera?" "Having a half decent digital camera" would typically imply something about ownership.

 

Just like stores, flea markets, etc. some sellers really try to (and know how to) sell their wares, others do not. Some may not be interested in getting top dollar, some don't care that they do. Someone who finds or buys in a lot with other items a bunch of old pens may be happy to get something for it, not wanting to find out that there's a community of nuts who place a high market value on some of them.

 

I suppose if every seller were well-informed and with super magazine-quality product shots, then there wouldn't be many sumgais. I wouldn't have been able for instance to buy a used but pristine early black Pelikan M800 W. Germany with a mythical 14K nib, which I inspected firsthand, for less than USD50 -- the seller just wanted to be rid of the pens that came in lot from an estate sale.

 

Ebay, FPN, pentrace, etc. ads with bad or mediocre photos, big deal. Just assess them, the description, the seller, the response to questions for what they are. Decide whether the balance of risk:reward is satisfactory for you, bid/commit accordingly or walk away. Sometimes it works in your favor and you get a deal, sometimes it doesn't.

 

I've won pens well below market price most likely because of mediocre photos, e.g. photos so dark to make the pen appear prima facie to be black when in was really pearl gray celluloid that could be seen poorly, pens with furniture that looked hosed yet knowing it was silver mostly likely meant it was merely tarnish. Others deals have come from pens incorrectly described in the title or description.

 

Then again, I've bought pens from some of those 1000+ positive feedback sellers with killer photos and the pens still had problems. Not only the hidden things like bum corks and broken filling systems (despite being advertised as ready to write), but things you couldn't see in the photos. If you know how to use a camera, you know you can exclude and hide the flaws (turn the pen, use certain angles, etc.).

 

Buying a used/pre-owned pen based on ads without seeing and inspecting them firsthand always has risks -- sometimes ameliorated by the seller's return policy. Just decide if it is and what is acceptable.

Edited February 24, 2012 by eric47

[phrenzy]

Not all camera phone pictures are rubbish: FPN camera phone thread

 

...although those from 2005 are probably fighting an uphill battle

[pmhudepo]

Can't believe some of the pics on ebay.

 

Surely if you have a $500 pen you have a half decent digital camera? So many of the pics look like they have been taken on a cell phone from 2005. Not sure if this is to cover up fakes or because people are just really busy? Obviously no love for the item being sold which is a shame.

 

Well, to each his own, I suppose. I don't think you actually need to have a good camera, or good photography skills to own or sell expensive pens.

 

However, I will not buy anything off eBay unless it is accompanied by clear pictures of the item. Multiple angles, overview, detail. Pictures + seller's reputation are important to me, also at prices significantly less than $500. I don't care if the seller has taken the pictures himself, or asked a friend to take them, but pictures are a necessity for me.

[nicholasyeo]

Photography is a skill. People who do not have that skill shouldn't waste money on camera equipment.:roflmho:

 

That statement is true! The camera I have is somewhat decent (Canon PowerShot ELPH 300HS), though I'm a terrible shot when it comes down to it!

 

Skills can be learned.

 

Absolutely right! That's what all professional sellers should do.

[bbx]

Wow, left the original comment and come back after a day to a riot

 

My initial comment was after frustration at seeing how many MB fountain pens there are on eBay where it is impossible to tell if they are fake or not due to the pics. It looks like in some cases the sellers are taking rubbish pictures / poor description on purpose to lure buyers who think they are getting a bargain from a rich person who is to busy to care, but are ending up with a fake.

 

By half decent I just meant $70+ digital camera or recent cellphone camera, no pretensions that all fp owners should also own a Leica. Some of the pics really look they have been taken using a pin hole camera on a powerplate

[Markk]

I totally understand. How can you expect to sell something for 500 dollars when your cell phone pic makes it look like 5 dollars. But it gets worse with even expensive things. I've look at motorcycles for 5k to 10k and some of the pictures are horrible! How can someone try to sell with that kind of value and have horrible pictures?

 

(going in this direction, and judging by the majority of opinions, seems that cell phones pics a'la 2005 would be just the right thing for the Expendables pen by Mr. Stallone [i'd still get that pen though ])

[filedog]

It's not the camera that takes the photos - good photos can be taken with some pretty basic camera equipment if the photographer has the skill and knowledge. You don't need an expensive camera to take eBay photos. The skill and knowledge of light are more important than the gear. Just like you don't need an expensive pen to write well, you need a basic pen, knowledge, and plenty of practice. Nice gear doesn't hurt, but it's not the most important part of the equation.

 

That being said, some sellers on eBay can't even be bothered to make sure that their photos are in focus. It's not even like they're spending money on film - all they have to do is keep trying until they get one shot in focus. Keep shooting until you get it right - it's free - it doesn't seem that hard to me. But, if they can't be bothered, then that is their loss - I won't buy stuff that I cannot see clearly, and I'm sure that I am not alone.

 

 

 

 

P.S. Regarding pens and camera equipment - who says you can't have both?

 

http://rudiphoto.net/img/s3/v41/p694733240-4.jpg

 

I was going to write something to that effect, but you summed it up nicely!

[filedog]

I have gotten some pretty good deals on ebay items that had rotten pictures,

but it's a gamble. When I sell an item, I take the best pictures I can,

just makes it better for everyone. Here's a pic I am proud of, taken

with my little point & shoot canon.