# phoenix camera



## Rolleistef (Dec 5, 2006)

Hi all,
a friend of mine asked me how much he could get from a brand new chinese phoenix SLR, but I don't have the slightest idea. Do you?


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## Flash Harry (Dec 5, 2006)

never heard of it


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## Rolleistef (Dec 5, 2006)

I've been searching on gougheule, and it turned out that they eventually are Minolta X300... One is without AP (p2000), the other with AP (X3000) and the P5000 is a "redesigned" version... but nobody sells it used!


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## Don Simon (Dec 6, 2006)

Your trouble finding it may be due to a spelling issue, i.e. you spell Phoenix the right way and the company doesn't  I think the cameras and lenses are in fact branded Phenix.

Your friend wants to know how much it's worth? Answer: not much. As you pointed out the Phenixes are basically copies of old manual focus Minoltas (they do the same for Pentax K mount too). When I say they're not worth much I don't mean they're no good; in fact they are sometimes better specified than the cameras they copied, for example ISO can be set to 3200, flash sync to 1/125, shutter speeds to 1/2000 etc.

BUT... Phenixes sell here for around £100, and that site sells Chinese cameras for quite a bit more than you would expect to pay for them brand new on Ebay - factor in the fact that it lacks "name" value and the fact that a lot of people will make assumptions about Chinese cameras, and I don't really think you can expect to make much money from it - my guess would be to look at the going price for a Minolta X300 in decent condition and then halve it.


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