a scan of the famous McKeown’s 11th edition. price guide.
Toronto. For many years, the definitive price guide to old cameras was McKeown’s, Issue 26-3 announced the arrival of the 11th edition of the famous guide:
“We’ll finally see the all-new McKeown’s Price Guide in January 2001 at a hefty price of $125 US for the soft cover edition. But it looks like it will be worth the wait and the price as it has been totally revised with some 6500 new photographs (new digital photos or scans of old prints where the equipment was not available). The number of pages has been increased from 600 to 904 with many new additions bolstering the sections on French, Spanish, German and Russian cameras. This 11th issue may be the last.” …
Well, as it turned out a 12th edition was printed and sold, a few copies going to PHSC members. The 12th had very little more than offered by the 11th other than the usual price updates.
The modern digital era caught up with the folks who produce the price guide, and a web site was set up to solicit opinions on digital vs hard copy. The site announced that this version was almost ready and would replace the 12th edition issued in 2004. The site is still there (January 2026), but remains mainly unchanged (under construction).
Today many web sites, auction houses, etc. offer prices for old photo gear and images as well as colourful illustrations, history of the camera and/or maker, etc. Please note: Those using sites like Ebay must be sure to use a sale price, not an asking price to decide current day value. Some photographic historical societies (like the PHSC) also address photographers and studios as well (usually domestic or well known people/studios).
With the serious inroads of digital technology, the value of cameras other than those either very rare, pivotal, or originally pricy (Leica, Contax, Hasselblad, etc.) plummeted. But for research even today, a hard copy McKeown’s (I use the 11th) is worthwhile even if the prices are a quarter century out of date.
