Where has it been?

[NaChase]

So I, like many of you I imagine, have begun wondering about the respective histories of my cameras. Considering that my M3 is from 1957 and my F2S is from 1974, I know that they must have changed hands at least a couple of times. I can't help but think about the people who shot with them and the images they made during this time. I was wondering if anyone out there has attempted any type of camera genealogy project before, to get an idea of your camera's/ len's personal history.

 

[greyelm]

I didn't get very far but I did try to trace Summar lens from the 30s that had an insurance engraving on it along with the owners name

I contacted the company historian who didn't have records that went back to the 30s. She did agree that the engraving looked like a policy number. The company was Norwich union and I bought it from someone in Norwich so I presume that the original owner was from Norwich. The name was P.D.Daw.

 

[ferider]

8 happy years into my second marriage, I learnt that there are some questions that should not be asked 🙂

 

[oftheherd]

Those for which I am the original owner, I know. Any others, it has never been of interest to me. I just accept they were used by others.

Sounds like an interesting but mostly frustrating passtime.

 

[Joao]

It is not rare to find an ocasional FSU camera with some words engraved stating that it was an offer to someone, sometimes with the date and place of the offering - and I must accept that some of these engravings may be recent, engraved just to add some sentimental (and commercial) value to the camera .
I've tried a couple of times to ask sellers about he past history of the camera I'm buying, but so far I only got vague informations or no informations at all.
Regards
Joao

 

[dexdog]

I have a well-traveled Contax II. Originally made in Germany in 1937, the inside of the camera has a tag from a photo shop in Stockholm. I got the camera in New Zealand in 1983, and brought it the US. It has nearly been around the world as far as I can tell. I will have to take it along if I ever get to Germany (other than Frankfurt airport).

 

[nikon_sam]

When I acquire a second hand camera the thought does pop in my head but doesn't go too much further than that...
I've never researched where any of them came from or who they belonged to...for me it would be a waste of time...

 

[oftheherd]

There are hundreds of fake Leicas on eBay that all seem to have been used by Adolf Hitler.

I've noticed that. I saw one which the current seller said he used for undercover intelligence work, it was disguised as a FED. 😀 😀

 

[robbeiflex]

My Rolleiflex was made in around 1954. Its original owner bought it in Australia shortly thereafter, and if memory serves me correctly he lived in Canberra at the time. After a few years of use its second owner convinced the first owner to sell it to him. That second owner then travelled to Canada a few years later and ended up in Toronto. A few decades later that second owner became my mother's second husband, and about a decade later when he found out I was into shooting film he offered it to me. I brought it back from a visit to Toronto and it now resides with me in Luxembourg, oddly the closest it has even been to where it was made.

Quite a story and I'm glad I know it. My own family story, short version, is Hungary-England-Canada-USA-Luxembourg-Hungary-Lexembourg-??? and I hope to pass on one or two similar mementos one day, including the Rolleiflex. 🙂

Cheers,
Rob

 

[varjag]

With rise of modern global gear-fondling, many cameras on the market now seen quite a multitude of owners. Short flings a few months each 🙂

 

[Neare]

My newish M6 Titan had been sitting on a shelf for 17 years before it got to me, it's shutter had all clogged up and needed to see the doctor.
Now I'm running film through it and the paint is already starting to come off.


Though the most interesting camera I owned was my first MF camera, a Mamiya C3. It was the studio camera used to test all the Ilford emulsions at their factory in the early years.

 

[Roger Hicks]

My newish M6 Titan had been sitting on a shelf for 17 years before it got to me, it's shutter had all clogged up and needed to see the doctor.
Now I'm running film through it and the paint is already starting to come off.


Though the most interesting camera I owned was my first MF camera, a Mamiya C3. It was the studio camera used to test all the Ilford emulsions at their factory in the early years.

Not the very early years, given that the company was founded in 1879...

Cheers,

R.

 

[Neare]

Not the very early years, given that the company was founded in 1879...

Cheers,

R.

Haha that's true 😱
The camera was used from the 1960's to 1990's to be more accurate, not a bad run I don't think.