Will YOUR camera out live you?

[BillBingham2]

My M4-P is now back in the main rotation. It was the first Leica that I bought and have used it on and off starting in about 1983 or 4. My Nikkormat FTn is not used a lot (replaced by an F2, love that 100% finder and P screen) but it many come to that next month. I got her in early 1974.

I know the M4-P will out live me, that's for one son. My other gets the S3-2000. One grandfather had Leica (my father), the other Nikon (my wife's). One had a walking tour of Europe and picked up some stuff, the other stayed in and had a few years in Japan during the police action. Either way I expect they will have working cameras to hand down, now will there be film and processing?

B2 (;->

 

[ErnestoJL]

I´m still using my Miranda Sensomat RE I bought new in feb. 1970.
But my eldest cameras are a Voigtlánder Virtus of 1932 and a Contax II of 1937.

Surely all of them will outlive me.

Ernesto

 

[giovatony]

Actually I don`t care if I have any camera that outlives me or not. If they don`t last there`s a ton of em out there real cheap on Ebay.
The real question is how long will film be available?

 

[navilluspm]

Nope, it didn't. The title is at least corrected on the original post.

By the way, there is interesting reading. Thanks for all who replied.

 

[thawkins]

camera ouatlive me?

camera ouatlive me?

My first serious camera was a Retina 1a purchased in March 1968 for $50. I was a college freshman and wanted something more that a childhood Ansco Cadet. The man at the camera shop said it had just been CLAed at the Kodak facility. It was and still is a good little camera. I shoot a roll through it maybe three times a year just to keep it up and running. My second camera was an SRT101 purchased six years later to herald the birth of our first daughter. It was completely overhauled five years ago and it still gets frequent use. Over the years I have added a QL17, Zorki "S", a Retina 2a and several evil SLRs. Most of my shooting is now done with an M3 and a Retina 2a. The mechanical cameras will outlive me because I will never let them go. My Minolta X700 and XD11 don't have the soul of the purely mechanical RF cameras. Nor do they give the satification.

 

[sepiareverb]

Those SRT101's are just amazing cameras. Has to be the best build quality of any Japanese non-pro body by a good long way. And the meters still work in every one I've seen. Many of my Photo 1 students come in with one of these- it was their parents camera and has been sitting unused for ten years, but always works like a charm.

 

[projectbluebird]

I think so.

I only got started in photography 5 years ago, but I've managed to acquire quite the collection since. (and still growing, just bought a IIIf)
I only have one camera that is younger than myself, almost everything else is from the early sixties or before.

My M3 has at least another 48 years left in it, I hope film does too.

 

[dct]

Good this thread aroused again. The ferrania ibis 6/6 is my oldest one. About the same age as me... I still use it from time to time. This camera has only a leaf shutter control for 1/40 and B. I'm shure this simple tool will outlive me for decades! Even the 40 year old Rollei B35 has good chances to do that some day.

 

[rxmd]

The typo in the title will out live us all.

 

[ray*j*gun]

One of my Nikkormats goes back to the 60's and it wasn't brand new when I bought it. Its had one CLA at Essex Camera a few years ago and it still performs perfectly including the meter.

You can spend a fortune getting your first film rig but if you really just want to shoot a quality film camera, one can find a beautiful 'Mat and lens for less than $150. Its the toughest camera I have ever used and an old friend.

 

[L. M. Tu]

I got two motordriven F bodies in the early 1980s after they had already spent a lifetime as a newspaper photographer's tools. I gave them a CLA in 1984 and had their meters recalibrated in the late 90s, and I expect them to outlive me by many years. I've also got a Canon QL17, the earlier, larger model with a 45mm lens, which my dad bought new in 1965, but I have not shot anything with it yet because of the haze in the viewfinder.

 

[jsrockit]

I'm not really concerned with if my cameras will outlive me... why would I be? I won't need them anymore if I'm dead.

 

[zvos1]

I am sure my M8 will out live me!! I only 34 and I am expect

 

[Teuthida]

i have a plain prismed Nikon f i bought used and beat up in 1978. Still works great. never done anything to it except run rolls of film thru it. I suspect itll still be around in 25 years which is my approximAte remaining shelf life.

 

[hugivza]

I still have my first "real" camera, a Zeiss Contaflex I - no interchangeable lenses or Pro Tessars, but fixed to a toilet roll on a microscope I managed to complete a research thesis, and begin to really enjoy my photography. It is still in working order; I would like to think that I might out live it, but the odds are not in my favour!

 

[Robert Lai]

Nikon F3. I purchased it used in 1983. It's still my regular shooter. Last CLA in 2007. I still have the original meter readout LCD - the one that Nikon thought may have to be replaced in 7 years.

I have a few cameras from the 1950s which I purchased recently.
They have just come back from overhaul (Super Ikontas, Contessa, thread mount Leicas), so they should be good for another 60 years.

 

[bobby_novatron]

When I die, I intend for my spirit to insert itself into my Leica M3 body. I will haunt that M3 and cause mysterious problems for the future owner ... wonky shutter speeds, foggy VF, uneven frame spacing... 😉

 

[RedLion]

My Welta Weltur 6x9 circa 1937 works great and will still outlive me.

Joe

 

[Prest_400]

Well, I'm 16 and should have quite a while left...

I started with an OM-1 I bought CLA'd on ebay, that was 3 years ago. It seems to date from 1978 (quick and dirty serial nº interpretation)
I don't shoot that much, and I even haven't needed to replace the battery.

But, on my family legacy, there's a Trip 35 my dad bought in 1975. It honored it's name and travelled with my dad for about 20 years.
Sadly it's got the usual unused trip 35 issues and a lens full of fungus. But it's still shootable. I plan someday to send it for a heavy overhaul. That'll be when I have the will of shooting much more.

If it lasted 35 years, it can last a few more at least.

 

[TXForester]

I think some of my cameras will outlast me. Part of that is due to how often they are used. I have cameras I bought 25+ years ago, but I went through a period of years where I almost never used them. Hard to wear out mechanical parts if they aren't moving.