What to Keep and What to Let Go?

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cassel

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"What to Keep and What to Let Go?"
I'm talking literally here, but perhaps metaphorically!
I'm finding myself in a purge mood again... my collection of gear has really built up for the last few years. Before I acquire anything else, I need to clear some space and funds. Most of us have been down this road before- sometimes multiple times!

I think I have a rough plan this go around. It's understandable that sometimes we just want to give away cameras and lenses instead of selling. Selling is a giant pain often. Don't really enjoy haggling or worrying about getting a ton of money from old gear. So if you're gonna try to sell...how low to price things?

Building my list, I decided to think about my gear WITHOUT having it all laid out before me. Using just my mental inventory - I wrote down what to KEEP first. These are the most used and special items. I decided I would really miss:
Canon 7 Black w/ 50mm Super Rokkor
Leica II Black w/ Elmar
Topcor Primo JR 127 TLR Grey

I enjoy the Leica LTM stuff so much - brings me the most joy. The Leica II is probably my favorite camera I've ever owned (with the exception, maybe, of my Leica IIIa in Black(!) that was stolen). It's the best "find" story - $25 at a automotive flea market. Traced history with an interesting past.

The Canon 7 in Black was also a good deal and a strange example of when I REALLY like a camera model much more in black than chrome🙄

The Primo JR is just so FUN to shoot - small and light and TLR square shooting - my go-to pandemic camera for some odd reason.

Then I wrote down a few LTM lenses (beyond the Rokkor and the Elmar) that I use and would have a somewhat hard time replacing:

Canon 50mm f1.5
35mm Kyoei Acall F3.5
85mm f2 Nikkor

Definitely would keep the brightline finders in 5cm and 3.5cm and all of the various bags and straps (they are hard to find EXACTLY what is needed) as well as some other things like special hoods and grips, etc.

Then came the hard part - after I got home and took a look at my entire collection - I started to build the "Let Go" list...
These should be items that I would not want to own again/would not miss - regardless of rarity and value (yikes!). Here's what I have on the list so far:

Voigtlander Bessa R2 w/7Artisans 35mm f2
Rolleiflex Baby Grey
Yashica D TLR Grey
Kowa Kallo 140 w/ 50mm Prominar AND VERY rare 85mm
Petri Color 35 Black
Kodak Retina IB
5cm Summitar
90mm Travenar

And here is the MAYBE - I'm not sure- list:
Pentax Spotmatic SP in Black w/ several m42 lenses (still looking)
Mamiya 35 Magazine collection - keep some? All? Rare! But not super valuable...

Nothing has been listed and this is not an ad - just posting to seek clarity on decision making and how YOU do it. I realize it is all just STUFF at the end of the day🙂

Any thoughts? If I do go to the trouble of listing these- it will be here on RFF.
 
ok, I will play the Devil, or is it just a realistic view

How much do You really shoot ?
How much do You really care about it all, unless You are a professional
and your choices affect your ease of shooting, and final output, etc?


why have so much gear unless it really makes You use it & it makes you happy
OR only keep that which really gives You a sense of pleasure, peace and accomplishment

Cheers & Best in making your decisions 😉
 
It is indeed very personal! ....and sort of weird.

The only "pro" gear (I shoot the odd wedding and portraits) is Canon DSLR stuff....these are all for fun cameras.

The R2 is great...I just doesn't "do" it for me. I got for decent reasons - the viewfinder and the meter and the metal construction over the R. BUT - the overall feel is still not like the "classics". The M glass is so dang expensive and sometimes the L to M adapters are great but the lens be used has to be smooth to not unscrew itself.

The Super Rokkor is a late black rare excellent lens - goes perfectly in looks AND function with the Canon 7.
The Summitar is almost always a good lens but mine just seems to gather dust.

I like the idea of passing some stuff along...
Nothing on my list is gonna make or break the bank.
 
I have been doing a major purge of my camera gear all year long.

To start with I finally faced the fact that I was no longer a film shooter. Period. I sold all my film cameras.

Next came the realization and acceptance that I liked and needed autofocus; the faster the better. I sold all my M-mount and LTM lenses. Sigma cameras have the slowest autofocus I’ve ever experienced so I also sold 2 of my 3 Sigma foveon cameras and all but 2 of my Sigma mount lenses (that was a lot of lenses).

I did build up my collection of Fujifilm cameras and Fujinon lenses and I expanded into digital medium format with the purchase of the Fujifilm GFX 50R and 2 GFX lenses.

The bottom line is that I sold far more items than I bought and everything I did buy was paid for with the money gained from selling camera gear, gold trinkets and a couple of watches. And, I have money left over.

Now my dry air camera storage cabinets have a lot more room in them. And, I feel great about this situation. Less for me is more… more happiness!

Now I’m going to try and go a year or maybe longer without buying any new gear.

All the best,
Mike
 
It's like paring down your clothes closet.
If you haven't used it (worn it) in the past two years, sell it or give it away.


EDIT:
My solution is no brain required.
Have to admit yours is a lot more rational, Mike.
 
I like characterful cameras. So your choice of LTM cameras to keep makes total sense to me - gear that just "speaks" to you is the kind you really miss.

I'm definitely still in that process of moving through gear to find what speaks to me. I know that the Ricoh GR III does, the Bessa-T does at the moment.
 
If you need money, then do what you must: I don't know of any cameras which are rising in value faster than the 18%+ interest that credit card companies charge.

Ignoring rarity for a moment, consider prioritizing things which excite you and unloading the rest. (But if any are potentially worth big bucks, you may need to figure out how to maximize your returns, because your target audience may be just a handful of old men scattered around the globe).

Selling can be a drag, but I liven things up by setting goals about the stuff I'll buy with the money, and then I buy them: Don't get distracted! Most recently, I sold underutilized stuff off until I had a pile of money the size of a new Sony A7R4.
 
Thanks for all the great responses!
I feel like I'm on the right track. It's true that I prefer the screw-mounts. Something elemental about them. 😎 I have tried a few M cameras and just didn't "click" with them😛

The two year rule is a good idea as well!

And there is always another camera I'd like to try...😉
 
A lazy solution; put everything on eBay and withdraw the last one to sell.

But, watch them and if you have any regrets about any one of them it may decide things for you. It's a variation on tossing a coin and seeing if you regret the result...

Other than that I just don't know as the reasons for keeping or selling are entirely yours and I'm not aware of them and you may not be completely aware of them.

Regards, David
 
I know that this is a discussion about gear ... but, I don't update gear often (unless something breaks).

But, at this time of the year I look at the year's work in review and I throw out ideas that I've used from the previous year that I find too predictable or hackneyed. Because I work in both film and digital domains, I scan the negatives that I ignored on account of time or demands. I go through my digital catalogues and create a catalogue comprising all of the unrated images from the year. I examine these ... carefully.

As a result, January and February are consumed with learning new ways of seeing.

Cheers, and best wishes for a better 2021 (it's almost gotta be .... by default.)
 
I have a very similar plan for right after New years day, as a brutal decluttering / non-attachment exercise. Down to ONE main body w ONE lens, and ONE compact camera as a backup. Everything else must go. VERY hard to part from a Hasselblad setup (though it only delivered 2 filmrolls a year), and even harder to choose between a M6 and a M2 body.. But just therefore so important to force myself to doing it. Pathetic as it may sound to some.
 
It is funny how attached we get to gear that doesn't even see that much use...
Sometimes it is because we remember the story about how we came to own it. I have realized that if I cut down TOO radically, I'm bound to hunt down more in the future - occasionally even repeats of cameras I already owned. At 48, I'm hoping to avoid too much of that.

It's also tricky not to read the internet too much and pursue gear that everyone tells you is the "best" and a "must have". Doesn't mean they are wrong of course, but it doesn't mean you can't "love the one you're with".

And yeah, flipping the calendar, especially in a year like this, naturally leads to resolutions and review of our lives, our methods, our projects...🙂

I am leaning towards sticking with my above list - I might move the Canon 7 to the sell pile (I know, radical!) and, from the maybe list, probably keep the Pentax M42 stuff and the Mamiya 35mm stuff - just not worth the hassle
 
For many people, just ask the question “does it bring you enjoyment?” If yes, keep it.

Enjoyment may come from using it, certainly, but also from other reasons, such as sentimentality.
 
The OP appears to be overthinking all this and has now worked himself into a state of analysis paralysis.

We are all playing along with him and have given him shiploads of "I just think that..." opinions. Nice, but very little or even none of it will help him.

I've been guilty of all this too, so I know.

My 'suggestions' (ha!) is - put all those cameras away out of sight for a fixed period. Then take them out separately, one at a time. Go out and shoot with them. Process the results, and consider which to keep and which to sell.

If this doesn't cure you of your too-much-free-time-on-your-hands malaise and you still want to sell, decide what will work best for you.

Remember - you will regret it. I did.
 
What to Keep and What to Let Go?

Give yourself a target.

e.g.
I need my cameras to occupy this maximum space.
I need to keep this number of fixed bodies and this number of interchangeable bodies and number of lens per body.
I am selling gear to earn this much money.
I need this gear to achieve this photographic goal and the rest is surplus.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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