Beautiful cameras you are not using any more ...

[p.giannakis]

I was looking on my photography cupboard today. I have an overwelming collection of 15 cameras, out of which i am using only four. A Leica IIc, a Canon EOS 5, a Minolta 9xi and a minolta X-700. The rest are laying there practically unused for years. Some of them are really brilliant cameras, such as a Zeiss Ikoflex Ib that i never got used to the TLR design, a Fed-3b that although it balances well with some M42 lenses, it never really won me or a nicely kept Praktica LTL3 that I never really got used to the viewfinder.Other cameras include the Dynax 5 and minolta XG2 etc... Although practically unused I find really difficult to sell them.

Do you have any good cameras that they lay around in your cupboard unused? What stops you from selling them?

 

[btgc]

What stops you from selling them?

More hassle than return of funds.

 

[jet1944]

I do not like to risk Ebay ,there is nowhere local

 

[rkm]

Perhaps you would find more pleasure gifting them to a young enthusiast who would use them rather than getting a minimal return from them on eBay?

 

[thegman]

I don't use my Fotoman as much as I'd like, but I hope to move near the coast in Australia soon, so I hope to have much more opportunity. I find it handsome, even beautiful in it's own way. That complete focus on functionality, the metal, wood, big bit of glass makes it a more attractive camera than you'd expect.

 

[rawhead]

My answer is no, I don't. No matter how brilliant the equipment, if it lays unused for an extended period of time, I say it's time to move it along to someone who will use it. I'll use Ebay, Yahoo! Auctions (in Japan), or, more and more frequently these days, Twitter (I have about 1700 followers, of which around half––educated guess--are following me because of photography).

I recently passed along a great Mamiya Universal kit (pola back, 6x9 back, 100/2.8+hood, 50/6.3+finder+hood), which I loved and was proud of, but that I hadn't shot with since April 2011 and knew that I would rarely, if ever, pick it up again, as I'm currently pimping up my Century Graphic kit (with a Xenon 100/2.8 and a Rodenstock AG 35/4.5).

I'm planning to do something similar with my Pentacon Six mount system and a few 135 lenses this year to fund something that I've wanted for a while, and I know I'll use contantly (Nocti).

 

[emiguevara]

Two nice Canon AE-1 Program, a bunch of old 6x6 folders, a Zorkij 4K and a Fed 5. Reasons? I've been delighted with Leicas and a Pentax MX with good glass. Why not sell them? The whole lot doesn't take much space, and it would give me no more than 200/300 dollars, so why bother...

 

[Sid836]

Appart from my two all around shooters, my Oly 35RC and my Canon A-1, I use all of my cameras. I pick one, pop in a film and have fun with it.
Of course, there are a couple of ugly ones that I don't like taking out for a walk with me (my Sokol 2 and my Fed Atlas).

 

[daveleo]

Keep them. Start a modest collection. Put them on small shelves on the wall, in a corner somewhere. Maybe start swapping old cameras with people on line (like collecting baseball cards 🙂 )

 

[jsrockit]

My M8 and M lenses sit for the most part these days. I don't sell it because I tend to miss not having a M and have been there and done that many times. I'll sell the M8 once I KNOW I don't want it or I need cash.

 

[Paul Jenkin]

M6TTL + 28/35/50 and 90 lenses.

I never thought I'd say this but I'm looking to sell my beautiful Leica kit. It's a stunner and I've got some lovely lenses. The photos I've taken with this camera are everything I'd hoped for, too. However, I'm finding that - for 35mm work - I prefer SLR.

I have a Mamiya 7 rangefinder that I love using. It's a bit of a brick but great for street as well as travel and landscape and the lenses are, in my opinion, pretty-well without equal.

 

[oftheherd]

In MF, I would not want to give up my Super Press 23 although I haven't shot anything with it for some while (weight and back/neck issues). I have several folders I don't use that often, but that I do use. Keeping them. My main 35mm are my Fuji kit and my Contax/Yashica kit. I probably use them more than anything else. I do have way to many 9x12. All were bought for some good reason, such as interchangable lenses, or the film holders that came with them, or RF capability. I really do need to get rid of some of them, but not yet. I have a Rolleiflex I just can't love, and haven't used in over two years. sigh.

I have too many P&S RF 35mm, I could do without some of them. But I do use my Canonet and Olympus XA some. I have a Petri FF RF that is kind of cute. I have other 35mm SLR I could get rid of, but I know I won't any time soon.

 

[edge100]

My 5D Mark II is an incredibly good camera, which mostly goes unused these days, thanks to my Fujis (X100, X-Pro1) and my Mamiya 7. I just don't see any compelling reason to use it, as I'm not doing a lot of paid work that would require it (ie. that the Fujis and Mamiya cannot handle).

And yet, I can't bring myself to sell it, despite the fact that I know that the body plus my Sigma 50 and 17-40L could pay for some very nice gear that I would use.

 

[Timmyjoe]

I usually sell off whatever I'm not using, which doesn't mean I don't have quite a few cameras. But they all serve different purposes, and I shoot alot of different things.

In the past couple of years I've sold off a Rolleiflex 2.8D, a Polaroid 195, a Nikon F4s, a Leica M2 and a Leica iiif, all in excellent to pristine condition, because I wasn't using them and didn't see any upcoming projects where I would.

But I don't use the auction site, which I detest. Sold some of them here in the RFF classifieds, some in the Photo.net classifieds, and some in the LUF classifieds.

Best,
-Tim

 

[goamules]

When my top shelf of 35mms get's too full, I sell some. Seriously, when I buy some better cameras, the old, less useful cameras are sold. I sold a Vitessa when I got a Canon P, I just sold a Leica IIIc because I got a Tower/Nicca 5L. No use letting them just sit there gathering dust. I meet a lot of old collectors (guys in their 70s and 80s) in my quests, and it's sad to see the boxes of newspaper wrapped cameras stacked in the closets. I keep a few that I like to look at, but am typically looking at them to trade up.

However, I must add; there is nothing wrong with collecting. If you like having a dozen of the same model, why not? They are beautiful machines that are no longer made, and many end up in dumps if not saved and appreciated by someone.

 

[Vickko]

Beautiful cameras. Yep, they are all beautiful.

It is often the biggest impediment to selling them.

 

[waynec]

Unused cameras for me include a M3 with Canon 50mm F1.8 Sm; Minolta Maxxum 70, 7000i; YashicaMat 124G; Crown Graphic with 135mm Optar; 2- Nikon N80's; a K1000; and various odd film folders.

I just un-mothballed my A1, and the other cameras I shoot are a Panny G1 and Nikkormat Ft2.

 

[shadowfox]

Q: Why not sell them?

A: That's what display cabinet is for, isn't it ? 🙂

 

[Vickko]

We must all obey the rule of our shelf queens.

 

[David Hughes]

Display cabinets are for people who like dusting cameras.

Give them away or sell them. Or set up a rota and start using them.

Regards, David