Buying cameras to use for as long as possible

[Peter_S]

- My black Contax T3 (w/ filter adapter). Still love it, still use it, and I took some of my best and successful photos with it.; will never part with it.
- Leica M6 with the Sonnar C 1.5/50. Perfect. Timeless.

My M8 (bought used, the life/use/value cycle of this camera is remarkable for digital) and DP2s will go sooner or later.

 

[_goodtimez]

I do buy cameras to use them. I got a lot of Leica and Nikon but I recently pulled the trigger on 6 Spotmatics, some chrome, some blackpaint.
I never had some of those but I started getting one from a collegue at work and then got addicted. I decided I had to have 5 more.
My dream would be to follow a camera repair training. I love old cameras as much as old everything.

 

[nikon_sam]

I have a couple of Nikon cameras (FM's, FE & a N2020) that I will probably never put to use in this lifetime since I've been using other Nikon, Pentax & Mamiya gear I have...
In my Nikon "F" line-up I'm missing an F3...been thinking of selling the Nikon gear I don't use and using those funds to fill in the missing body...
The line-up is also missing the F6 but I have no plans for that one...yet...
The FM's & FE's were bought with every intention of being used (N2020 was given to me) and did get used but now they mostly sit...I would rather sell them with the buyer interested in using them...
I want the F3 to complete this need I have for it and also ease the guilt I have in hording these other bodies...The F3 would get used more than 4 or 5 others that just sit right now...

 

[porktaco]

use. i'm resigned to all of my digital cameras eroding in value rather quickly. the film ones seem to have plateaued. lenses, of course, are an appreciating asset these days. however, i don't think of a lens purchase as an investment, but rather as an expenditure. i'm really bad about unloading unused stuff.

 

[tunalegs]

The only times I have bought a camera knowing that I was going to sell it later has been in instances where I wanted the lens on the camera, but already had a suitable body. Then my thought is pretty much always "aha, I can turn around and sell the body and make up some of the cost!"

Otherwise I buy to use.

 

[Peter Klein]

My maxim is "use it 'till it rots." I do reserve the right to change my mind. I also buy used whenever I can. Then if I do sell , I don't take the huge new-to-used financial hit.

 

[menthel]

I buy to use and don't baby my cameras. Mind you I don't abuse them either. If i don't get on with a camera it is sold and replaced with another. I am now settled on my M6 for film and see no reason to get rid of it.

I find it bizarre when people won't use their kit as they worry about resale. I recently read a thread on another forum where someone had stopped using their camera because they were concerned that adding shutter actuations would make it worth less! If you think like that then sell the whole lot and give up photography!

 

[Bob Michaels]

............................... Who else buys (at least some of) their cameras with no eye whatsoever on resale value, just to use for as long as possible? Not just Leicas and Nikons: my Alpa, Gandolfis and Linhofs are out-and-out users, and if they get knocked about a bit in use, well, using 'em is why I've got 'em. .......................

I never spend money on any photo gear unless I am willing to accept that it is money gone forever. An expense, not an investment. I hope I will like and use what I have bought until it has no value because it is just worn out or obsolete. Just like an automobile.

If something does not work out for me and I get some money from selling it, I consider that new found money.

Now I do take care of what I use. That is because I know if anything happens to it, I will have to reach into my wallet and replace it.

The last thing I want is to be worrying about carrying around and using an investment. It is simply too easy to drop, have snatched or anything else.

 

[ronnies]

I try to use all the cameras I buy but I also see it as my duty to rescue these poor abandoned souls from the local charity shops. 🙂

Ronnie

 

[d_c]

With regard to Leica stuff, I've bought and sold a fair few different M-bodies on my way from the beat-up M3 user that I bought as my first M-mount camera, to the near mint M6 I bought roughly five years later, and which I still use as my main camera. In terms of lenses though I've always tried to buy examples with good optics with the intention of hanging on to them, and as a result have rarely felt the urge to sell.

In terms of other types of cameras however I've tried all sorts of stuff, all of which has eventually been passed on or part-exchanged to fund Leica equipment, including SLRs, TLRs, Rollei 35s, several Nikonos cameras, 16mm cine equipment, and a Speed Graphic.

 

[Chris C]

Pretty much everything I've bought I've intended to use indefinitely. Unfortunately either G.A.S strikes, or something about what I'm using doesn't sit well so I move on. Thankfully I don't get attached to gear so I can easily sell stuff to fund the next silver bullet.

 

[F6Roger]

To keep?, to sell?

To keep?, to sell?

Yep, all of my cameras were bought for the longterm and to use. Once the money was handed over, that was it, the camera/lens became a tool to be used and appreciated. Only ever sold one camera, "The Tank" ie. the Zenith E / Helios 44-58/f2, and that was only when I got the `new` Olympus OM1 and later OM2. Still got the OM1/2 and all my Nikons acquired since, even still got my first camera, the Kodak Brownie 127! Expect my present `users`to outlive me, the S3 and F6.

 

[sepiareverb]

Having just spent most of the spring, and all of the summer moving my studio I have come to the conclusion that less is more. I fall into the category of buying to use most often, tho I do buy to sell when presented with the opportunity- and I do go looking for those. This started when I needed a particular Nikon lens for a shot I wanted to do when shooting stock pictures. I got the picture, but didn't much like the lens after trying hard to do so (the 15/3.5). When I went to sell it they'd appreciated in value by a good bit- and I made money both from the image and then from the lens itself (More from the lens it turns out- such could stock photography be). So I decided to start trying as many lenses as I could if I could find them at a good price. I got to play with all kinds of great things and made images I would not have otherwise.

This has continued- I've managed to shoot just about every M lens and a bunch of LTM lenses made before 2000- not to many of the old long ones, but nearly all the rest. A bunch of the ZM and Minolta and Konica and Rollei and even the 43 Pentax. When I've found lenses I really like I keep them. The Elmarit 28 V2 was one that I really fell for when shooting Kodachrome 64 through it. Beautiful convergence of film and coating and design and my own nostalgia for that look. When K64 went I stopped using the lens. Just traded it for an M2 which should arrive soon. Same for my M5. I got it very cheap with the intention of seeing what all the fuss was about and moving along. But I found I kinda like it. Still have it 4 years later and shoot it very often. Usually with some Neopan 1600 in it- so when my stocks of that finally go so too may the M5???

 

[mijosc]

I buy with the intention of using and don't worry much about the resale value. If I do sell, because I've upgraded or don't use anymore, I'm not usually worried about making a profit. In fact, I'm usually willing to undervalue equipment just to offload it quickly.

 

[Roger Hicks]

I buy with the intention of using and don't worry much about the resale value. If I do sell, because I've upgraded or don't use anymore, I'm not usually worried about making a profit. In fact, I'm usually willing to undervalue equipment just to offload it quickly.

Same here.

Which reminds me of an amusing story. Years ago, in Bristol, a man was arrested and imprisoned for 'fencing' stolen cameras. I knew him because I had bought one or two cameras from him. I did not however realize he was dealing in stolen goods, and here's why:

He was apparently arrested with a couple of hundred thousand pounds' worth of stock, because he kept holding out for the best price...

There's not only a time and a place for everything. There's also a time and a price for everything. Selling equipment when you move on (or when you're shifting hot gear) is not like buying and selling as an honest dealer.

Cheers,

R.

 

[al1966]

I buy to use, although a thing may be sold at a latter date. Just accept that the loss was a rental cost and if it goes for more than you paid for it, then thats a bonus. There are cameras I would never sell for sentimental reasons, I bought them because my originals were stolen and I had fond memories of them. Oddly though I use them quite frequently. My problem is that I love cameras and get pleasure just out of using different ones, there are a few that are regulars. With Digi cams I always buy used after the replacement model comes out, but on the whole its hard to get excited by them. I would only buy a camera to profit if I saw it for a silly price and knew I would make a good profit, The monies raised to be blown on film and other useful photographic items.

 

[Matus]

I do not really care about the resale value when I buy a camera. I am of course trying not to overpay. And as I am buying used - the resale value in most cases does not change much if I decide to sell later. The only problem of that equation is that I usually sell for less than I should/could 😛

 

[ErnestoJL]

If I buy a camera, it´s for using it as such. Usually I´m not interested in selling them (wife complains a lot about this) unless a real need for cash arises (fortunately it isn´t that frequent).
Instead of selling I prefer to give them to friends who are really interested in traditional photography, or to exchange them with another photog who has what I want to have.
Resale value? what´s that? Anyway, I don´t have cameras with a serious resale value.
Cheers
Ernesto

 

[Vics]

I think I fall into this category. I bought all the cameras I currently use (to be fair, many were gifts or inheritance) because they are the cameras I always wanted to use but they were always out of my price range. I'm still using them all with no intention of selling any of them. I now have no "GAS" except possibly for a SA 21mm 3.4 for my M3 and maybe a Biogon 21mm 4.5 (?) for my Contax IIIa and maybe a 50mm 'cron rigid (v2). Uh-oh...

 

[migtex]

All my cameras were bought for use. I only sold two in my entire life (one to my brother, - yes sold!- another to a close friend - Yes Sold too, not given).
I never think of resale value because I do not think to sell them unless my family needs food on the table or healthcare, otherwise I rather die (healthcare does not apply to me) then sell it.