Buying the same camera twice

I have done it. And felt a bit foolish about it at the time.
I bought a Bessa R from our head bartender, used it for a while, (this is the foolish bit coming up) thought I'd got all I could from it and sold it, decided that I had made a mistake and bought another one from Stephen.
Now that I have mostly sorted out what works for me and what I like to use, the R will be sticking around even though I most often use my R2A lately.
Yes, I can and do use almost all of my LTM lenses on the R2A with no trouble but I'm keeping the R. It makes a good second to the R2A on the rare occasions when I want to carry two bodies.
Other than that first R, I don't really want to duplicate any of the other cameras I've owned.
Rob
 
I am in the process; I was once given the sage advice, "Never sell your M3, you'll regret it" Well, the M3 was the last of the items to sell to fund my M8, which, after 2 weeks, developed the dreaded "red line" issue. During the 3 months it was at Leica, I regretted selling the M3 even more. Well, Leica fixed it, and some other problems, under warranty, for a camera that was out of warranty, and it is finally back in fantastic shape. "Good things come to those that wait" said my dealer. That is indeed true. But I still miss my M3 and my M6, while a fantastic camera, just does not fill that hole. On the hunt for another M3 at the right price/time. So, never sell your M3, you'll regret it! (Yes, I know that this is all a hopeless addiction, have pity on me.)
 
When I moved to a smaller place 10 years ago, I tossed in the trash the rear cap for my lens and the body cap for my camera because I never used them - the lens was always on the camera. Also, the boxes the lens and camera came in got tossed.

I've regretted that stupid move, especially when buying those caps again. Now, I keep everything - even the boxes.

After GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome) is TUMS (Time to Unload My Stuff). I'm still in the GAS phase, and don't really expect to reach a TUMS phase. I'll let my kids do that when I am gone.
 
Canon EOS 100 I trade for an EOS1 and then a year later bought an EOS100 from a friend. N90s I bought while working as a cruiseship photographer. Sold the camera to another photog on board and then bought another a few years later. Then traded the N90s a few months after I bought it for a Nikkor 105 2.5 and an F801. Haven't traded or sold any photogear for a few years now but getting close to make some changes.
 
Pastor Chris said:
I am in the process; I was once given the sage advice, "Never sell your M3, you'll regret it" Well, the M3 was the last of the items to sell to fund my M8, which, after 2 weeks, developed the dreaded "red line" issue. During the 3 months it was at Leica, I regretted selling the M3 even more. Well, Leica fixed it, and some other problems, under warranty, for a camera that was out of warranty, and it is finally back in fantastic shape. "Good things come to those that wait" said my dealer. That is indeed true. But I still miss my M3 and my M6, while a fantastic camera, just does not fill that hole. On the hunt for another M3 at the right price/time. So, never sell your M3, you'll regret it! (Yes, I know that this is all a hopeless addiction, have pity on me.)
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Yep, I am soon to be in the market for one. Sold one and regret it. Really the only regret I have.
 
Aside from realizing I'd made a mistake selling a particular camera/lens and buying another like it later, there's always the question of condition. Some times you know that your camera is just a lemon, so it's better to sell it and start w/ another one that's in better condition, than to throw a bunch of money at it trying to get it right. And isn't there an old saying that says you don't really miss someone until they're gone? W/ gear, you can go back home again. Maybe you won't be any different later, maybe you will be, but that gear will continue to take the same type of shots that it used to.

I have known people that have sold their home and realized they'd made a HUGE mistake and later bought it back. Others just wished they hadn't sold it and suffered, which to me sounded really stupid. If you made a mistake, correct it if you can. Don't grouse about it or, worse, pretend you're infallible.

Never did the house thing, but I have moved back to towns that I'd left earlier because I, and the town, were different than the times we'd spent together in the past. That's quite different than in Tom Wolfe's novel. Sometimes going back to what worked in the past is an act of change because conditions are different.

"A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds". Wish I'd said that, but it was Emerson.
 
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Sold and re-bought a Nikon D50, back when I was only shooting dslr's, after I realised the Nikon D200 it left me with was too heavy for all-day walkabout use and general travel.

In more recent times, sold an M6 which had been my first M, and would re-buy it. I had an M4 at the time, and didn't think I would miss the black body of the M6 for it's general inconspicuousness, or the 28mm frameline.

Had some passing afterthoughts, down the line, after selling other cameras, but nothing that couldn't be brushed off.

I tend to know what I like in the film world, which is rangefinders and 6x6, thus many of my camera purchases in recent times are more part of an overarching search to find the perfect fit for my needs. A lofty, and perhaps pointless goal, but I guess that's the little engineer part of my mind, ever seeking continual, if only incremental, improvement :)
 
Sold my trusty Nikon FE2 when I got my hands on a minty FM2n. Only then I realized that the FE2 was a better camera in actual use. Bought another one not long after.
 
I don't have two identical RF cameras, but I still own two Canon T90 and two Canon F1N cameras. They were my work horses for many years. I wanted a back-up camera, in case one would need repair. The only lenses for which I have multiple copies are 50mm lenses: CZJ 5cm, J-3, J-8, Canon 50/1.8. They just came to me.
 
M8 was the first. I traded it for a 5Deisel ii that I needed for an ongoing job. The job finished and now the Deisel sits until work calls for it but, I have my old M8 back. It came back via a trade with the same forum member for a different camera I don't miss this time :D
Next was a Rolleiflex E3 planar. I sweated that one for months even though I have a great pair of Yashicamats. Now I have a pair of Rolleiflex f2.8D's and a tele-rolleiflex. I'm hooked on Square. Actually even compose for square crops with my M8. Honestly can say that GAS is gone.
 
thomasw_ said:
Roger, I wonder why this is surprising to you? To a great extent humans are products of the spirit of the age in which they live; for no one can jump over his own shadow! Our time period is proof that there is no limit to what a human can want to have, even here on RFF it is often cited as a truism that no one is ever "done" in terms of gear acquisition. We live in an acquisitive time, a time where we are to a great extent defined by our consumption and our capability to serve our desires. But you are sharp and know this. Hence, I am somewhat surprised at the question being posed by you. Perhaps I am misreading the sense of the question? :)
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Dear Thomas,

Acquisitiveness is indeed a defining condition of the early 21st century. What puzzles me is why people want to acquire the same thing, repeatedly and at intervals.

Try it; move on. This I can understand, sort of. Try it; decide you don't like it; decide you were wrong; buy it again. This strikes me as a personal shortcoming: you don't really think hard enough about how you spray your money around.

Of course one can make mistakes, and one can replace kit that was destroyed, or buy a second body. But to make a habit of buying and selling identical equipment suggests to me that one has more money than sense. Note the phrase "make a habit of". Several here have made cogent arguments for re-buying. But to sell with the view "I can always go back to it later" is another matter.

This is all the more true with rare or exotic gear. I have had two Linhof-selected 2,8/100 Planars. One came with an Linhof ST IV when I first got into 'baby' Linhofs, and went when I sold the ST IV. The second came later with a Tech 70, which was a better camera for me, but the lens wasn't as good as the first.

Cheers,

R.
 
I sold a couple of lenses and my Rolleiflex that I was not using when I saw a "want to by" notice on RFF. I can live without the lenses but as I missed photographing with a Rolleiflex, I recently purchased another one from eBay, not as nice as the one I sold, but very much like my first one and a very good deal.

I have other lenses and cameras that I do not use very much and tell myself to sell them as I cannot afford to be a collector and don't have a nice display cabinet. What to do?
 
Roger Hicks said:
Exactly the same lens? Why? (None of my business, I'm just curious).

Cheers,

R.
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Older lenses, such as the pre-war Sonnars, tend to have a lot of sample variation. Some are sharper than others, some are smoother than others. I currently have 3 pre-war Sonnars In Leica thread mount. One of them is from 1935, and has a coated front element. I thought it might have been coated after manufacture, but stumbled across a second one just like it- in the same SN range. Now, I think it was a test run. It also is quite sharp, so I will keep it.
 
Dear Roger

Some of us can only afford to try one thing at a time. If we buy something, try it, and then have a doubt which becomes a desire to try something else... The original item must be sold first. Then if our doubt is proven wrong reversing course is often the answer. The personality flaw you infer may come from an incorrect assumption. Not everyone on this forum has the ability financially to do as you do. I'm not assuming you are a wealthy man I don't know this neither is it my business. You do work for a publication that grants you liberties that the some of the rest of us must find via other methods. Makes sense yes?
 
..But to make a habit of buying and selling identical equipment suggests to me that one has more money than sense....

believe me i have little money to throw around...for some of us THIS IS A HOBBY! is this hard to fathom for some people? due to a number of factors, i spend more time on rff than shooting...it is not my preference but it is my life.

or maybe roger, you are just an old judgemental fart looking to troll the hiways of the internet?
 
Brian Sweeney said:
Older lenses, such as the pre-war Sonnars, tend to have a lot of sample variation. Some are sharper than others, some are smoother than others. I currently have 3 pre-war Sonnars In Leica thread mount. One of them is from 1935, and has a coated front element. I thought it might have been coated after manufacture, but stumbled across a second one just like it- in the same SN range. Now, I think it was a test run. It also is quite sharp, so I will keep it.
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Exactly; that's why I have variations of CZJ and of J-3 lenses.
 
Roger, for us who entered the game quite recently, the number of good and relatively cheap (film)cameras and lenses available on the market combined with the abundance of advice, from (to) many sources, on what to buy is confusing to say the least.

I have been buying and selling rather intensive but now I am starting to get an idea of the work I want to do things settle.

@ Andy, and how does it work?
 
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