Cameraholics can relate to this.

All this pressure to continuously sell stuff is an Ebay induced problem. As long as I can afford to keep whatever I bought in the past, it is not a 'problem'.
 
I don't know. I think it can be a positive too. That is: I know exactly what I want today. What used to be a haphazard game of Pachinko has funneled down into a very specific pair of slots. One film slot and one digital slot. Sure, the road to get here was littered with a few mistakes, but also quite a few gems. No regrets. If I wanted to be miserable doing something, I'd have taken up golf.
 
I worked at a camera shop for over a decade. In that time I started acquiring lots of stuff.
Mostly 35mm Leica and Nikon gear. I've been out of that business for quite a while, but I still find myself accumulating stuff.
At last count I had just over 400 cameras, maybe 500 lenses. Enough lens caps, lens shades, and other misc. Leica and Nikon accessories to fill a walk in closet in my house.

I don't think you have a problem..
 
I've been going through the same phase as you do since last May. I decided to sell everything (50 cameras) except 4 (Leica, Nikon F4s, Olympus OM-1n and Canon EOS 5 plus their lenses). I was running out of storage space and there were cameras in there that I wasn't using any way. I enjoyed shooting a couple of films with each and write a review on my blog but I noticed that I wasn't using them much.
A few month later on, i have sold everything except the above 4 and I am in the process of selling the last 2 ones (Pentax MX and Minolta 9xi) and I have promised to myself that I will never buy again any more cameras that I am not going to use.:D
I can't promise the same about lenses though...
 
Peter Wijninga said:
As long as I can afford to keep whatever I bought in the past, it is not a 'problem'.
Click to expand...

Not a monetary problem anyway.

I can be a creative problem if you either a) never leave the house because you don't know what to take, b) regret not taking something else, or c) take so much with you that you're weighed down.

it can be a space problem if you can't store them all.

If none of the above apply, then keep them all. I do love mechanical cameras... (but I only own 1 - for now)

Cheers,
Michael
 
Best part of all this is everything can be bought cheaply and sold for how much you purchased it.

I buy old cameras to try them out and to satisfy my curiosity. I sell those I don't like and never look back.

I've had that feeling where i can't decide which to bring and it's really disappointing.
 
Yup same here. I tried them out, some I love and others I just find frustrating or a burden, complicating my decisions to shoot film. Yes I would do it all again. It was a learning experience. I fixed a few and broke one or two discovering what marvels of engineering and complexity they were.

Today, my Electro GX was giving me grief due to the metering not turning off. Every time I picked it up the batteries were flat. I was ready to give it the flick and sell it as a "not working" "for parts or repair" camera. I had one last look inside and turns out It was a wire getting caught under the shutter button as you assembled the top plate, keeping the button partially depressed. On the outside you'd never know. Anyhow, that camera has had a stay of execution. I'm really glad I'll be keeping it a while longer. It was one of the nicer handling Yashica RF's I own.
 
Chris Sherlock said:
300+ cameras...

What problem?
Click to expand...

Well, I can't see the point of having something and not using it. I've tried a rota of cameras but often you have to take the most suitable and the others get forgotten and so on. Deciding what to get rid of and what to repair is the real headache.

Regards, David
 
I think I peaked at owning 9 cameras, and tried to use them all. It just became a real pain, and I'm happier now just owning one. I might supplement it with a medium format camera again, but I might not, I prefer to travel light at the moment.
 
Re-reading the OP I realized that I started the same way, and would have gotten just as bad if I hadn't decided to purchase Leicas at some point.

Now, if I hadn't... I'd be up to my eyebrows in Minoltas, Canonets, and Konicas... which, along with a Yashica, were the first and very inexpensive cameras I purchased. I though't I'd become a collector, but fortunately, it didn't happen... at least that way. I still have too much unused gear, and it shall go for sale some time... as soon as I have a chance to find the boxes and get all the stuff ready. ;)
 
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