Displaying my camera collection. Any ideas?

mkvrnn

Established
Local time
7:21 PM
Joined
Jul 24, 2012
Messages
179
Location
Warwickshire, UK
Like a lot of people on here, I seem to have been taken over by a camera collecting obsession. It started 4 years ago when I was struck by a whim to get hold of a Rolleiflex because I had wanted one many years ago when I was 14 but could never afford one. So I found an Automat model for £65 but it didn't have a Planar lens, and a broken 3.5F soon followed. That was very nice indeed after the shutter was fixed, but a 2.8E looked even sexier and I couldn't resist. I was so pleased with the light grey Rolleiflex T which I bought next that I bought 3 more in quick succession. Then I felt that I should try the competitors, and I was pleasantly surprised by my first Yashicamat so a selection of Yashicas soon followed, along with a few Autocords and Flexarets, all of which had some charm. I dabbled with some oddballs such as Fothflex and obscure Japanese TLRs. In the meantime the lovely Mamiya 33F had given me the taste for heavy cameras, and a magnificent Zenza Bronica S2a came next. At the age of 14 the name Zenza Bronica had sounded as exotic as Frazer Nash, Hispano Suiza and Isotta Fraschini, and I wasn't disappointed when I finally bought one almost 50 years later.

I won't bore you with the rest of the story, but I've tried unsuccessfully to resist those temptingly cheap but superb late 1960s 35mm SLRs such as Pentax SV, Olympus OM etc.
I'd always had a soft spot for Olympus 1/2 frame cameras since I bought a secondhand Pen S in 1966, so it was an easy decision to buy a Pen FT.......and a Pen D2 and another Pen S and an Agfa Optima Parat.

Leicas had never really appealed to me back in the mid 1960s, seeming very outdated, but I thought I was now old enough to try one so I found a pre-war Leica II which didn't really impress me. The M3 seems to be regarded as such an iconic camera that I felt I had no choice but to try one, and yes it's a lovely thing to own. More Barnacks soon followed, and Barnack copies are my latest obsession.

Sorry, I'm rambling...... The upshot is that I probably have around 200 cameras now, and the point of this post is that they're scattered around the house on shelves, in boxes, under the bed, on the floor by the bed, in drawers and in cupboards. I need to do something with them. I need to put them all in one place, organise them, catalogue them, maybe even display them. But how? Glass shelves, some Ikea shelving units, old fashioned display cabinets with doors? I want something very simple and elegant, nothing ornate. Maybe a series of tall CD storage units with one camera in each compartment?

Please give me some ideas. What do other people do with their collections?
 
The upshot is that I probably have around 200 cameras now, and the point of this post is that they're scattered around the house on shelves, in boxes, under the bed, on the floor by the bed, in drawers and in cupboards. I need to do something with them. I need to put them all in one place, organise them, catalogue them, maybe even display them. But how? Glass shelves, some Ikea shelving units, old fashioned display cabinets with doors? I want something very simple and elegant, nothing ornate. Maybe a series of tall CD storage units with one camera in each compartment?

Please give me some ideas. What do other people do with their collections?

Take pictures with them.

Buy or build a nice display cabinet that will hold a reasonable amount of them.

Do like a museum and have some on display at any given time and others in storage. Rotate them periodically.

Keep a few in a camera bag and go shooting with them. Got film?
 
I would sort them out by type (RF's v. TLR's v. SLR's v. ???) then display them in different places around your house. I'd have a wall mount display, a stand alone display case, a shelf top display case, a smaller one on a turntable, etc...
 
I would sort them out by type (RF's v. TLR's v. SLR's v. ???) then display them in different places around your house. I'd have a wall mount display, a stand alone display case, a shelf top display case, a smaller one on a turntable, etc...

Then year of manufacture within type.

B2 (;->
 
You could try to get a cabinet like this, made by my favorite cabinetmaker, James Krenov, for your very best cameras. His work is gorgeous, and some of your cameras deserve nothing less. His pursuit of perfection is on the same level as Rollei, Leica, etc. He passed away in 2009 though, and I think his work is now sought after and very dear. Google his name and you will find more photos of his work. It is stunning.
 

Attachments

  • Krenov92KwilaSpaltedHickoryflop.jpg
    Krenov92KwilaSpaltedHickoryflop.jpg
    20 KB · Views: 0
recently I saw a picture of a wall mounted shelf that looked like a grid (a lot of cubes, each one the same and just large enough for the largest camera). It looked very good. You'd probably need plain glass doors to keep the dust out. I think the one I saw had something like a 10x10 arrangement. Room for expansion 🙂
 
... I need to put them all in one place, organise them, catalogue them, maybe even display them. But how? Glass shelves, some Ikea shelving units, old fashioned display cabinets with doors? I want something very simple and elegant, nothing ornate.
I just store them on the floor with bright lights shining down to accentuate the shiny vintage chrome:

lcollection2.jpg


🙂
 
Limit yourself to displaying no more than 5 cameras on one shelf based around a 'theme' of some sort. Put film in one of them and use it. Change the 'theme' and hence both display and the camera you use monthly. Keep the rest in boxes.

Quite often this can lead to the disposal of certain cameras, leading to the acquisition of more.

The point being that a collection or display is a lot more fun if it is kept fluid and at least some of it used...and they won't get too dusty!
 
Hi,

Regardless of how you display them I think the best start would be to sit down with your computer and list them all with whatever details you like for each one. Bitter experience tells me that the serial number is important once you start to realise that you've got more than one or two of each. You might find that you have half a dozen XA2's, f'instance.

Then, look at the list and wonder if it could be shortened or expanded and so on. Then you'll probably see how you can organise the display. Perhaps all, perhaps some, perhaps a sale on ebay and perhaps the ones with fungus in the bin...

Shelves are cheap but dodgy; meaning dust and accidents. Display cabinets are great but expensive although Lidl did some nice once but you have to keep an eye open for them.

Lastly, don't display them where people passing by can see them because of burglars...

Regards, David
 
Hi David

Thanks for those suggestions.

I've just been searching for Lidl cabinets but their website is hopeless and their staff aren't much better. Did you mean the Livarno cabinet or have they sold others?
I'll probably have to make something, maybe along the lines of a much bigger version of the Livarno, but I'm tempted by a block of Ikea Gnedby CD storage towers or a row of tall Billy shelving units with glass doors.

Any other suggestions welcome.

Regards

Mike
 
Hi David

Thanks for those suggestions.

I've just been searching for Lidl cabinets but their website is hopeless and their staff aren't much better. Did you mean the Livarno cabinet or have they sold others?
I'll probably have to make something, maybe along the lines of a much bigger version of the Livarno, but I'm tempted by a block of Ikea Gnedby CD storage towers or a row of tall Billy shelving units with glass doors.

Any other suggestions welcome.

Regards

Mike

Hi,

Yes, that sounds like the maker but it's from memory so beware. You'll find them if you Google display cabinets, Lidl and Hornby but all you'll find is people moaning that they can't get them but at least you'll see the one I mean.

BTW, mine fits and has been fixed on top of an open shelf unit like a bookcase. So looks rather nice but must be fixed well and truly to the wall. Also, it has too many glass shelves for camera use (spacing goes wrong) but they are useful as spares.

I'll wish you luck.

Regards, David
 
Solution found

Solution found

I've found a good solution.

Ikea Gnedby / Benno tower units are designed for CD storage but each compartment is ideal for one camera. The shelf spacing is easily adjustable for my medium format and smaller cameras, and with 14 cameras per tower and 8 towers, that takes care of 112 cameras. They look so good that even my kids have shown some interest.

Maybe I'll try to be selective and just keep my 114 favourites.

The next problem is where to store all the cases and other paraphernalia.
 
Floating wall shelves >>

Floating wall shelves >>

Boards inserted into wall brackets, so it seems the shelves are floating. Can stagger them on different levels for display

camera-wall-shelves.jpg


cameras.jpg


DON
 
Back
Top Bottom