Do you care about your cameras history?!

[Davidhel]

A number of years ago I purchased some Leitz binoculars. I couldn't find out much about them, so I emailed Leitz and a few weeks later I got a response with some interesting details about them...

I've always loved that the company has been open about sharing info on serial numbers and manufacturing dates - but its clear that there is probably even more info not in the public domain. For example, who the camera was sold to, when it was serviced / upgraded etc. Wouldn't it be great to find out?!

I know there are many reasons as to why this couldn't happen and why these records couldn't be released...but....

Check this out:
http://www.concertina.com/ledgers/lookup/

OK, it's concertina's not cameras!...but all of Wheatstone's records have been digitized..I have number 6329...if you type that number in and look it up you can see it was originally sold in 1855, how much it sold for and who purchased it!

My Leica's don't sit on shelves, they are used daily for what they were intended....but I also understand they have a history too, that (most likely) we will never know.....

 

[Harryo1962]

Production data is always nice to have. And it's nice to know the history behind cameras from within my family. My IIIf belonged to my uncle, who took it to Vietnam while an Artillery officer. It has his SSN# electro penciled on the top plate.
Otherwise, it's nice to know when buying a used camera if it's had just one owner.

 

[Scrambler]

How much do you want to know? My Zeiss Ikon Nettar is apx 1937 and has a price in Reichsmarks penciled inside. That's already more info than I really wanted.

 

[btgc]

This why I don't buy early FSU pieces, not to touch accidentally eerie stuff used to document crime against mankind. I know most of criminals weren't into photography so chances aren't high. I'm OK with FED5, though, it were witness of collapsing economy and coming changes.

 

[Solinar]

With regards to history - About as far as I go is to look for a manufacturers ad in past copies of Modern or Popular Photography - and - maybe the price @ Olden's or Willoughby's in NYC.

Best Regards,

 

[Addy101]

This why I don't buy early FSU pieces, not to touch accidentally eerie stuff used to document crime against mankind. I know most of criminals weren't into photography so chances aren't high. I'm OK with FED5, though, it were witness of collapsing economy and coming changes.

Strange. Newer cameras don't mean that they didn't see human right violations. Buy a second hand Canon or Nikon DSLR and it migh be used by this guy: Syrian photographer of dead prisoners

 

[Sparrow]

This why I don't buy early FSU pieces, not to touch accidentally eerie stuff used to document crime against mankind. I know most of criminals weren't into photography so chances aren't high. I'm OK with FED5, though, it were witness of collapsing economy and coming changes.

... best to stick with German or Japanese made cameras then ... no crimes against mankind there back in the 1930's ... oh, hang on

 

[btgc]

Strange. Newer cameras don't mean that they didn't see human right violations. Buy a second hand Canon or Nikon DSLR and it migh be used by this guy: Syrian photographer of dead prisoners

This is why I own Pentax DSLR.

... best to stick with German or Japanese made cameras then ... no crimes against mankind there back in the 1930's ... oh, hang on

I stick to newer German and Japanese cameras which very unlikely are contaminated.

But I have thought about ebay cameras - who have owned them, what kind of people they were and if things carry traces of personalities of previous owners.

 

[Michael Markey]

It strikes me as very odd to be concerned about such things .
They`re cameras and to talk of them in this context strikes me as positively medieval and creepy.

 

[haempe]

I try to find out as much as possible about my grandfather's leica.

And one day I will make the same tour as my grandfather with the same camera: going to Japan via the trans siberian railway.

 

[Spavinaw]

The answer to the question is NO.

 

[Dez]

I try to find out as much as possible about my grandfather's leica.

And one day I will make the same tour as my grandfather with the same camera: going to Japan via the trans siberian railway.

THAT is something really special. It's great that you still have your grandfather's camera, and I really hope you are able to make that trip- what an adventure that would be!

Cheers,
Dez

 

[haempe]

THAT is something really special. It's great that you still have your grandfather's camera, and I really hope you are able to make that trip- what an adventure that would be!

Cheers,
Dez

Well, today it is certainly not as adventurous as in the 30s.
But probably not less interesting than it was then. At least I hope this... 😉

-h

 

[SolaresLarrave]

The previous history of any camera I have belongs to the imagination, not anything else. However, I found it interesting that my M4-2 has a sticker from a store in Amsterdam, where it was either repaired or sold.

 

[mdarnton]

I have a view camera and lens that were in a satellite studio that was run by the owner of the studio I worked for in high school, 50 years ago. When he closed shop, he gave my brother (who preceded me in his studio) the camera and lens from the outlying studio, and a couple of years ago my brother gave it to me. On the back of the board, in pencil, my previous employer wrote the date he bought it (which he was in the habit of doing with everything) in his recognizable (to me) writing. All incredibly cool, but meaningful to me only because I knew everyone involved, all of whom are gone now.

[Lachenal English here, David. Twin of this one, but in much better shape: http://www.themusicroom-online.co.uk/product_info.php/products_id/6962 ]

 

[Livesteamer]

I have spent many years reading history so I am curious. Several years ago I was searching for a IIIc stepper. I found one on e bay and after purchase the seller was kind enough to tell me some history. The serial number dates it to 1942 and it was a GI bring back. It was then given to an Uncle who traveled the world with it. After his death it was inherited and then sold to me. Sherry Krauter brought it back to good condition and it is one of my favorite users. The war in Europe was terrible, the conditions afterwards were brutal. I don't know the exact details but this camera has seen a lot of history. Last year I used it to take pictures of a visiting B 17 bomber, it is almost certain that during the war this camera was on the wrong side of B 17's. Let's hope it never see's war again. Joe

 

[siracusa]

The history of my cameras does not interest me.
My Petriflex 7 was owned by my father, and it has sentimental value to me. But the real story with this is not the camera or its history, but really that's about my relationship with my father. I couldn't even tell you where it's been or what photographs it took before I was born (by the time I was born it was just an old camera that he never used any more), and that doesn't interest me.
So no, the history of my cameras doesn't interest me.

 

[Addy101]

This is why I own Pentax DSLR.

As if that helps. If you buy a camera second hand you never know what it was used for. Your FED5 might be used in the bloody Soviet war in Afghanistan.

 

[mdarnton]

I would have a hard time blaming a camera for who used it and how. 🙂

 

[David Hughes]

I would have a hard time blaming a camera for who used it and how. 🙂

Hi,

There's a lot of people who would disagree with that, although they won't admit it, they find it useful to have a scapegoat. And when you're desperate even a camera will do.

Regards, David

PS (EDIT) Do I care about its history? No but it's still nice to know...