Do you feel bad about your unused cameras?

Most of the cameras I own were purchased for professional use and over the last 8 years as the technology improved I have moved across to shooting all digital for my clients. The outcome of this is a collection of film cameras ranging from a Sinar 5x4 to an old Nikon F3 and lots in between collecting dust. Do I feel bad that I still have them? Defiantly not, my regret goes to the ones I sold when I needed the cash to upgrade a bit of kit.

In particular I wish I had never sold the Fuji 6x7 rangefinder I had in my final year at college, what memories it would evoke in me now if I could hold that beautiful piece of equipment. Instead I traded it in as I thought I couldn't justify owning something that was not practical to my profession, it didn't take long for me to realise my mistake.

I wouldn't buy one just to put on the shelf, but once bonded I hate the idea of saying goodbye to them.
 
Bad, no. foolish yes. since i bought many cams/lens on impulse. sold
quite a bit, but hate to part with them.they are family. just looking at them
sometimes helps me cheer up.

maybe using them would be better😛
 
I feel really sorry for my little old Yashica GT which I have not run a film through in over two years! My two Leica's and the Bessa always seem to win, and when I am travelling light it's the Oly XA.
 
Not guilty, just annoyed they are taking up space and not earning their keep. I have a 2 or 3 cameras I have put one roll through. However, can't be arsed selling them.
 
I have a whole closet full of clothes

I have a whole closet full of clothes

but I don't wear everything at once; and THIS is only the half of it...
Mary in SW Florida, USA
 
Like others I don't feel guilty, but I am simply running out of storage space.
I sold off many of my 35mm RF cameras, keeping a few that I really like to use.
I have also begun downsizing the Pentax SLR collection to just the essentials.

Chris
 
Try not to leave them unused for long...
Sometimes i feel guilty though and load up a roll, i think it puts us back on good terms. 🙂
 
i don't like it when i have too much gear hanging around that i'm not using, makes me feel uncomfortable. it feels good to have what i deem the perfect set of gear. totally psychological, but i'm past the period of experimenting with different gear.
 
When they cry, I just hit them upside the head. Puts them in their place; they quiet right down. I'd never smack a human or an animal but unruly cameras are another story.
 
I've been thinking about this for some time, and I've been wondering if it's time to pare down what I own.

I've been thinking of reducing it to just a few brands and selling the rest. There are some that have only been used once or twice, and it's a shame to have a camera if you don't plan to use it.
 
I have 250 to 300 cameras and I don't have a skerrick of guilt about unused ones because I am a collector, user and repairer in that order. I regularly use a screw Leica or Canon or Nikon rangefinder or some Leica copy, and my collection has a theme of pre1970 35mm cameras with focal plane shutters.
I do feel a bit guilty about the thirty or so cameras I've been intending putting on Ebay.
But as soon as I return from a forthcoming trip to Europe armed with my trusty user Canon L1 and new Nikon D90 I just might get around to selling some of the surplus.
 
Yes.

I am not a collector, so everything must fulfill its purpose. On the other hand, everything DOES get regular exercise. And it's quite handy to have so many really good cameras, there's always one with the film in it I need at the moment 😀

And I have a grand total of 1 (one) Leicas and a boatload of dumped Nikon FM's etc. Strangely, the boatload was cheaper than that one Leica... and they all work and none of them needed a CLA!
 
Larky said:
No, no guilt. None at all, well, maybe. I mean sometimes I think the unused gear is crying when I'm not around. But of course that's silly, I mean a camera can't cry, it has no tear ducts. I guess that means cameras are like Rabbits. Poor Rabbits.
Click to expand...

Not sure about the tear ducts and crying but cameras seems to reproduce like rabbits... More and more keep showing up at my house. Unfortunate that it is so hard to share my time equally with all of them.
 
EcoLeica said:
Now most of you out there are probably shooters and only keep what you shoot with, but do any of you feel that twang of guilt when you have a fine camera sitting up on the shelf not being used?

Steve
Click to expand...

I wrote a recent thread about this. Purpose them by devoting one to a specific film-stock. In my case:

- Konica Auto S3: Neopan 1600@800
- Yashica CC: lower speed films (<200) (because of its 1/250 top shutter limitation)
- Fujica Compact Deluxe: Tri-X
- SLR (used mostly for portraits) Neopan 1600
- Iskra: 120 (no choice there...)
- Digital: color

Select the film you want to use - not the camera.
 
I use most of my cameras fairly regularly, but I have several lenses that get little use (such as 75mm SUmmilux).

I don't feel bad that they sit on the shelf, I feel bad that I have so little free time these days (years) to pursue for hobby.
 
I look at it this way, there are 52 weeks in a year, I don't have 52 cameras, so in fact, I need to get some more... 😛
 
Actually, I feel sorry for me, not the camera, because I can't use these wonderful mechancial works. A few weeks ago I went to the Bagnall Camera swap near Anaheim, CA to sell a few things. My friends and I talked about using our gear--my friends have moved to digital. I told them I had an M6 and and M3 that I rarely used because I didn't want to break them and I used my Bessa-R instead...duh! As soon as I said it I realized...what kind of warped thinking is that??? Well the Bessa-R & -L are sold as well as most of my LTM stuff and I'm getting back to the M's. I think we'll all be happier.
 
I own four cameras, all of which are loaded with B&W film. I usually take one of them with me when I go for a walk.
The problem is, I don’t pick the same one every time. So it can take a couple/few months for me to shoot an entire roll of film in anyone of them.
They all get used, sparingly, over time.
 
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