Hardest camera/system/lens that you let go?

msbarnes

msbarnes

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What's the hardest camera/system/lens that you had to let go? Did you buy it back?

I'm slimming down my cameras and I'm getting rid of some that I never got connected with, no regrets with those, but I'm considering getting rid of my OM system too. My reason is because I have too many cameras/systems/lenses that I don't use. I want to stick with the basics: Leica M and Rolleiflex. I'm reluctant in getting rid of the OM system, so maybe I won't, but what are some of your experiences?
 
i had 2 minolta cle kits with all 3 lenses...sold them both.
bought another full kit years later...sold it.

had 2 mamiya 6 bodies with normal and tele lenses...sold it.
 
System: Nikon F4 with 20/3.5, 50/1.4, 105/2.5, 180/2.8 ED. All AIs lenses.

Camera: Konica Hexar AF (black)

Lens: Konica UC Hexanon.

Phil Forrest
 
I had to sell my extensive Olympus OM system in 1992 because aging eyes could no longer focus quickly and accurately. The Canon EOS system has served me well since then, but I'm tired of carrying all that weight. I still miss those lovely, light OM cameras and lenses and am greatly looking forward to the OM-D.
 
My Kowa Six will sell tomorrow (if one of the 14 watchers on a certain auction site bids). Since getting a new focussing screen for my Hasselblad I've not touched it. It is cheap in price but certainly not in quality. What lovely lenses. The alternative is watch the whole kit collect dust when it could've been giving someone a lot of pleasure. Outstanding optics. Anyway, time to let it go.
Pete
 
I haven't yet regretted selling the cameras and lenses I have - not the MP, M7, Noctilux, Summilux 50 asph, Summicron 75 asph, Summicron 35 v4 - despite their being some of the best kit around. Just be very careful that you're selling for the right reasons and you won't regret it. If it's just common sense talking then you may regret it.
 
Leica M4 MOT
Leica M5
Leica CL (two)
Fuji Natura Black
Canon RF 50/1.4
Hexar AF (two)


There was no need to sell these off.
 
When I look around the house at all the cameras and lenses I have, it would seem that I've never sold a bit of gear. It appears I am something of a clingy serial monogamist when it comes to these things. I have a few systems in various formats. Some are better outfitted than others, but I still have all of them that I've ever gotten myself into.

In reality, I have sold a few things over the years. Of them, there are two things that went and after a period of genuine regret I've replaced. The 50mm pre-ASPH Summilux-M and the 90mm Elmarit-M. Looking at it now, I'm glad I got them again when I did.

There are also two things that I've sold and would like to have again. The first is the first camera I ever bought: a Kodak Brownie Holiday Flash model. I just can't find one for a good price.

The second is a Hasselblad Flexbody. What a strange and wonderful device that is. I loved it's oddball hybrid of medium and large format shooting. I just didn't use it enough and during a moment of clearing things out one year, I sold on Craigslist. To be honest, I almost miss it more as an odd and wonderful thing than I do as a working camera. Hence the reason I can't justify getting another one.
 
Pentax 6x7.
Leica m6 titanium - dad bought it for me, should never have sold it later on.
Nikon f3HP - was mint and super late model one, got it in an obscure part trade for a water damaged m6 I picked up. Best SLR I've used, wish I didn't sell it.
 
Pretty sure the M6 + Rd-1 combo im considering selling, i will regret. But its looking more and more like the sensible decision.
 
I was really sad to let my FM3a go with its Nikkor 45/2.8. Sigh. I had put a lot of film through that camera over seven years. Such a great setup.

I let my R-D1s go recently. I loved using it, I could never just get great results from it.

I can't remember much about other stuff I've sold. Just stuff I guess.
 
I mostly regret in retrospect. My first M3 and collapsible Summicron were the two things I still wish years later that I had kept.
 
I regret selling an OM1/2 kit in 1983 to buy the Leica M3, which I regret selling to buy an M6 (lovely), which I regret trading for an M9 (with a whole load of other film stuff). i wish I could have kept them all. The biggest regret is companies stopping the manufacture of all the film I loved. Kodachrome 25/64 & CN400 especially has pretty much forced me into digital. Film scanners being so horrible to use and local labs closing down hasn't helped - what a shame.
 
I wonder which Rolleiflex you are talking about, I suppose a TLR?

Well, I got a whole big case full of Rolleiflex 6008i goodies in 2010, but have been selling most of it recently. The camera really has it all, medium format, aperture priority, shutter priority, full auto exposure, bracketing, spot and centered metering--you name it, it has it. And the images that this camera produced with any of the three Carl Zeiss lenses I owned were stunning.

Nevertheless, I just could never really get used to handling it. Whether it was composing from "above" or through the 45 degree prism finder, it still felt awkward. It was also way too heavy to carry around.

It hurts sometimes... I will miss the great image quality, I even have a 6x6 Rollei projector that showed off the full potential of the slides the camera produced. But I am now much happier with the Mamiya 7II. Personally, I find the Mamiya much more user-friendly, and it fits my style of shooting much better. And, I got a slide a centimeter wider... I do actually prefer 6x7 over 6x6.

I still have the body and one lens (80mm), but it will be for sale soon.
 
Sold off my entire EOS system (Canon 20D + 5D and a heap of L glass) as I felt the cameras just kept getting larger and larger with each generation. (I did keep my EOS-3 and a 50/1.4, though.)

Replaced that with some new M-mount lenses and a Micro Four Thirds camera. Whenever I see how big and heavy the Canon lenses are, I don't regret it.
 
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