Has anyone ever gotten the urge to purge?

Don't talk about it, just hurry and do it before everyone who is talking about it does it and floods the market and prices plummet.

Then buy a M6ttl and an MP at bargain basement prices.
 
I sold a few cameras and lenses a few months ago to partially fund a college graduation present for my son. I offered to buy him a better used car, but he said he wanted to keep driving his "beater" and wanted an M6TTL instead. I even got a new 35mm lens in the bargain. So much for purging.
 
Every time I have thinned out the mass of cameras and lenses I generally regret having done so soon afterward and end up purchasing for a second time the same item - most notably the 12-24 AFS DX Nikkor, the 10.5 mm DX Fisheye and the 21mm F4 Screwmount C/V lens and an M2- sometime in the following years.
 
This has been on my mind as of late,with my wife ill and being her main caretaker I don't get out to shoot much now.
When I took Social Security a few years back I started buying Cameras and lenses I only dreamed about having. Now Most of this gear sits idle.
I have to start letting some of it go soon.
Some of the funds can go to CLA's of what I intend to keep.
 
I have dozen of film cameras I don't need. All I need is couple of fillm M and one SLR. I have two thirds of what I use already. At some point, I let the rest go.
 
davidnewtonguitars said:
I sold a few cameras and lenses a few months ago to partially fund a college graduation present for my son. I offered to buy him a better used car, but he said he wanted to keep driving his "beater" and wanted an M6TTL instead. I even got a new 35mm lens in the bargain. So much for purging.
Click to expand...

Bless him. Wish I was that smart at his age.
 
I go through multi-year periods of acquisition, trying different stuff just for the unique user experience, not because of need. Then in one season or two I'll do a quick purge, overshooting the purge as much as I do the acquisition. A lot of film stuff has gotten so inexpensive, it's not to-terrible an issue. Anyway, you gain the experience to speak authoritatively on different equipment, from a Contarex to Leicaflex. You get the idea. The process does refine in your own head what you "need", "want" "like" ect.

Recently, over the last 6-8 months I sold all my rangefinders. A mistake to sell "all." Variety helps keep things from getting stale. So, I'll probably start the pro=cess over again. It's sort of a game.

My main cameras and lenses, that I use most of the time, don't get sold. Too many memories attached to that metal and glass. It's all the periphery that gets bought and sold.
 
I should probably let some duplicate stuff go. Example: I only have one M-mount camera, but I have several M-mount lenses, including some desireable ones, but I can easily replicate all of them using less-expensive LTM lenses with an adapter, and the LTM stuff works equally well on my several LTM camera bodies.
 
Beat, imo, to start selling off when you need the cash for a repair to another camera (of course).


Regards, David


PS It's the last 6 dozen that cause the heart to ache.
 
I went through a period of purging, out of guilt and worry about money. But now I TOTALLY REGRET IT. I sold my beloved M6, and some lenses; now I miss them more than I would've thought. I wasn't desperate for money, so I should've thought it through better.
 
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