I Can't Wear Out My M Bodies!

A

Al Kaplan

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I was going through my files looking for something to post on my blog http://thepriceofsilver.blogspot.com tonight, Sept. 30, 2009. I came across some photos I took back in January 1972 of Edward Muskie's presidential campaign.

Four things struck me as I looked at the photos. First, I made the scans directly off the contact sheets, but when I checked the negatives they still looked like new after 37 years. Second, I'm still using the same camera bodies and lenses that I used way back then, and they weren't new then. Third, there are times when you have to use direct flash if you want to get the picture. Fourth, girls are back to wearing the same hair styles and short dresses as their grandmothers wore back then. The photo of the girl in the black dress was available light though. And she's probably a grandmother now.
 
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Al, it's people like you who keep the camera companies from making decent profits. I confess that if I hadn't been compelled to sell an M3 and lenses in 2002 after 17 years' use, I'd still have them.
 
Hi Al,
my M3 got an overhawl from Don. It's slightly older than me but although I think I'm still holding up ok :D, I don't expect to hold up as well as my M3 that is good for at least another 50 years - before another CLA.

No digital camera or device in general will outlive a mechanical tool like the M3. The heirs won't know how to use them but maybe enjoy fondeling them fire a few dry shots and put them back on the shelf.:(
 
Mukul, it's the fact that Leicas last about forever that allowed a lot of us to start using Leicas on a Pentax budget. That and the older guys who seemed to always be trading in their "obsolete" Leicas, slightly different variations of the same model.

I guess they're still doing that, aren't they? But now it becomes a rare collectors' piece rather than an obsolete variation.
 
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Two years ago I found a Leica IIIa, circa 1936, in a box with a nifty 'Chron 5 cm. Never been CLA'd. Works right out of the old cardboard box I found it in. Can anyone even dream that the current crop of digital cameras could do that after 71 years!!
 
OK Akiva, now tell us that you bought the IIIa at a swap meet for five bucks including case, strap, hood, and a dozen Leica cassettes so we can be REAL jealous...
 
My 'body' has just been for a CLA, and hopefully will last a bit longer!, but the two Nikkormats have not been opened in thirtyfive years....should I worry?
Dave:)
 
Al Kaplan said:
OK Akiva, now tell us that you bought the IIIa at a swap meet for five bucks including case, strap, hood, and a dozen Leica cassettes so we can be REAL jealous...
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All of the above plus a nifty meter (that I can't get to work) for $25.
 
Dave Wilkinson said:
My 'body' has just been for a CLA, and hopefully will last a bit longer!, but the two Nikkormats have not been opened in thirtyfive years....should I worry?
Dave:)
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My wife got her Nikkormat FTN for graduation new in '74. Never been CLA'd. Its been all over the world, works like a charm.
 
Claudia, my ex, bought her Minolta X-700 before I met her back in 1983. It still works just fine. Every few weeks she invites me over for coffee and homemade pastry and I get to change the film for her. I've replaced the battery for her a few times.
 
Reminds me that I have two Minolta Maxxum bodies I need to get rid of. Pay the postage and they're yours. 7000 and 5000, I think. Both are non-op. Shoot me a PM. I'm keeping and using the M3, though.
Vic
 
I shoot quite a bit of film, but spread over a number of cameras. So they won't suffer much.

The Yashica Mat 124 and M2 have just been overhauled, the Nikons (FE, FM, FM2) are flawless and spot on, even the very battered FM2 I got recently. The Canonet could use a CLA but was so cheap I can't really bother. The pics it makes are stellar.

It feels quite good to know that I will probably be able to use these cams for the rest of my life, if they continue to make film that long. How many generations of digital cams, scanners and computers will we see the next 40 odd years?
 
Dave Wilkinson said:
My 'body' has just been for a CLA, and hopefully will last a bit longer!, but the two Nikkormats have not been opened in thirtyfive years....should I worry?
Dave:)
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I have 3 Nikon f3's and now two Nikon F2AS's, but all are not getting used because of gummy foam seals. One of my F3's (F3P) has the foam sticking to two coeners of the mirror. The other cameras are creating foam dust.

All the cameras work fine, but the foam seals need to be addressed.

In the meantime I use my M6, which I bought a year ago that still has a dead frame counter. Oh well. All my gear is used and well used.

Cal
 
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