I destroyed a camera box (thoughts on paraphernalia)

[Pál_K]

Seemingly only minutes ago I destroyed a beautiful Nikon F3/T camera box. Actually it was 1989, but the memory is vivid because the instant I ripped it up I felt bad. “That was a nice box,” I said. That was the moment I decided not to destroy a camera or lens box again.

Prior to that, my two previous SLR’s, I thought nothing of the box.

So now, decades later, I’ve saved the boxes my cameras and lenses came in. Half of a closet is filled with them - a sort of Tetris puzzle in packaging. Hasselblad, Leica, Nikon, Canon, &c. What am I ever going to do with these, knowing fully I will never sell them or the cameras they contained?

But the situation gets worse: I’ve saved lens caps, front and rear, all of them. A vast majority are boring plastic modern caps. Some are nice, like large metal screw-in disks with Nikkor on the front. Or maybe Angenieux or Carl Zeiss or Leica. I never will use them, yet I can’t throw them away.

Even worse still: some of the old German cameras which I bought used came with a very nice, pristine, original case. Too nice to throw away, but too awkward to use. I have several large bags with these cases. Sometimes, if I can use the lower half-case, I will, and then I just need to set the top half aside. I don’t keep cameras covered up in cases.

Now I’m even saving the end-flap of film boxes to store with my negatives and proof-prints. Saving it not to indicate which film is being used (because that’s printed on the film itself), but saving it simply because that box was part of the overall process, part of the archive. I wish I’d saved a few of my Plus-X boxes.

There’s just so much paraphernalia with hobbies. If you have an archivist mindset (some might say hoarder), you will have a lot of stuff.

 

[xayraa33]

Go easy on yourself...if you save the boxes it is good...and if you destroy the camera boxes it is also good...same if you give those boxes away or use them to place cameras in of not the same make as what it says on the box when you sell camera....it is all good...there is no wrong...concentrate on taking good photos that please you no matter what you use and don't fret on the unimportant stuff.

 

[Bolo Kukus]

I have destroyed almost all my camera boxes - the sole survivor is the box my first-ever Rolleiflex, a 3.5 E2 I ought in 966, came in. That one I kept, who knows why? For (partly) historical and (largely) sentimental reasons, I believe.

It has weathered well, but camera boxes in those days were sturdy things and not easily disassembled. It now sits at the back of the wardrobe (= closet) in our guest bedroom. I use it to store my Rollei accessories.

All my other boxes were ripped up and thrown out. I don't miss them.

In a long lifetime I have had space and time for only some things. We can hold on to only so many things. I'm lucky to have retained 80% of the negatives and slides I've shop in the past half century anyway. The cameras mean a lot to me. Not so the boxes.

In theory we could hold on to every box of everything we buy, but in practice this would soon make life intolerable to those of us who don't live in large warehouses. This is stretching the point a bit, but the basic premise still stands. It would be to all intents and purposes, entirely impractical. I could go on about this in a philosophical vein, but I haven't had my first morning coffee, so I had best move on before I go on and say too much, as I often do. Enough already. Let's move on.

At my age I try to no longer hold on to most things. Even our wine cellar is now being drunk up, and the bottles will not be replaced. Good wine is to be enjoyed, not hung on to and displayed like trophies. Good cameras are to be used. An odd comparison, I know. Good wine doesn't eat up film like cameras do. Good cameras don't suffer from rotted corks, but they do occasionally develop "illnesses" like fungus and, in one truly strange situation I had, a moth took up residence in my Nettar 6x6, but fortunately got evicted before it did any damage.

Of course YMMD.

 

[raydm6]

I have saved all mine (for new cameras) and they are stowed away somewhere.

One of my used IIIfs was purchased with its original red clam-shell case which is a beautiful little thing and goes for a tidy sum on the open market.

 

[leicapixie]

I found a box tossed out for newish DSLR, with new strap,
some small accessories. Even warranties.
I guess the new trend of "No-Strap", accident waiting to happen.
Only kept boxes for small very compact digital cameras.
Ready for donations if still working sigh.

 

[Archiver]

This is a disturbingly familiar thread. My storage cupboard is filled with boxes for cameras and lenses, audio recorders, LED lights and other whatnots. In fact, the only things I intend to throw out are the large boxes my tripods came in. Note that I said, 'intend to throw out', meaning I haven't yet done so.

I use UV filters and tend not to bother with lens caps. End caps always go back on the lenses when not in use, and in a drawer is a stack of lens caps. Really, I ought to put those in the boxes for their respective lenses.

 

[Archiver]

I found a box tossed out for newish DSLR, with new strap,
some small accessories. Even warranties.
I guess the new trend of "No-Strap", accident waiting to happen.
Only kept boxes for small very compact digital cameras.
Ready for donations if still working sigh.

What kind of nut throws out the strap? And what is this 'No Strap' trend I've vaguely heard about? Is this what the kids are doing these days?

 

[Dogman]

I always save the boxes for new cameras. But I never can find them if I sell the cameras. My attic is full of such things. A few years ago I found the boxes to the Leica M4-P and lenses I sold in the 1980s.

"What kind of nut throws out the strap?"

Probably someone like me who never uses the bright colored camera logo straps that come with DSLRs these days. I just leave them in the box and buy a decent leather strap. I suppose when the time comes to toss out the old box, the forgotten strap will go with it.

 

[jsrockit]

What kind of nut throws out the strap? And what is this 'No Strap' trend I've vaguely heard about? Is this what the kids are doing these days?

I never used the strap provided with my camera... I use a third party strap. This makes someone a nut?

I save the boxes for when I sell the camera. People like to get the box with a used camera for some reason.

 

[Phil_F_NM]

I never understood the actual value of boxes. Back in 2003, a friend said he'd found a box from the same lot production as his M2 and was over the moon about it. Then he paid a premium for it, well over $100. I only keep boxes that my cats can jump into, and I don't buy new cameras, so that doesn't affect me doubly. It's just another weird phenomenon of collecting stuff.

Phil Forrest

 

[Ko.Fe.]

I never understood the actual value of boxes. Back in 2003, a friend said he'd found a box from the same lot production as his M2 and was over the moon about it. Then he paid a premium for it, well over $100. I only keep boxes that my cats can jump into, and I don't buy new cameras, so that doesn't affect me doubly. It's just another weird phenomenon of collecting stuff.

Phil Forrest

To me keeping box and all original things is about been neat and clean. By the time I have to sell my gear, it goes back to the same package. It is called "as owner culture". I prefer used equipment as boxed well. Usually shows what seller is not a trashy pig. And boxed equipment condition reflects it well.

 

[Godfrey]

As a photographer: I usually keep the boxes and their packaging for all the major bits of equipment I buy because if I need to have the item serviced and ship it somewhere, the original box and its packaging is the most convenient, safe way to pack it for shipment. The original boxes for some gear are also convenient storage containers for when the equipment is sitting in my storage cabinets, between uses.

For collection purposes: The original boxes, packaging, manuals, OEM straps, et cetera constitute provenance*for the item and can add significant value to the collectible value.

Across all kinds of different things, I have a mix: some of it I have the boxes for because I bought it new or used and it was in the original box when I bought it, and I deemed that box to be worth saving. Other of it I either didn't get the original boxes with or deemed them to be too much wasted storage space to be expended on their behalf. It doesn't bother me either way. There's a obviously a limit to how much storage space I have, and some internal calculus of what's worth using it for that I'm only dimly aware of, or worry about ... 🙂

G

 

[css9450]

I save camera boxes because, well, cameras are expensive and if maybe someday I need to sell one it might be more desireable if it has its original box.


But I grew up in a family that saved the boxes for everything. I am certain my parent's attic still contains dozens of boxes for items they no longer own; stuff that broke or wore out years ago. But the box is still faithfully stashed away "just in case".

 

[leicapixie]

Out on my walks i see DSLR, Mirrorless cameras carried with no strap!
I have asked and told "It is a nuisance!"
I like my hand free, no need to worry having a coffee and donut!
We here are still in lockdown, no seating inside.
The Nikon strap is beautiful fits m mint Nikkormat like a glove..😀

 

[Phil_F_NM]

I don't have enough space to store all the boxes for various and sundry things which I use. I just don't have enough space! Then again, I don't buy new, so it doesn't affect me.

Phil Forrest

 

[Ko.Fe.]

Out on my walks i see DSLR, Mirrorless cameras carried with no strap!
I have asked and told "It is a nuisance!"
I like my hand free, no need to worry having a coffee and donut!
We here are still in lockdown, no seating inside.
The Nikon strap is beautiful fits m mint Nikkormat like a glove..😀

It is millenniums thing. At least in GTA. Our daughter used 5D MKII, 16-35 2.8, 400 series TTL flash with GT sphere on it for professional gigs. No strap. I saw her hand veins pooping out instantly from the skin. Most of millennials are like this with cameras in GTA. DLSRs and huge film MF SLRs. No strap.

Donut, coffee and camera on the neck strap... Not in my taste. If I consume something eatable, I keep camera in the bag. I prefer clear water on photowalks.

 

[JeffS7444]

I generally don't find camera boxes too interesting, because most have a standardized look designed to convey brand identity from some distance away from the customer. Which makes sense, since valuable merchandise is usually kept out of reach.

But occasionally I get a surprise: Both of the Zenit outfits depicted below were manufactured around 2005, but what a difference in packaging! Zenit 122K was basically a leftover from the Soviet era, while I suppose the 4-color packaging of the Zenit KM+ was intended to represent the new Russia:

It might be temping to laugh at the 122K's simple styrofoam shell held together with a band of tape, but it worked, while consuming a bare minimum of resources! Had it been compostable, it would have been the perfect non-collectable. These photos are my mementos of these items.

 

[Godfrey]

Out on my walks i see DSLR, Mirrorless cameras carried with no strap!
I have asked and told "It is a nuisance!"
I like my hand free, no need to worry having a coffee and donut!
We here are still in lockdown, no seating inside.
The Nikon strap is beautiful fits m mint Nikkormat like a glove..😀

Hmm. On the three times I almost dropped some piece of equipment, in recent memory, it was because of the strap, not because of the lack of a strap.

This is why I like the Peak Design straps: I put the anchors on my equipment and then fit a strap when and if I think it's going to be useful for carrying the piece of equipment. Straps come on and off with this system in a second so it's easy to choose when to use one and when not to.

G

 

[jankap]

On eBay, one can buy empty boxes.

 

[Darthfeeble]

My name is Steve and I'm a box hoarder....... I do sell gear now and again so I keep the boxes to enhance the sale. I wonder sometimes if it actually does. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.