Inherited gear sell or save?

[Bill Blackwell]

I inherited an M3 a few years ago from my late grandad. ... I'm sat here with a collapsible elmar 50mm 3.5 and goggled summaron 2.8 that came with the camera that I don't use. I'm a 50mm shooter so the summaron is not to my liking no matter how good a lens it is and I don't like collapsing the elmar and the overall way the aperture is adjusted. ... I'm starting to think I should and buy the planar 50mm that I've always wanted. I'm not in a position to save up for one so selling what I have for my ideal set up is the only way. Before the camera went off for CLA I was using a jupiter 8 on it which I still have but would also get rid of. ...

Did your grandad give you the camera gear as an "heirloom" or to use and enjoy? I think I'd be asking myself "how do I honor my grandfather?" Is it by keeping stuff he gave me I don't use to "pass it on" to a future heir who might? Or is it by using the equipment he gave me to my greatest satisfaction?

Only you can answer that.

 

[Steve Bellayr]

Keep the M3 & the 50mm f3.5. Use black & white film and download a light meter app onto your cell phone. Try it what do you have to lose except the cost of a couple of rolls of film?

 

[jsrockit]

Keep the M3 & the 50mm f3.5. Use black & white film and download a light meter app onto your cell phone. Try it what do you have to lose except the cost of a couple of rolls of film?

What makes you think he has not tried it?

 

[Doug A]

A view from the other side of the issue: As I begin my ninth decade I have been thinking about the disposition of my accumulated photo gear and musical instruments when I am gone. The only people in line to inherit any of it are my son and my two grandchildren. None of them have shown any interest in the photo gear. My granddaughter has expressed an interest in my 1937 Martin 0-18 guitar so it is specifically given to her in my will. All the rest of it is to be sold on consignment by the estate. Problem solved for my heirs.

 

[Godfrey]

My friend Don was in a similar situation with his Minox gear, Doug. His solution was to give it all to me "to distribute to people who you know will use it." He passed away last July.
So I've got his legacy here and have found a couple of people who have expressed great joy in using a nice Minox LX, an A, etc. I use the B that he set aside for me. It is a great thing to use this equipment that meant so much to him, but of course it just means that I'm going to have to sweat this out myself when I see the end coming near...

I inherited a whole Leica kit from my father. I tried using it for a while, but eventually I sold it off. It was almost too sacred to him and he wasn't always happy using it, using it had an uncomfortable vibe for me. The camera of his that I wish I had was his roll-film Polaroid .. that I'd have kept just as a shelf piece because there's no film available any more. He took most of the photos he made in his older years with it and it was always a thing of great joy to him to work with it. A number of those photos survive and are a joy to see.

Regards my own equipment, well, to me it's just equipment. I am more concerned that people enjoy the photographs that I made with it, so I try to make photo books of what I am satisfied with and put them on the shelf so that someone might notice when the time comes.

G

"Equipment is transitory. Photographs endure."

 

[CameraQuest]

You are not likely to be SURE you made the right choice until years afterward ....

If you are the sort who has regrets for past choices gone bad, better keep everything.

On the other hand, if you look at past choices as SO? -- sell or keep as the whim grabs you.

 

[DownUnder]

I'm entirely with CameraQuest (#26) on all this.

Yet, oddly, at times I admit to being "somewhat conflicted" about my own cameras and lenses.

My darkroom is already promised to someone who will make good use of it, which pleases me.

As for my old film cameras (Nikons, Nikkormats, Leica LTM, Contax Gs, Rolleis, 1950s folders), well - I have no children of my own who would want to use film gear, and my partner's kin live in Malaysia but the younger family members are all "aspirational and acquisitional" - not surprisingly, they've already made polite enquiries about what I plan to do with all my kits (meaning they are keen to get their hands on it), but inevitably their next comments were all the same - "how much is it worth??"

They all use their phones for photo images, so I'm under no illusion about what their intentions are when I eventually pop off - they will flog it off to the highest bidder and pocket the proceeds.

I don't intend to part just yet with my good cameras - the lesser ones will be sold off this year and the money put into good wine for my enjoyment - I do want them to go to those who will value them and use them. So for now, I am hanging on to the lot - and making quiet plans to "will" them to suitable recipients.

Or I may just change my mind and go the entirely opposite way - sell it all off and put the cash into a trust fund for our cats. Who knows?? It's all mine, and I can do with it as I please. This is the bottom line.

As for my digital gear, I regard my Nikons and newly-acquired Fujis as working tools. So my partner can have it all. To use or give away. By then I will be well beyond any concern about it all...

 

[AlexBG]

Did your grandad give you the camera gear as an "heirloom" or to use and enjoy? I think I'd be asking myself "how do I honor my grandfather?" Is it by keeping stuff he gave me I don't use to "pass it on" to a future heir who might? Or is it by using the equipment he gave me to my greatest satisfaction?

Only you can answer that.

It's definitely a user camera, dented and the leather is peeling away. He didn't give it directly to me, it was given to my Dad who wasn't his son but was a keen photographer. He said one day he had a few of grandads old cameras in a box if I wanted them. I couldn't believe it was an M3.

 

[AlexBG]

Keep the M3 & the 50mm f3.5. Use black & white film and download a light meter app onto your cell phone. Try it what do you have to lose except the cost of a couple of rolls of film?

That's my set up but with the jupiter. I use the camera as my only film camera and probably go through a roll a month. The elmar just isn't for me.

 

[AlexBG]

Regards my own equipment, well, to me it's just equipment. I am more concerned that people enjoy the photographs that I made with it, so I try to make photo books of what I am satisfied with and put them on the shelf so that someone might notice when the time comes.
[/I]

This is my thinking Godfrey. I look back at the film photos I have taken and enjoy them all. There are only a few that I can say that I knew what camera and lens I used. That is one of the reasons I sold the film camera gear I had when I got the M3. I knew I was still going to make photos. Yeah the lack of light meter and no autofocus means I have missed a few shots but I was still there to enjoy the moment. Hence my reason for thinking of selling for equipment I will use more. Maybe a planar and one of these new small electronic light meters on the shoe.