Camera collectors today simply have no idea how easy it is for newbies to identify rare cameras and lenses.
99.99% of the research has already been done. All they have to do is buy reference book and instant collector knowledge.
It was not always so. When I developed interest in Nikon rangefinders (watch out for that huge photography pun) there were literally no Nikon collector's books available in the English language. Maybe in Japan ... no idea. Neither was there the internet .. it didn't exist yet. Not to mention my pocket computer from Steve Jobs.
I had the best collector reference materials available then, MODERN PHOTOGRAPHY magazine and POPULAR PHOTOGRAPHY magazine ... popular monthly photography magazines available at every newstand in America. Our local RFF hero Jason Schneider was also undeveloped. His by line THE CAMERA COLLECTOR had not yet been written.
At that point in time the ONLY reference I found that there was an early Nikon even existing was the annual MODERN PHOTOGRAPHY listing of camera manufacturers. It was simply described cryptically as having a film counter from 0 to 40 -- instead of 0 to 36. WTF ?
Then one fine summer hot afternoon I visited a pawn shop in downtown Torrance CA.
They had this funny looking Nikon with advance knobs instead of levers. I had no idea what Nikon Model it was.
Even so that camera caught my attention. It looked NEW. Really new. It shined. It was perfect. No wear of any kind.
How much I asked. $100 the clerk said with no hesitation. I didn't have the cash to spend, but I did have a brand new MasterCard with a zero balance.
I offered $75 expecting the clerk to bargain down. I had bought from pawn shops before.
He turned me down. I almost bought it, but walked out as I literally had no idea in the world which model Nikon it was or how much it was worth.
That camera bothered me, as it still bothered me today. I returned the next week ready to buy.
It was not to be. The camera had sold.
Not sure who bought it, but I hope it was a person who I later became good friends with. By far the biggest camera buyer in Los Angeles at that point in time was the famous TAC - a professional camera buyer for Tokyo stores. All he did was pay more than locals would and then ship them off to Japan, taking advantage of a marketplace I did not understand.
I learned about Nikons and read Bob Rotoloni's newly published Nikon books and became one of the first ten members of his Nikon Historical Society, eventually I realized the camera I passed on for $100 was either a Nikon M or a Nikon One. That didn't bother me so much as the chance of it being a Nikon One was like winning the lottery.
Then one sad afternoon I was reading Bob's Nikon book about Nikon One's. He made the casual remark that only the early 100 or so Nikon One's were engraved on the bottom plate MADE IN OCCUPIED JAPAN in LARGE lettering.
To this day I have a crystal clear memory of that engraving with overly large lettering not so proudly proclaiming MADE IN OCCUPIED JAPAN.
I passed on an early like new Nikon ONE with 50/3.5 because I didn't want to take the chance.
If you find a collectible camera or lens that interests you, think twice before you walk away.....
99.99% of the research has already been done. All they have to do is buy reference book and instant collector knowledge.
It was not always so. When I developed interest in Nikon rangefinders (watch out for that huge photography pun) there were literally no Nikon collector's books available in the English language. Maybe in Japan ... no idea. Neither was there the internet .. it didn't exist yet. Not to mention my pocket computer from Steve Jobs.
I had the best collector reference materials available then, MODERN PHOTOGRAPHY magazine and POPULAR PHOTOGRAPHY magazine ... popular monthly photography magazines available at every newstand in America. Our local RFF hero Jason Schneider was also undeveloped. His by line THE CAMERA COLLECTOR had not yet been written.
At that point in time the ONLY reference I found that there was an early Nikon even existing was the annual MODERN PHOTOGRAPHY listing of camera manufacturers. It was simply described cryptically as having a film counter from 0 to 40 -- instead of 0 to 36. WTF ?
Then one fine summer hot afternoon I visited a pawn shop in downtown Torrance CA.
They had this funny looking Nikon with advance knobs instead of levers. I had no idea what Nikon Model it was.
Even so that camera caught my attention. It looked NEW. Really new. It shined. It was perfect. No wear of any kind.
How much I asked. $100 the clerk said with no hesitation. I didn't have the cash to spend, but I did have a brand new MasterCard with a zero balance.
I offered $75 expecting the clerk to bargain down. I had bought from pawn shops before.
He turned me down. I almost bought it, but walked out as I literally had no idea in the world which model Nikon it was or how much it was worth.
That camera bothered me, as it still bothered me today. I returned the next week ready to buy.
It was not to be. The camera had sold.
Not sure who bought it, but I hope it was a person who I later became good friends with. By far the biggest camera buyer in Los Angeles at that point in time was the famous TAC - a professional camera buyer for Tokyo stores. All he did was pay more than locals would and then ship them off to Japan, taking advantage of a marketplace I did not understand.
I learned about Nikons and read Bob Rotoloni's newly published Nikon books and became one of the first ten members of his Nikon Historical Society, eventually I realized the camera I passed on for $100 was either a Nikon M or a Nikon One. That didn't bother me so much as the chance of it being a Nikon One was like winning the lottery.
Then one sad afternoon I was reading Bob's Nikon book about Nikon One's. He made the casual remark that only the early 100 or so Nikon One's were engraved on the bottom plate MADE IN OCCUPIED JAPAN in LARGE lettering.
To this day I have a crystal clear memory of that engraving with overly large lettering not so proudly proclaiming MADE IN OCCUPIED JAPAN.
I passed on an early like new Nikon ONE with 50/3.5 because I didn't want to take the chance.
If you find a collectible camera or lens that interests you, think twice before you walk away.....
