Poll: Your home is suddenly at flames

[SolaresLarrave]

For cases like this... all my Leicas are stored in a nice, big bag, which I'd grab in the unlikely event that your conditions were actually met, Ruben.

Of course, that only would happen after seeing that my wife & cat are safe, and only and only and only if I can grab them. See... my right ankle ain't what it used to be, and I simply cannot run.

Like Bill's gear, my stuff is covered in the home insurance.

 

[brachal]

I went through a similar senario when we evacuated New Orleans before Katrina. The only camera that made the cut was my Nikkormat FTn w/ 50mm 1.4. It was my father's; he bought it when I was born, so there's some sentimental value. Other than that, I left everything, even my much loved bass guitars. It's remarkable how unimportant most of your "stuff" becomes when you're really confronted with an event like that. In retrospect, I wish I'd brought more. 4 changes of clothes, passport, tax documents, mp3 player, and a 37 year old camera isn't much to save when you're looking at losing everything.

It worked out OK though. I'm one of the very few who lost nothing in the storm. I'll never be that lucky again.

 

[Fedzilla_Bob]

Get the wife out the bedroom window

Stuff the cats in a pillow case or two and hand them to the wife

Get the Mother-In-Laws mutt


The cameras and negatives?- nothing there worth 3rd degree burns or worse. I prefer to keep my glorious good looks rather than looking like "Fireman Bill."

 

[dazedgonebye]

You'd have to switch the fire to my car to really hurt me. Nothing really compelling in the house as far as cameras are concerned.
If I did not have it with me, I'd grab the Retina IIa, because it belonged to my father-in-law.
I'd also grab my external hard drive because it is typically a month or so between off site back-ups and I'd hate to lose that info.
Negatives...sure, I guess. On the other hand, they are all scanned so it would not be a loss worth much of a risk. (I don't make a living at this.)

 

[wlewisiii]

I'd grab my son in one arm and, if I went past it on the way out, I'd grab my camera bag. Whatever is in it would take shots of the rest of them turning into Ebay "Minty" cameras 😱

William

 

[back alley]

first, i'd save my dog. she is one of the few things in life i truly love.

all my camera gear is in a few bags/cases in the same place. they all have long straps to hang on my overweight body, so i'd save them all.

i have suffered through several major floods and an unbelievably jealous first wife so i have lost lots of negs, no big deal.
for me it's not the pics i have taken but the ones i'm gonna take.

joe

 

[kbg32]

I'd grab my negative books, hard drives, and the cat. Everything else can be replaced.

 

[Honu-Hugger]

I'd have my wife inside relaying equipment out (being inside would give her incentive to move faster). First the Alpas and Kinoptik lenses, then Contaxes, Rolleis, Nikons, and if there was any time left the Leicas...

 

[Doug]

The thread is useful in giving us some incentive to think priorities. Fortunately, I have a large safe that will withstand heat and fire for quite a while. In the corner of two outside masonry walls, so there's not a lot of fuel around it. So I would concentrate on any gear not in the safe and of course the negative files. Maybe, no, *surely* there's need for another safe...

Ok, ok, I would make sure to save my CLE, two Summicrons, and a batch of SMC Takumars. And the rare Bronica RF 100mm Zenzanon! 😀

 

[reagan]

Aaaah, this is an easy one. I'd grab the Leica.III, stroll out on the lawn, take a few shots of the flames (have to be fast though. My house is a crackerbox!!) Then maybe twaddle over to Carl's house for cup of joe and a phone call to the local FD, sit down in one of Carl's lawn chairs and wait for the show.

The Zorkis? Pffft... they'll be alright. Ya think a little housefire can scratch FSU Iron? C'mon, gidd-oudda-here! After the smoke cleared, I'd sift through the ashes, dig out the Boys, blow the dust off ... and get off a few shots of the firemen rolling up their hoses.

 

[jacema]

Well in one hand I would have the negative book with everything I've shot of my late son and in the other I would have a Nikon F2 w/MD1 & a 24mm loaded with colorfilm - moving backwards out of the building shooting constantly - could be some great pictures.

Jacques

You can't find peace by avoiding life!

 

[bmattock]

Jacques, I'm sorry to hear you lost your son. You have my sympathy and of course I would understand why you would want to keep those negatives. Have you considered having copies made or scanning and saving the hard drive in a safe place other than your house?

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks

 

[jacema]

Thank you Bill - and yes I have not only thought of it, I have bought myself a new scanner a couple of weeks ago, but it is going to be a bit cumbersome. I think it sums up to 2-3000 negatives so it's not done during an afternoon - but Easter is right around the corner, so perhaps I can get a good part of it done.

Jacques.

 

[MelanieC]

What I'd save:

(1) My favorite dog. I have three dogs, but anyone who has ever had a special dog knows that some of them are just, well, Your Dog. So Solo would come first.

(2) The other two dogs. Actually, they are all very obedient so as long as I had one I'd have them all.

(3) My laptop because my entire academic life resides on it.

(4) My M3 is always in my purse so it would be relatively easy to save as long as I had time to grab my purse.

Given 5 more seconds I'd throw the Rolleiflex 2.8F into my laptop bag and run like hell. I live in a studio apartment so it isn't very hard to find and pack things in a hurry if need be.

I'd be leaving behind two Nikon digital cameras and all of my negatives. I haven't taken enough photos yet, and none of enough artistic or sentimental value as of yet, to take the time to grab those. The Leica and Rollei have extreme sentimental value so I would try to save those.

 

[wlewisiii]

One good thing about this thread is that I got ahold of our insurance agent this afternoon. We have 102k in personal possessions replacement (beyond the value of the house) with a $500 deductable as part of our homeowners insurance. The good news is that my cameras are automatically covered - for theft, fire, lightning,etc at home, in the car, and this is worldwide coverage. If I'm in vacation in Mexico and someone makes off with the bag full of cameras & lenses, I'm only out that $500 deductable. At this point, it would be hard for me to sustain a >$500 loss, but it's nice to know that if I ever got a new M or S3-2000 it would be covered.

If I wanted breakage insurance, _that_ would require an extra rider and expense. Not something I'll pay for just yet... 😀

So thanks for bringing up the topic.

William

 

[fgianni]

That is what I would do in order of importance

1) Get the kids and wife out
2) Grab at least one of the two external HDs with all my digital photos and scans in it.
3) Get out.

You see I am not that worried about hardware equipment (including cameras) since I can always replace it with the insurance money.

 

[dostacos]

Many of us own several system cameras and lenses plus non-system cameras. Lets imagine you are alone at home, while suddenly you find your home is at flames. You do whatever you have to, and you are left with just a second or two, to pick only one camera and 3 or 4 lenses and get out:

a)Which, among all you have, will be that camera and those lenses ?

b) What camera equipment will you be leaving behind ?

c) Why?

Very cruel poll, but thrilling perhaps.
Cheers,
Ruben

I would, time permiting, grab my 5XB domke bag with my canonet 17. It is in pristine condition and not replacable. If possible I would next grab my "little bit smaller bag" that has my bessa's.

the SLRs and KIEV medium format stuff gets replaced with insurance money....

 

[dostacos]

Aaaah, this is an easy one. I'd grab the Leica.III, stroll out on the lawn, take a few shots of the flames (have to be fast though. My house is a crackerbox!!) Then maybe twaddle over to Carl's house for cup of joe and a phone call to the local FD, sit down in one of Carl's lawn chairs and wait for the show.

The Zorkis? Pffft... they'll be alright. Ya think a little housefire can scratch FSU Iron? C'mon, gidd-oudda-here! After the smoke cleared, I'd sift through the ashes, dig out the Boys, blow the dust off ... and get off a few shots of the firemen rolling up their hoses.

hurt'em nah.... just give them enough cosmetic damage to pass for leicas for the insurance 😀 😀 😀

 

[Rich Silfver]

1) I'd save my Leica IIIF and M3 along with the two lenses that are almost permanently on them (Elmar 50/3.5 and Summicron 50/2).

2) I'd leave behind about 30 cameras, many of them rangefinders

But if the poll was 'what would you save - cameras or negatives/slide' - I would leave all cameras and save the negatives/slides.

 

[jamiewakeham]

Hmm. Can I assume that, along with the cats, my negs, slides and the significant other, I have already thrown my '78 hardtail Strat out of a window?

In that case... damn, this is hard! Certainly not the EOS. Maybe the zorki and I61 L/D, maybe the SPII and 135/3.5 Zeiss Sonnar. They're probably the two combinations that feel 'rightest' in my hand. But to be honest, all my cameras are so easily replaceable that I'd grab whatever came first and a roll of velvia!

Cheers
Jamie