Putting your mark on a new camera.

S

Stephanie Brim

Mental Experimental.
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I'm going to buy a new rangefinder. And I mean a new rangefinder. Brand-spanking-new. Thinking back, this will be only my second brand new film camera ever. I never planned to buy another new camera. I like my used stuff and I find it better to give someone else's neglected gear a home where it will get good use, but with rangefinders I find myself changing my tune.

If this job goes well, I will be essentially almost running a photo lab and doing image correction and restoration. I'm actually hoping that it isn't just going to become another minilab. I want to get a reputation for being able to produce high quality prints regardless of whether I use traditional techniques or the newest digital technology. In other words, I'm going to have to work very hard. I want to reward myself for the hard work that I'll be doing over the next few months establishing a client base with this new camera.

Why new? There's one selfish reason: I want to be the only one to use this camera. I want it to have my marks on it and show how much only I used it. I want to have something of a family heirloom to give to my kids one day. I want my camera to look like Winograd's Leica when I'm done with it, and I want to know that it was only because I used it that much. My other cameras will get passed down as well, from the Agfa Billy to the Nikon FE, but this one will be special: the only camera I own that only I have owned.

So...

Has anyone else come to this point with the same thought? Even my point and shoots are all pre-owned. I even thought about finally getting my M3, but I don't really want that anymore. I see Winograd's Leica and I think, "I want to have something like that to treasure when I'm in my golden years." Is that strange?
 
If I felt like that I would have made exhibitions :D I don`t know about you but for me I first need to take real photograph, at least one, to start thinking about my used camera`s in museums :D
 
Make sure it's made of brass and painted with lacquer. Titanium, zinc, magnesium, plated plastic and anodozed aluminum don't look so great when the edges tatter, not like painted brass anyway.
So that means MP3- isn't that the only camera available new on the planet with nitrocellulose over brass?
 
The Ikon is my first choice, and I know it isn't brass. I meant brassing in the sense that the edges would wear. I suppose you'd call brassing on an Ikon "silvering"? :p
 
Is it going to be the M8? Everyone says that digital cameras are going to be obsolete in 2 seconds and all that, and that they'll just dissolve into dust in 10 years, but there's plenty of old electronics that are still working fine, and they've only improved the technology... It would probably last to show to your grandkids or something, and it might seem as classic then as the first 35mm cameras do now.
 
In my world, the marks on a camera mean that it's getting used. It isn't a flaw, but a badge of honor to have a camera that has its scratches, brassing, bumps, and other imperfections. This is why none of my cameras are in pristine condition...they've been used, both by their former owners and myself. Most of them lovingly, some of them hard (the Billy, which was then restored, or so it seems), and they're all great photograph makers. I think that for a camera to do its job to the fullest it must be used a few times. ;)

And no M8. If I spent $5000 on this venture it would be a black paint MP and black Summilux that I purchased. ;)
 
Stephanie Brim said:
The Ikon is my first choice, and I know it isn't brass. I meant brassing in the sense that the edges would wear. I suppose you'd call brassing on an Ikon "silvering"? :p
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I have thought about a NEW camera (not the Bessa R2 I just bought used). I have not bought a NEW camera since 1998, when I bought a NEW Fuji 2800, now sold long ago.

I too looked at the ZI at B&H tonight. $1,400.00 bucks. Not a big price today with some entry level Camera's starting just below that.

I don't want a Leica M, can't get passed the bottom load held over from the 1930's.

my last few camera's (Canon D60, Nikkormat FTn, Bessa R2) have been used, You never know what has happened bump/nick wise and if is has affected any mechanical function. It is a roll of the dice!.....

But a new camera......Everything is virgin territory. :D
 
I totally know what you mean...all my equipment has been bought in like new or new condition...same with cars :)

My first bought camera (and most used) is the bessa R2...everything that has been done to it and put thru it has been by me...the more I use it the more it becomes an extension of myself and my photography has benefited from that.

So, if you do buy new, by what will last you and what you want, most likely a M in like new condition. I'm looking at the Ikon, m7 or MP, but it will be about a year or two before that occurs, until then the R2 will work.

cheers.
Jason
 
Don't forget there are many used leicas out there with no marks and few rolls through them. They show up at my local camera shop all the time. I still kick myself for not purchasing a like-new 21mm asph that showed up for $1400. Darn!
 
There are more stories in the dings on my Rollei 35TE and Yashica FX-D, which I bought new, then in the pictures I took with them :)
 
I can't afford to buy a new camera with the build quality of the vintage Leicas, Contaxes and Nikon RF cameras that I bought used.
 
Socke said:
There are more stories in the dings on my Rollei 35TE and Yashica FX-D, which I bought new, then in the pictures I took with them :)
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I really hope that that isn't true!
 
FrankS said:
I can't afford to buy a new camera with the build quality of the vintage Leicas, Contaxes and Nikon RF cameras that I bought used.
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What new camera, today, have a similar build quality? :)
 
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