So, where do the unabashed collectors hang out?

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harpofreely

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My impression is that, though many of us like to have the most pristine Leica gear we can afford, the general tone on RFF (myself included) is to present ourselves as shooters first, collectors second, if at all. To that end, we bemoan the collectors who drive up prices on, say, the Hector 28mm f6.3, and we try to cast debates over the minutiae of Leica product variations in the light of effect on shooting & the final image.

So my question is, what is the online home of the dedicated Leica collectors? When can you go to crow with pride over having finally snagged a mint Hello Kitty M6? Where can I find a 150 post thread debating whether the Thambar is hopelessly common and pedestrian compared to the Mountain Elmar?

p.s. I know the Hello Kitty is fake... I'd take it over the Lenny Kravitz sandpaper job.
 
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I don't know any really serious collectors and I don't like to generalize about people. My impressions are that collectors are self-actualized and aren't interested in on-line discussions from unknown writers on the topics on this forum, such as the relative merits of various lenses or how many M3 cameras remain or how much we hate KevinCameras.com. I would be surprised if they even spend much time on the Internet, probably running businesses for long hours to get the disposal income needed for serious collection. I would expect they know some other collectors that they talk to and know very well some specific dealers. I would also expect they work with a single camera repairman. I finally would expect that they would not want the specifics of their collection to be public knowledge.

I get the impression that when they are finished with interest in their collection, often through death, they donate the items to a museum. An example is the Charles Messer collection at Miami University. Also there is the Meade Kibbey Zeiss Ikon donation for the California Museum of Photography. But we do see that collections are sold over time, such as the Leica prototype collection that was in Thailand and is the subject of Lars Netopil's book.

In the end collectors, of any kind, are hunters / gatherers in the extreme. I know I spend way too much time in antique malls just because that one thing I don't even know I'm looking for might be in that mall.

JC Braconi and Luigi Bertolotti in the Leica Collector and Historica section of the Leica User Forum are perhaps the two collectors who are most active on the Internet.

And I don't understand the Thoreau quote.
 
harpofreely said:
My impression is that, though many of us like to have the most pristine Leica gear we can afford, the general tone on RFF (myself included) is to present ourselves as shooters first, collectors second, if at all. To that end, we bemoan the collectors who drive up prices on, say, the Hector 28mm f6.3, and we try to cast debates over the minutiae of Leica product variations in the light of effect on shooting & the final image.

So my question is, what is the online home of the dedicated Leica collectors? When can you go to crow with pride over having finally snagged a mint Hello Kitty M6? Where can I find a 150 post thread debating whether the Thambar is hopelessly common and pedestrian compared to the Mountain Elmar?

p.s. I know the Hello Kitty is fake... I'd take it over the Lenny Kravitz sandpaper job.
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there are plenty of collectors here.

Just start a thread on whatever collectible camera and see for yourself.
 
View Range said:
And I don't understand the Thoreau quote.
Click to expand...

"Our inventions are wont to be pretty toys, which distract our attention from serious things. They are but improved means to an unimproved end, an end which it was already but too easy to arrive at..."

Meaning -- Calling someone on a telephone, does not improve communication, or understanding, better than going to their home and talking face to face.

Or as an extension of the Fermi paradox, it is the nature of intelligent life to destroy itself.
 
Harpofreely, here's my Leica collection:

M2, CL x2, llla, Hexar RF, Bessa L
CV21, 40,
Canon 28f3.5, 35f2, 50f1.8
Summicron 50f2 collapsible, Summicron 50f2 rigid, Elmar 50f3.5 collapsible, summar 50f2 collapsible,
Elmar 90f4, Hector 135f4.5
FED 50f3.5 collapsible
Zeiss 50f2 in J8 barrel

I like to think of it as a shooter's collection. :)
 
My problem is that people give me stuff.

About ten years back, a friend gave me a box of old 1920-era folding cameras. More recently, I was given a Pentax Spotmatic with a few lenses, an Olympus OM-1, a Canon AE-1, a Canon F-1N, and several K-mount Chinon and Ricoh 35mm SLRs. I gave away the Chinon and Ricohs’, but keep the rest. It’s too much of a hassle to sell a lot my stuff, so I keep it. Maybe someday I’ll just give it all away.

Jim B.
 
Collectors shouldn't be bashful talking about their collections.

I happen to use the only Leica M I have, but that doesn't mean it's not part of my collection of vintage cameras.
 
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