To collect or not to collect...

[sanmich]

ps, "make the beast with two backs" - now there is a descriptive euphemism you don't hear everyday!

Just to put this thread on lighter tracks:
"make the beast with two backs" is a very old pictural way to say with extend what nowadays requires only four letters. Comes from the old French (surprise..) "faire la bete a deux dos" (Rabelais), and apparently have been used by Shakespear. Ask google....

Now about the thread: who gives a beast with two backs what people do with their Ur-Compur-one of a kind Leica with red curtain and the little thingy step under the whatever and with the larger letter in the middle of the rare inscription of the Midland what?
As long as I can collect a few clean regular leicas just for the fun of using them...😀

 

[tvagi]

i like collecting cameras,even the scratched ones,because they have a story to tell.
some years ago,at a local flea market, i bought a Voigtlander Vitoret DR in a really bad shape.it was dirty,with broken viewfinder window and half case missing!but there was something that made me to buy that camera (and it was not only the price!).at the upper right corner,next to the viewfinder window was "engraved" (in fact scratched) the name of the owner! B.Goertz from Karlsruhe.maybe it is not signed by a famous person but it is unique!

 

[bob338]

Life is so much more interesting when we live it, renew it and reinvent it, instead of trying to preserve it in a box.

that's a little self righteous...what's wrong with not living life the way YOU want to? i didn't buy this camera, but i'm happy for the person who did. they obviously really wanted it and finally got it.

i find all of this a little disconcerting. all of you who want to buy gear to 'use' are not being bullied by any of the collectors who buy for their own reasons.

i'll say it again, any one of you 'users' would happily buy whatever you wanted without guilt if you had the means. so why sh*t on those who can?

bob

 

[ricpr]

Man this is definitely getting heavy. If you can answer NO to the following question, then you are not a collector:

You show up to a shop / garage sale / estate sale to find several Leica's for sale at less than $100 a piece. Would you buy them all or just one?

My guess is anyone here would buy all of them and likely keep one or more for personal use. I think that given the right situation, there isn't anyone here that wouldn't keep buying / collecting gear if you could literally pay pennies on the dollar. Many collectors start out this way. I started with a $35 dollar Canon 7.

A great deal is a great deal......camera or otherwise.

 

[Al Kaplan]

I've gone to garage sales and bought a lot of cameras and lenses that I had no interest in either collecting or using. If the price is right they can be sold or traded at a nice profit. It just means that you need to know the value of a lot more brands than just Leitz/Leica.

 

[bmattock]

Point well made. I stand happily corrected!

 

[Micky D]

Point well made. I stand happily corrected!

Upright and steadfast, not afraid to admit an error, a Gentleman.

Cheers Bill,🙂

Mickey.

 

[nikon_sam]

I own around 20 or more cameras, but not much more than 20, I never in my buying of cameras intended to be a collector and I don't consider myself a collector.
Three of these cameras were indeed bought new by me and one was a gift from my parents...all of my cameras have been used at one point in their lives and would never be confused with many a camera collector's prize possession...
I still own this small collection of cameras mainly due to the love of cameras and also to the dramatic drop in film camera prices...I would rather keep them than sell them for pennies on the dollar...I would also do better to give them away to someone who would use them and possibly grow to love photography as I have...
I have also said many times in here that I have put off buying any more camera bodies for this year and now plan on continueing this thru next year...I can live with and actually feel good about this decision...
Now having said all that I have no problem with someone collecting cameras and actually enjoy looking at camera collections...it's a part of the photographic history that I like looking at and at times actually holding...

 

[bmattock]

I own around 20 or more cameras, but not much more than 20, I never in my buying of cameras intended to be a collector and I don't consider myself a collector.
Three of these cameras were indeed bought new by me and one was a gift from my parents...all of my cameras have been used at one point in their lives and would never be confused with many a camera collector's prize possession...
I still own this small collection of cameras mainly due to the love of cameras and also to the dramatic drop in film camera prices...I would rather keep them than sell them for pennies on the dollar...I would also do better to give them away to someone who would use them and possibly grow to love photography as I have...
I have also said many times in here that I have put off buying any more camera bodies for this year and now plan on continueing this thru next year...I can live with and actually feel good about this decision...
Now having said all that I have no problem with someone collecting cameras and actually enjoy looking at camera collections...it's a part of the photographic history that I like looking at and at times actually holding...

I am also not a 'collector' in the true sense of the word. I do not look for prime examples of various pieces to 'complete' a given system, but rather seek out inexpensive items of the sort that have been reported as having good photographic qualities, cult items, and the like. I generally can only afford the less-expensive, lower-to-middle-end of the spectrum, so I have no Rollei's, no Hasselblads.

However, I have owned cameras like the Diax IIb (just an example). Why? Because I saw it on CameraQuest or someplace like that, thought it was neat, found one on eBay for cheap, and bought it. Now I know a lot more about the Diax than those who have only read about it - just because I had one, used it, played around with it, and yes, it also sat on a shelf for a couple years before I got around to selling it. I've got some cameras that I haven't used in years and probably won't again anytime soon. I just like them, so I don't want to sell them. Anyone who has a problem with me 'collecting' things like that can go jump in a lake. Do I not use the Diax 'as intended'? Well, cameras are not my religion - there are no sins in using or not using them.

But as far as the serious 'collectors' go, who want one of everything they're interested in collecting, and in pristine condition, to sit on a shelf and merely admire, I say more power to 'em. I can't afford to do that and probably would not if I could, but I believe people should do what they want with their money - if they want to only buy cameras they personally use, do that. And if they want to buy cameras and leave them in the box in a closet, that's cool too. Whatever, if it is your money, do what you want with it. People who have a problem with that just have a problem, IMHO.

 

[GregL]

Actually I must admit that I just read the first 2 pages of this post as at some point it turned into...something not worth naming.
If I have 20 Leicas and you have one means you are a better photographer then me.
If I have one and you have 20 means that I am a true Leica user and you are just bragging.
Does that settle it?
Now for my personal opinion... collecting cameras is very useful to the users as before I bought my first and only camera I have read numerous posts by people who HAVE many cameras and of different kind and were able to compare them side by side. I find that knowledge invaluable for someone who is just starting with Leicas.
As for the "intended use" of the camera....do you always eat all your fries at McDonalds? Every single one? No?...well just to clarify...that potato intended to be eaten by you..

 

[Doug]

In many fields of interest there's this division between users and collectors (and degrees between): Cars, guns, toys, stamps, cameras, cigaret lighters... It can be fun either way, and both sides have challenges. Having once actively collected something, I found it was a trap, as there's hardly an end to it, and it keeps getting more expensive as completing those sets gets harder with the rarer items.

With cameras, I'm afraid mine do tend to increase in number, but I resist the idea that I'm collecting. All get used to some extent, and this is different from when I was collecting, as then I'd buy an unused item with the intent to leave it unused. So, with cameras, they just accumulate. Yep! No more collecting! 😀

 

[rxmd]

Using a thing the way it's meant to be used may well mean collecting it, as some things nowadays are produced specifically with the collector in mind.

 

[LeicaTom]

Collector?

I used to be one (Leica) back in the 1980`s and 90`s and I guess in doing that, I learned alot about the cameras and I respect them even more now, then I used to. 🙂 (it`s amazing that so much great gear has survived! - and I`m thankful for all of us 😉)

But now I`m just a Mad PinUp Photographer who likes to take pictures of scantly clad young women while using rare cameras! 😱

Tom

 

[Doug]

Tom's comment reminds me that a lot of the fun of collecting for me was researching the stories/history relating to an item or related group. The stories might be about technical design evolution, relate to world events, etc. Can be interesting and educational.

I have a friend who collects old photographs (tintypes etc)... lots of stories there.

 

[BigSteveG]

I don't care either way. If it drives up the price of something I can sell, why not?

 

[bobkonos]

The very fact this "poll" shows up shows a disdain for collectors that is more then prevalent on RFF. Look at two of the three choices in the poll. Sad. Why? Envy? Resentful? Too bad. It is a big world, and there's room for all who take part, and many of us are at peace collecting and using.

 

[elmer3.5]

Wow!

Wow!

I don´t like collecting lenses and cameras, but of course can´t complain about someone doing so.

I rather admire collectors than hate them, at least they enjoy themselves and from time to time i can sell´em some stuff and get better bucks! 🙄

Bye!

 

[clicker]

In the end does it really matter ? Isn't it more important to live one's life to the fullest and enjoy the many gifts we all are lucky enough to have by living in countries where we are free to have choices.