38Deardorff
Well-known
there is no way to rewind 120/220.....short of doing it in a darkroom by hand
Whats your biggest rangefinder related regret
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chuckroast
Well-known
Not buying an M2 sooner.
38Deardorff
Well-known
I regret ever selling the black paint Leica M2 i found in Paris in the mid '90s, but i've come to terms and am happy with the (only 7 yr younger) M4 generoiusly sold to me by Brooktaw.
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Doug A
Well-known
I regret buying too many film cameras and not selling enough of them. I waste far too much time trying to choose 120 or 35mm, RF or SLR, MF or AF, etc., and not enough time actually taking pictures.
chuckroast
Well-known
Funny, I think we all go though much the same cycle, especially emphasized during the pandemic of 2020.
In my case, it started about 15 years ago. I have been photographing for 5 decades. Along the way, each time I bought into a new camera system, I pretty much had to sell the old to fund it (Mistake #1). When digital started to clobber used film cameras, I decided to buy every camera I ever owned with the exact same lens(es) and options I had originally, get them working again, and revisit making pictures with them.
It took around 10 years to get them all back into my paws, but I did exactly that. And, oh what fun it was. I shot with Nikon SLR, Mamiya 645, Mamiya TLR, Mamiya Press, Graflex in both 4x5 and 2x3, Yashica TLR ... well, you get the idea. The only one I missed was an Olympus OM-1 which, frankly, didn't call out to me all that much.
It was totally worth it. I had so much fun acquiring, fixing up, and then shooting these things and it was a 50 year trip down memory lane that I have never regretted.
However, I woke up one day and realized that I hadn't just bought what I once owned, I'd bought more - far more (Mistake #2): Duplicates of cameras I loved, like the Nikon F, because they were cheap. Cameras I always wanted but could never afford - because they were cheap. Lenses I never owned, but always wanted - because they were cheap. And on and on and on and ...
One day, I realized I had really overdone it. I wanted to ensure that I shot every camera at least once a year. But with 7 Nikons, 3 different Mamiya systems ... it was getting in the way of my shooting the more serious stuff I wanted to do with a Hasselblad or view camera.
So, I slowly began liquidating it all. My stuff was all in very clean condition and had been either fixed by me or serviced by a pro. I ended up giving a friend of mine a nearly perfect Japanese market Nikomat and a complete Mamiya 645 system, both of which he and his family use regularly, which made me very happy. The rest I sold. I even managed to sell most of my excess camera bags. I can't say I got top dollar, but I got pretty much what I had in these systems minus, perhaps what I paid for CLAs. But it doesn't matter. The joy I had strolling down memory lane (and the pictures I produced thereby) was a wonderful experience.
Today, I am "down" (relatively speaking) to the set of things I actually want to use, plus a few things that have so little value they're not worth selling, like a perfectly functional Nikkormat Ft (yes, the meter works). I did hang on to some new to me Leica stuff because it holds its value and I cannot bear to part with it 😉
All that I have left now is a pristine, in the box Fuji GA-G645Zi that will shortly be putting up for sale. I just have to figure out what to do with all those extra camera straps ...
P.S. The one thing all this reinforced was the insanity of ever again buying camera equipment new. These old machines worked just fine - or were made to do so - and newer hardware would have not done it any better.
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JeffS7444
Well-known
Wondering if I should have gotten a Lomography x Zenit Mercury lens when they were available from a Russian eBay seller prior to 2022. Never heard of it before? Neither had I: I imagine they were early production samples of a product which was ultimately canceled, and lacked Lomography's usual colorful packaging.
And I might have liked to sample Adox's Color Mission and Ferrania's P33 films!
And I might have liked to sample Adox's Color Mission and Ferrania's P33 films!
KoNickon
Nick Merritt
I regret that I let my mother trade her Leica IIIa, plus Summar, plus Leicavit, plus any number of filters and other accessories, all given her in ca. 1938 brand new for her high school graduation, for a new Pentax P30. Make no mistake, it was the right thing for her to do -- she was retired and wanted to take good travel pictures (which she did), but I wish I had been in a position financially to buy the Leica setup from her myself. I'm sure the equipment needed servicing, but it would have been worth it to keep it "in the family."
In truth, it was before I really got into photography, so I didn't pay much attention to what she was planning to do. She had taken the Leica to the UK, France and Germany in 1944-45 when she was in the Red Cross. I recall she did some excellent work with that setup.
In truth, it was before I really got into photography, so I didn't pay much attention to what she was planning to do. She had taken the Leica to the UK, France and Germany in 1944-45 when she was in the Red Cross. I recall she did some excellent work with that setup.
Archiver
Veteran
Vague regret: not buying an Epson R-D1x in Japan in 2010, not buying an anthracite MP when I could have afforded it. 🤷♂️
Regret: selling my M7 to fund an emergency expense 😢 I've since bought a SL2-S and am getting infinitely more use from it, but keeping the M7 would have been greatly desirable.
Regret: selling my M7 to fund an emergency expense 😢 I've since bought a SL2-S and am getting infinitely more use from it, but keeping the M7 would have been greatly desirable.
Photar
Down Under
Do you mean hammertone MP? Hard to believe today, but these were slow sellers initially. Introduced in 2003, I still got a brand new one in 2006 from an authorized Leica dealer for a good price. This does not happen anymore. Most special M editions now seem to sell out before they are officially announced. My hammertone MP is still in regular use.
Vince Lupo
Whatever
I think my biggest regret was selling this. As far as digital Ms go, it was the best.
M-D 2017 by Vince Lupo, on Flickr
M-D 2017 by Vince Lupo, on Flickr
Archiver
Veteran
I've sometimes considered getting a M-D of some variety because of the film-like shooting experience. It would be like getting the best of both film and digital M worlds.I think my biggest regret was selling this. As far as digital Ms go, it was the best.
M-D 2017 by Vince Lupo, on Flickr
Vince Lupo
Whatever
I’d get another one as well, only thing is the prices now are pretty silly (that is if you can find one).
agentlossing
Well-known
Rangefinder related? Indirectly... but I would say my regrets regarding getting into photography are all somewhat connected:
- I regret not hanging onto one of the film point-and-shoots which occasionally turned up at home as a teen, and making some interesting photos back then. My family weren't good at capturing things on a camera.
- When I got a camera bought for me for a senior trip (went with a grandpa and cousin on a long road trip through Canada and Alaska), I regret getting a 2mp digital Olympus P&S, instead of realizing the money would have gone further if I'd gotten a film SLR, which would have given me much greater picture quality.
- When I finally upgraded to a "real" camera, I regret that I didn't understand about the used market, since I needed my dollars to go as far as they could. I bought a new Nikon D40 and 18-55, but (and here's where the rangefinder relation comes in) a used Epson RD-1 would have been so much better/cooler. Alternatively, I should have stuck with film at that time!
chuckroast
Well-known
+100
I spent way too much on new equipment when used would have been perfectly fine. Old dogs sometimes have to learn new tricks far too late in their orbit ...
Ted Town
Newbie
About 35 years ago I picked up a Minolta CLE with a 35mm Summicron F2 lens. The lack of appropriate frame lines didn't bother me, and while I'd never used a Leica, my Rollei 35T and Minox GT had given me ineffable pleasure of removing the camera bottom to load the film. I was happy with that little jewel until the electronics died. Somewhere along the line the lens focus became very very stiff. I wound up selling the whole thing to someone who probably did what I should have done in the first place: forget the body and send the lens off to be overhauled.
kxl
Social Documentary
Moving away from RF in general (sold a bunch of CV bodies and lenses) to go into DSLR's and MILC's. If I coud do it all over again, I would have explored those platforms as complements to my RF gear, not replacements.
Godfrey
somewhat colored
I can't say as I have had any regrets. I've bought, used, and sold a lot of different cameras over the years, always with a purpose, and re-bought a couple that I had let go because I felt they did a better job considering what I currently had at the time. Not every camera has worked for me as well as I'd hoped, and some worked better in retrospect than I'd realized before I sold them, but to me they're all just tools I use to make photographs, which are the important part.
I probably should have kept the Leica M-D 262 that I had for a time, as it was kind of an ideal concept (a digital Leica M that worked just the way an M6 did but with a digital sensor, and nothing else) but eh? What I acquired afterwards has been even better.
G
I probably should have kept the Leica M-D 262 that I had for a time, as it was kind of an ideal concept (a digital Leica M that worked just the way an M6 did but with a digital sensor, and nothing else) but eh? What I acquired afterwards has been even better.
G
farlymac
PF McFarland
I've had a few regrets when it comes to rangefinders. The main one was not seriously using one for way too many years although I always seemed to have one. Giving the Lordomat and Schact-Travenar lenses to the Camera Heritage Museum before I got enough use out of them. Messing around for far too long with the Zorki's and FEDs before finally buying some real Leica's. And now I have very limited time to enjoy using any of them. But I'm working on that.
PF
PF
Archiver
Veteran
As I've said a number of times before, my major photographic regret not having any photographic record of my last years of high school and time at uni, of young adulthood, my first girlfriend, of family trips and hanging out with friends. If could find that darn time portal, I'd send myself a few Olympus XA2 bodies and several bricks of Tri-X and Kodak or Fuji 200 with a note that says SHOOT EVERYTHING FOR FUTURE YOU. Getting a digital camera in 2002 was my gateway to making up for lost time.
The irony, huh? That late 90s - early 2000s time was when digital cameras were no way near the quality of film, so we were better off with film cameras if we wanted something decent. Late 2001-2002 was when digital cameras were becoming reasonable replacements for some film cameras. But imagine your Canada road trip with a Pentax MX or Olympus OM4 and a 35mm f2. It could have been like Lynn's 1979 Kodachrome road trip.
My entry into street photography was in 2002 as mentioned above. I barely even knew what street photography was, I just went out with my digital camera and shot everything, developing my 'always with me' ethos. The funny thing is that your D40 with 18-55 would have been more versatile than the Epson RD1, but sometimes I think that compact cameras and SLR's/DSLR's are a desirable developmental pathway to appreciating rangefinders.
If there's any other rangefinder related regret, it's that I didn't get into them sooner. A Bessa R2 with a 35mm f1.4 would have been incredible in the early 2000s. There's no way I could have had a Leica in my late teens, but I could have convinced my parents to get a secondhand Olympus XA.
agentlossing
Well-known
The biggest issue with the D40 was the lack of in-body focus motor, meaning I couldn't autofocus with plentiful older Nikkor glass. AF-S lenses were few and more expensive at the time, and, since I didn't have a lot of money, I was stuck mostly using an older nifty fifty and manual focusing. The D40 viewfinder was very small and dim for that task, definitely not built for manual focus.
A lot of it was poor mindset - I didn't have much money, which counterintuitively sometimes makes one make worse purchasing decisions and unable to refine the gear I had for a long time. Again, understanding the used market would have helped me a lot. Growing up getting my clothes at thrift stores ingrained me with the idea that used and resold things weren't reliable, and weren't something I wanted.
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