Case Overload

thuggins · May 16, 2019

Over the years I have collected many cameras, and a number of these came with cases. I dutifully separated each camera from it's case, storing the cases with a card inside each noting the camera it came from. Most of these are everyready cases for folders and they are invariably falling apart and could never be used again. Since I'm running low on space it seems preferable to use the limited room for useable cameras rather than basically trashed cases. So I am considering tossing out the cases.

Just to be clear, this is not about actual boxes the cameras were sold in, or any documentation that came with it. It is not about useable cases such as OM and Pen camera cases or the lens cases. Some of the cases on the chopping block are embossed with the camera name, but they are beyond any hope of repair.

Is it a sin to throw them out? Should I just wait till they disintegrate to dust?

Kino · May 16, 2019

This is a question that would torment me...

Personally, if the cases are total trash, I would razor out the names and build a collage of brand names and mount them on poster board, frame them and make some art for your collection...

Paste them all over some bizarre object and transform it; go wild.

BAC1967 · May 16, 2019

If it's just the stitching coming apart they can be re-sewn, I have salvaged several cases this way. If the leather is torn then it's much harder or more likely not worth saving. Why not list the ones that may be salvageable, maybe someone is willing to fix it.

faberryman · May 16, 2019

Toss 'em.

jvo · May 16, 2019

you are a transgressor, repent and sin no more!!!!

(p,s. ditto, what faberryman said.)

MattKing · May 16, 2019

Are they leather, or faux leather?
The faux leather ones aren't worth keeping unless they are in good condition.
The leather ones may be worth something, but unless you sell to the collector market ...
I will say though, that the bottom parts of two piece cases can make some cameras easier to handle.

Skeeterfx20 · May 16, 2019

One person's junk is another person's treasure. Unless they are worth something or can be repaired why are you hanging on to them? Maybe just group them all together and see if there are any takers on EBay.

jim10219 · May 16, 2019

Skeeterfx20 said:
One person's junk is another person's treasure. Unless they are worth something or can be repaired why are you hanging on to them? Maybe just group them all together and see if there are any takers on EBay.

Yup! Someone might pay you to take them off your hands. And you don't have to feel bad about throwing them out. Plus, it doesn't cost anything to list them. That's what I'd do. I'm always selling junk I think no one would want, and getting stuck with stuff I was sure someone would want. And I'm always on the lookout for a specific piece of junk that you'd think would be easy to find, but can't find it anywhere because everyone thinks to throw them away rather than sell it. And if it doesn't sell, then you can feel good about throwing it away.

AgX · May 17, 2019

Skeeterfx20 said:
One person's junk is another person's treasure.

Yes.

Some dealers take them off, to better present the cameras. And then typically even throw them away.

Some users/collectors want them to have their cameras complete.
Others find the cases, even with the camera inside, to form too much bulk.
Others find these cases still useful, inspite of modern, padded nylon hip and whatever pouches around.

If you neither find them useful, nor worth collecting, toss them.
But in case they are of the rarer breed, you might offer them here.

blockend · May 17, 2019

Many ordinary cameras came with fine leather cases that would be seen as bespoke Leica stuff now. Cameras were a serious investment for most people, and cases protected them from harm. They also inhibit their use, which is why they've largely fallen out of fashion. I keep my cases in a drawer because they're too nice to throw away. Kino's art installation idea seems as good as any. Undo the seams, lay them flat, and frame them.

AgX · May 17, 2019

Luckily in the case of 70s onwards cases the issue often dissolves literally due to the PU coating turning into a mess.

AgX · May 17, 2019

A german photographer once made bra's from two cups of leather ever-ready cases.

Ces1um · May 17, 2019

ebay them. Someone likely would buy it. Just make sure you accurately describe how dinged up they are.
edit- did I just turn ebay into a verb?

blockend · May 18, 2019

AgX said:
Luckily in the case of 70s onwards cases the issue often dissolves literally due to the PU coating turning into a mess.

I think that was a Canon thing.

AgX · May 18, 2019

I have seen that at other cases too. And most likely the cases were not made by the camera manufacturers themselves.

thuggins · May 19, 2019

Kino said:
Personally, if the cases are total trash, I would razor out the names and build a collage of brand names and mount them on poster board, frame them and make some art for your collection...

Paste them all over some bizarre object and transform it; go wild.

I like this.

AgX said:
A german photographer once made bra's from two cups of leather ever-ready cases.

I really like this!

I realize that there is a perception that a case gives added value to a camera, even if the case is completely trashed. Given that these cameras do not have strap lugs, the only way to carry them easily (and somewhat securely) was in the ever ready case. This was certainly a major reason they are so common, despite being very expensive in their own right. Contemporary ads price them at nearly 100 bucks in modern equivalence. While a pristine case is nice to have, a ratted out case just seems to take up valuable space.

My real problem is that my parents grew up during the Depression so I was taught to never throw out anything. But it has come to the point that I have to free up some room or stop buying any more cameras.

AgX · May 19, 2019

thuggins said:
Given that these cameras do not have strap lugs, the only way to carry them easily (and somewhat securely) was in the ever ready case.

Yes, that is a common issue with quite some cameras from the 50s. But as these all have tripod sockets, use a lane ending by means of swivelling hook at a 1/4" thread and hang such camera over your neck or shoulder, upside down.

jtk · May 19, 2019

Take the bull by the horns and throw them out. Nobody wants them, right?

MattKing · May 19, 2019

As mentioned above, some cameras don't have strap lugs, so you need a case in order to use the camera with a neck strap. Those cases are worth keeping and spending money on.

Kodachromeguy · May 20, 2019

Many ePrey sellers seem to think there is some mythical value to camera cases, regardless of how ratty or nasty they are. They advertise a camera in "good condition" and show most or all pictures of the top of the camera peaking out of its nasty case. I just don't get it.

Theo Sulphate · May 20, 2019

Likewise, I have cases for 1950's German cameras, Contax, Retina, Rolleiflex, Voigtländer, etc., where the "leather" is cracked and will soon separate or the straps will soon break. Many of these straps seem riveted to the case. So I, too, toss the cases in a large bag because I'll never use them. Yet they clearly belong with the camera and have beautiful embossed logos.

Kino said:
...
Personally, if the cases are total trash, I would razor out the names and build a collage of brand names and mount them on poster board, frame them and make some art for your collection...

Excellent idea!

Helge · May 20, 2019

It takes a lot for a case to be unsalvageable.

New stitching in the right colour wax string, leather hinges reglued with fresh leather, carefully applied leather paint and most importantly neatsfoot oil, will do wonders.

Could we get an image example of one of these cases?

These things are many of them small works of industrial art whose like will never be seen again, because the economics and market has changed.

Theo Sulphate · May 20, 2019

Helge said:
...
Could we get an image example of one of these cases?
...

Years-old photo of my Voigtländer Bessamatic case:

Straps are leather, but weak.

I'm sure many of my cases could be repaired, but even the good ones I don't want to use. I don't like most cases. I like the half-case that a strap connects to (rather than strap to camera), but I want to be able to lift the camera and make a photo without having to unsnap or flip anything open.

Helge · May 20, 2019

Easily repairable that one.
New leather on the hinges. A careful application of feathered spot paint, or a complete stripping with acetone and repaint, would do wonders to the scuffs.
Leather paint can be readily purchased in leather ware shops.
Neatsfoot oil will transform the general appearance and longevity of most leather cases without doing anything else to the case. Even, perhaps especially, on painted leather like this.
A new strap is a given and is easily obtained.

It’s nice to have cases to store the cameras for longer periods, in a small dust free, shielded environment.

Photography is an aesthetic discipline. If you are not able to appreciate good industrial design and hidden beauty, then you are perhaps lacking something overall, that might be worth honing.

You might not be willing to put in the work but someone surely will.
Give them away to a good, worthy receiver, or hang on to them until you meet one or get the inclination yourself.
They do not take up as much space as you imagine, and they are not very picky with storage conditions unlike cameras.

The very fact that you have made this thread implies that you have had the inklings of these thoughts yourself.

Theo Sulphate · May 21, 2019

Helge said:
...
It’s nice to have cases to store the cameras for longer periods, in a small dust free, shielded environment.

All my cameras are stored in my dedicated Camera Room, on shelves, in the open where I can see them and pick them up at a moment's notice. I don't want my cameras hidden in cases. I don't want to walk around with a camera inside a case.

Photography is an aesthetic discipline. If you are not able to appreciate good industrial design and hidden beauty, then you are perhaps lacking something overall, that might be worth honing.

I'm an engineer. I appreciate all aspects of the design of the camera itself. The case - not so much. Yet I keep them because the case and camera have lived their whole life together.

Case Overload

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