Collector or Photographer??

Maybe a little of both.
My name is Ken and I live in Orange County CA. In another lifetime I equipped myself with a Nikon 35mm and spent a few years experiencing my young family through a viewfinder until I decided I wanted to participate more than capture moments of others participation in life. 40 yrs later I found myself searching ebay for a replacement digital camera and through buying and trading and selling, I ended up with a nice Olympus E-3 outfit with assorted lens. It takes gorgeous pictures and I'm very happy with it. During that journey I started seeing film cameras for sale - CHEAP. Ridiculously cheap. I picked up a couple..then a couple more. Now with over 100 various film cameras, mostly medium format antiques, I'm finally developing a style - figuring out what type of photographer I want to be. My digital spends most of the time at home unless there is a specific need for one (ie: zoom lens, speed photography, etc).

I shoot film. Generally, B&W film. And I love everything about it from using a light meter to setting up a TLR or old folder to developing to printing and occasionally, just looking at the pictures.

Looking through some of the portfolios here, I see some wonderful shots. Mine are still 'wanting'. I'm learning all of the time and still stumbling around trying different cameras I have and different films. I also do some heavy-handed post processing occassionally, trying to re-create what I saw or create what I envision. I will be posting some pics later even though I feel a little out of place with some of the photoshopping I do in comparison to some of the wonderful 'un - or lightly edited pictures I see in the portfolios here so I hope you forgive me trying to make up for lack of experience or talent or ??? by relying on the computer to salvage whatever it is that I did to the original film.

Anyway, this is me. At 62, I am no stranger to film but definitely a hobbyist or amateur at best. When I was 12 I shot with my grandfather's Kodak Folding Pocket Camera #1 and still have pictures from it. I've come full circle now and am back to shooting 'my grandfather's cameras', or at least cameras from his era.

Hi

aaah

Oh, you young whippersnappers. I am a photographer but not a collector. I rescue olde cameras. Strays, cameras nobody wants, sad little creatures on dusty shelves or thrift store windows. Some work flawlessly after 60 or more years some have missing parts, you never know. I found a pair of Bilora Bellas that I bought for $10 each for spare parts for one I already had and both were in better condition than the one I already had. Loads of fun, olde film cameras and lenses. I bought a 60-year old Rolleiflex in wonderful shape for $180. It's a keeper.

Great story. BTW welcome to APUG.

Jeff

Welcome to APUG

What about limits?

Hi!
When You pick yet another camera for Your collection, do You go by feeling or is Your buying limited by strict rules (will price, condition, age or something else stop You from buying) Is there some sort of camera that You would never touch?

I am a photographer, if I do not use a camera I sell it. The Tessina and Brownie Hawkeye are the exceptions.

I'm both as well. But I've filled up my available space and own or have owned pretty much all the cameras that I find interesting, so I'm slowing down significantly. (I claim that i am done, but there are still a couple of cameras that tickle my fancy.[hasselblad swc])) The best thing about digital is that I can now afford high end classic film cameras that I could only drool over during their hayday.

Sirius Glass said:

I am a photographer, if I do not use a camera I sell it. The Tessina and Brownie Hawkeye are the exceptions.

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Me too Steve, Cameras are for using, not fawning over. I'm not seeking to turn my small house into a museum.

Frankly No said:

Hi!
When You pick yet another camera for Your collection, do You go by feeling or is Your buying limited by strict rules (will price, condition, age or something else stop You from buying) Is there some sort of camera that You would never touch?

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Collection cameras are mostly 'by feeling'. Price is definitely a consideration. I've never spent $100 for a camera (digital not included - I have an Olympus E-3 with assorted lenses, filters, bags, flashes, etc, etc, that I spent about $400 on total). Someday I will but so far poverty has kept me in check.

I definitely have OCD and will try to collect something in series.....the old Herbert George 620 box camera I try to get in each of it's incarnations - two versions of Imperial, Macy's, Roy Rodgers, Girl Scout, Boy Scout, etc. I think I have 7 different ones so far. I tried collecting all of the Kodak Bandit cameras and have all of them except the Special ($$$$...still looking for one $$$). I try to collect all of the different Univex (Universal Camera Corp) cameras because many of them are just plain weird...at least unique. For a while I was hung up on TLR's and now have around 30 different ones.

I am slowly eliminating cameras trying to stick mostly with 'shooters'. It's a hard choice because almost all of my cameras are capable of being shooters and I like to try them at least once before letting them go.

I am OCD in the fact that I hate having a camera that is not 100% in working order. I send them out for servicing, but only as cash allows. You can get a great old camera for $60, but then have to put $100 to get it operating properly. I need to put the brakes on this program. But I'm too lazy to sell the ones I don't need/use.

I have to fight the collector impulse on a regular basis. There are so many toys out there I'd love to have that it's hard. At the same time, though, I think about simplifying down to just one single camera - really. If someone held a gun to my head and said, "you have to pick just one camera", I now know which one that would be - my Rolleiflex.

Sorry, mister Glass, my question was aimed at the threadstarter. Mea culpa, and so on...

Frankly No said:

Sorry, mister Glass, my question was aimed at the threadstarter. Mea culpa, and so on...

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No offense taken. I too was referring to the OP. I would have quoted you if my comment had been directed to you.

It's easy to let it go when You have to

A few weeks ago I suddenly found myself in a dangerous situation, caused by my illness and bad medication. My legs failed me and I had to crawl through some hard terrain to get the hell out of there. At some point I had to leave my camera and my spotmeter behind, because they were slowing me down. But it was an easy decision to make, although it meant leaving 2500 euros in the woods...
(A relative of mine later found the camera + spotmeter, the camera is going to Oberkochen, Deutschland for repair and service. But no real harm done!)

Frankly No said:

A few weeks ago I suddenly found myself in a dangerous situation, caused by my illness and bad medication. My legs failed me and I had to crawl through some hard terrain to get the hell out of there. At some point I had to leave my camera and my spotmeter behind, because they were slowing me down. But it was an easy decision to make, although it meant leaving 2500 euros in the woods...
(A relative of mine later found the camera + spotmeter, the camera is going to Oberkochen, Deutschland for repair and service. But no real harm done!)

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I hope that you went in for repair and service too.

Welcome to APUG

Welcome to APUG! I'm not a collector. I have some old cameras that I really like, but they are for using. They live in a closet, out of sight, when not being used. If I wasn't using them, I'd probably try to give them to someone who'd like to use them.

Sirius Glass said:

I hope that you went in for repair and service too.

Welcome to APUG

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Thanks, I've had some service since (repair is not a option, though)

I would consider myself more of an acquirer, than a collector.

Collections usually imply organization or at least rhyme or reason.

Some cameras simply need to come home with me, whether I use them or not.

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