Emotionally Attached to Gear

Thomas Bertilsson · Mar 3, 2014

I have a bit of a philosophical dilemma, and photography is here used as an example to describe it.

Since I started photographing in the 1980s, there has always been a Pentax 35mm SLR in my camera bag. I have never been without one.

I've had several of them, K1000, ME, KX, MX, and Spotmatic. Probably a dozen in all. Today I have one Spotmatic that needs fixing (Thanks TSA!), one KX that suffered the same fate as the Spotmatic (Thanks TSA!), rendering both inoperable and with no time to fix them myself, or knowledge how to, are awaiting service. I have one functioning KX, and a new to me MX. There are a number of lenses I own, the 28mm f/3.5, the 35mm f/2, the 50mm f/1.4, the 55mm f/2, and a 100mm f/2.8. All are awesome lenses.

Much of the equipment among the Pentax SLR stuff is basically given to me by my father. He gave me my first camera, and once in a while he either sends me a lens, a filter, or something, adding to the pile of Pentax stuff.

These cameras have been used very well over the years, but it has come to the point where they no longer serve me and my somewhat failing eye sight very well; I don't use them much anymore, and a Leica M2 is what I use for 90% of the things I photograph with 35mm, and I also have a Canon EOS 3 that I have started getting lenses for (a nice 85mm f/1.8 is in the mail). When I have the EOS kit complete the Pentax will be 100% redundant.

Enough beating around the bush... I don't want to keep what I don't use, basically. But all these things are tools I have been brought up on in photography. They're my little camera friends.

Would you keep it or sell it? Granted, they don't take up much space, but that's not the issue. I don't want to look at them and long for 'the good old days' and want to use them anyway, and screw up a shot because I can't see well through the viewfinder.

ArtO · Mar 3, 2014

I understand your dilemma. I have a great emotional attachment to my camera gear - all of it. I guess someday I will have to part with some of it and probably should do so during my life time so that it gets to good homes vs. being dumped in trash bin or thrift store by those inheriting my remaining stuff. BUT I just can not do it now. With the attachment to your Dad, I'd suggest you keep them forever.

Thomas Bertilsson · Mar 3, 2014

Michael R 1974 said:
A lesson I've learnt: never sell any art gear unless you either have no space for it or need the cash.

Why? Especially if you're trading for what is basically a different version of what you already have?

BrianShaw · Mar 3, 2014

This might be more of a pychological than a philosophical dilemna. If you are handwringing over a dcecision like this, you may end up handwringing no matter which decision you opt for. Pick one and don't look back.. if you can resist that urge.

David Brown · Mar 3, 2014

Thomas, I almost could have written this. I "cut my photographer teeth" with a Spotmatic, and I still have it. In the good old days of the auction sites (90s), I acquired two more bodies, several Takumar prime lenses, and assorted do-dads that I had never had before. However, I don't use any of it!

I switched over to Minolta (a whole other story) in the 1980s and have never looked back for 35mm. Most of my work is done with 120, and what little 35mm work I do is with Minoltas. I bought all the Pentax stuff in the 90s because it was so cheap, and I never could afford it when I was younger, so ...

Keep or sell? The fact is, they're simply not worth much. I'll probably always keep my original Spottie just for sentimental reasons, but I could let the rest go, that's for sure.

Not exactly a resolution, is it?

Ian Grant · Mar 3, 2014

Thomas, my favorite camera was a Spotmatic F that I used for a few years, late I switched to K mount cameras and I always regretted selling it, By chance I picked one up at a very reasonable price,donated to raise funds for a Gallery/Workshop space, and the previous owner was pleased to learn I'd acquired it (we were MA students together).

There is sometimes a sentimental attachment to some equipment, I feel the same about my M3, but nothing towards my K mount or Canon EOS equipment.

Ian

TheFlyingCamera · Mar 3, 2014

I used to feel that sentimental attachment to gear. Sometimes I get wistful for stuff I don't have anymore, but then I remember it funded stuff I do have and use more frequently. I think we as artists do get sentimental about gear and oftentimes forget that in the end it's a tool - if the tool fits a task you're no longer doing, pass it on to someone else who will. Given that you have the "gift from my father" thing going with it, maybe keep one of the bodies and one lens, but sell off the rest and fill out your EOS or Leica kits with the money.

winger · Mar 3, 2014

Well, most older Pentax gear isn't worth as much as you'd like and won't make much of dent financially, so it really comes down to whether you can handle putting it on a shelf for display or not. I'm also attached to Pentax and have the camera I started with - my dad's H1a. I do still use it and had it CLAd last year. I only have it and a PZ1p - which don't take the same lenses - and no other 35mm system, so I'm not quite in the same boat as you. I hadn't been using them much because I love my 645N and am doing more 4x5, so I recently decided to use them more for snapshots and random things like I did in HS and college. I got some good shots that way 'cause not everything has to be set up perfectly and done with a super steady camera on a tripod. So the H1a is loaded with HP5 or TriX and the PZ has some slide film in it that I'll have cross-processed.
Not sure my way helps you, but I'm not one to get rid of much. And the PZ would go before the H1a would.

Thomas Bertilsson · Mar 3, 2014

All very good advice and interesting anecdotes.

I think what I'll end up doing is probably keeping it all. The 100mm and 35mm lenses actually do carry value, but they are so hard to come by in the condition my lenses are (literally mint condition), and I spent years tracking down good ones.

Time will tell. I'm going to let the idea percolate. I might just pack them away in a box that I tape up really well so that it's difficult to get to them, and keep the MX out with the 35 on it or something...

snapguy · Mar 3, 2014

Old camera

I know a Japanese fellow who works in HD video and is always buying new high tech equipment. He is a cameraman for Japanese-language TV both in the U.S. and Japan. He has a Rolleiflex that was used by his father and is now his. He would not part with it for anything. I have a Nikon F I used when I photographed a Muhammad Ali prize fight in Madison Square Garden, Elizabeth Taylor at the Academy Awards, Lauren Bacall backstage during the run of Applause on Broadway, Joe DiMaggio at Old Timers Day at Yankee Stadium, various Beatles and Frank Sinatra. I think I will hang onto it. You should keep your dad's stuff. Family, friends and memories are, at the end, all we have.

Shawn Rahman · Mar 3, 2014

Thomas - feel the same way as you, 100%. I was just stressing over my horde when I noticed your post, so maybe it's a sign of some kind for me.

I still have the first SLR I purchased with my first "grown up" paycheck - a Nikon N90s. Still in great operating condition, but sitting unused because I have simply refused to get rid of it. Not to mention my other five film Nikons.

But if there's strength in numbers, let's do this: How about we make a pact right now to donate one body - together - to the APUG classifieds, and target them to persons or group running a photography course to otherwise underprivileged students? This way we rid ourselves of our attachments (one body at a time), and feel good about the cause. I remember several programs posting here seeking gear donations in the past year or two.

Me - the N90s; you - one of your working bodies. I'll do it if you will. Body only if you don't want to part with a lens, but I also have an inexpensive Nikkor AF I can donate as well.

Let me know.

Regards,

Shawn

Mark_S · Mar 3, 2014

It sounds like many of us have attachements to old gear. In my case it is a hoarde of Minolta 35mm cameras - X-700s and XE-7s. I rarely use them any more, but I couldn't bear to part with them. I took photographs of my children when they were babies with these cameras, I carried them on hikes and foreign trips. There is too much of me invested in them to consider parting with them. To make matters easier, the resale value is close to that of used underwear, so I keep them in a closet with other photo gear. Once a year or so I take them out, change batteries, run a roll of film through them and let them know that they are still loved. I know that it's not enough for what they have provided me, but it is all that I can afford at the moment.

BradS · Mar 3, 2014

Thomas,
Back in 1977, I bought my first "real" camera, a Pentax KX, with money I had saved working two summers as a caddy for the wealthy folks. Over the years I had acquired a fairly large number of other 35mm gear & systems. When my eyesight started failing a few years ago, I stopped using 35mm and sold off just about all of my 35mm gear (*).

I kept the KX, a Spotmatic given to me by my mom and a small Nikon kit....and these, I kept purely for sentimental value. I'll probably sell the Nikon kit too one day. I think the Pentaxes will stay with me for the rest of my days. I see no reason to sell them. They are not worth anything on the used market these days and do not take up significant storage space...and they lighten my spirits (especially the KX ).

I wonder what the devil the TSA did to damage your gear....and,I'll note that I always wanted the SMC Pentax 35mm f/2....

(*) ok, truth be told, I have a box full of orphaned 35mm gear that friends and family have given me because I'm the only person they know who still uses film....I haven't the heart to tell them that I don't do small format anymore....so, there it sits, in purgatory.

Rick A · Mar 3, 2014

Thomas, put the Pentaxs on a shelf and look at them with fond memories. I have an OM-4 I bought new in 1984(not even close to my first camera) that I'm so attached to that I opted to have it repaired last year, even though I could have replaced it for half the money. I still get warm fuzzies whem I have it in hand, even though I rarely shoot it.

DWThomas · Mar 3, 2014

If I had a collection as large as some I've seen listed on these forums, I might be forced to do something. However, being more modest in my GAS over the years, my entire pile is not all that huge. I still have all the cameras (and light meters) I ever acquired for myself, plus a couple of items that were my dad's. Two of the cameras and one of the meters are non-working (and not likely worth getting repaired). So they are memories and don't take up that much space; probably not until I have one foot on the porch at the old folks home will I disperse them. (Or my surviving spouse will contact MonBack Brothers.)

Interestingly, two of my oldest, a Brownie target Six-20 (ca. 1948) and an Argus C-3 (ca. 1958) still work, and the latest transition to the defunct group was a d!git@l P&S acquired new in 2004.

The real truth is, I have far larger collections of "I might be able to use something from that" that need to be addressed long before the cameras.

DannL. · Mar 3, 2014

Might I suggest selling it and then making a generous donation.

You might consider St. Jude Children's Research Hospital or a similar organization. I recently donated a bunch of my 35mm and medium format darkroom gear to a local Women's Cancer Center. They run several thrift stores to sell the donations and raise funds.

Goodwill is another option.

naaldvoerder · Mar 3, 2014

Keep it, for sure..

cjbecker · Mar 3, 2014

It takes a good bit for me to become attached to gear. There are only two pieces that I have been attached too and that is my Hasselblad kit, and a Rolleicord III. Which also happen to be the only 2 cameras i still own. The rolleicord went to El Salvador, mexico, India, and last but not least Canada. It just did a trip to Indonesia with my brother. (he's not wanting to give it up). The hasselblad was the first medium format camera I got, and though it has not been on the amount of trips it has produced the bulk of my work. It just went to alaska with me but did not get much use.

I have sold lots of other gear that I liked but did not fit into how I work. Pentax 6x7, pentax 35mm gear, arca swiss model a 4x5, nikon f2, were the main cameras I liked but did not need.

Its all about getting gear that works with how you work and become second nature.

ntenny · Mar 3, 2014

I'd always be inclined to keep stuff that has a substantial family connection, and where possible to eventually get it fixed and back in action with someone to whom the connection is meaningful. Do you have an interested relative or protege who might be a proper home for some of that gear?

As a general rule I'm opposed to potentially-functional cameras being relegated to shelf-queen status, too. Tools are meant to be used, and it seems kind of disrespectful to ignore that functionality. That lens designer of the dim past didn't sweat blood over pages of handwritten computations just so that the lens could sit around getting dusty, right?

And on the other hand, many of us are sort of pack rats and come to the point where we have so *many* "camera friends" that we can't realistically use them all in a productive way. So there's a tension between sentiment for the possession and sentiment for the functional tool, and eventually you have to choose between the two...

I guess I'm saying that I recognize your dilemma and I don't think there's a one-size-fits-all answer. Maybe in your situation, the tiebreaker is what your dad thinks; would he rather see his camera gear in your hands as mementos, or out in the world taking pictures with someone else? Or does it make sense to split the difference, keep some and unload the rest? Do you know an aspirant photographer whom you'd be glad to have say "this guy Thomas set me up with my first good film outfit"?

Here in the APUG GAS Enabling Society, though, I don't know if you're going to get much unbiased advice!

-NT

MattKing · Mar 3, 2014

You may be able to sell some of the equipment and rely on the remainder to satisfy the emotional attachment.

Can you devote the Pentax equipment to an appropriate special purpose? Something like close-focus work?

Thomas Bertilsson · Mar 3, 2014

ntenny said:
And on the other hand, many of us are sort of pack rats and come to the point where we have so *many* "camera friends" that we can't realistically use them all in a productive way. So there's a tension between sentiment for the possession and sentiment for the functional tool, and eventually you have to choose between the two...

Interesting reply, Nathan. I don't have many cameras, so it's not a problem of abundance. Besides the Pentax stuff I own the following:

Canon EOS 3 soon equipped with an 85mm lens
Leica M2 with 50mm Summitar and a couple of Voigtlanders
Hasselblad 500C kit with three lenses
Zero 2000 6x6 pinhole
A couple of toy cameras such as a Minolta P&S 35mm, a Holga, a Brownie or two
And a Century #2 5x7 with one 210mm lens.

That's it.

The Hasselblad and Leica gets 90% of the use, and the Pentax gets used on portrait shoots, but that's where I'm having problems thus replacing it with the Canon. I shoot 5 rolls through the pinhole every year, and I've never been able to finish a packet of 5x7 film in less than a year.

Getting rid of the Pentax I guess is more of a 'if it doesn't get used, it should be getting used by somebody else'.

removed account4 · Mar 3, 2014

naaldvoerder said:
Keep it, for sure..

+1

whats the point in selling gear for what amounts to the price of a few rolls of film.

OR if you know someone who is camera-poor, need-rich
and wants to use a film camera, give the camera to them.

be an enabler

Sirius Glass · Mar 3, 2014

I do not have any camera equipment that I am attached to. I traded in one set of equipment that I could have be come attached to. Instead I only sell off camera equipment if I have not used enough to keep. That leaves me with camera that I like and use and those cameras I will not sell.

Poisson Du Jour · Mar 3, 2014

It all read well and good until the first words of the last paragraph, "would you keep it, or sell it?"
Keep it. All of it. I haven't sold anything for decades and don't intend to, even though I have a fair bit of redundant (mostly EOS equipment). Selling stuff off is only a short-term gain thing; it has no enduring significance — the money will be gone not long after. It's not like selling a prized photograph that the world loves and pays handsomely for. And the next person is probably not going to look after the equipment as well as you did.

PKM-25 · Mar 3, 2014

jnanian said:
whats the point in selling gear for what amounts to the price of a few rolls of film.

In this case, I agree, too sentimental to sell really. On the other hand, I have sold stuff I wished I could have afforded to keep but the notion of it sitting on a shelf just killed me. Case in point, my M6TTL that literally shot the last frame of Kodachrome in history to be processed as such on January 17th, 2011. I sold it and nearly every piece of Leica gear I had for tens of thousands because I knew I was done with it, just kept the one chrome M3 and 50 bought a clean V2 50 Lux for it.

It sucked for awhile and I had the chance to buy it back twice and resisted and now I am over it fully, have no idea who has it now.

On the other hand, I just got back my Arca-Swiss B1 head from repair about 30 minutes ago, bought it brand new in 1992. It was all seized up, corroded on the inside, scraped and looked like hell. Clean used ones go for $150-$200 used....the repair was $127 w/ shipping and it now works flawlessly. It will likely last me the rest of my career if I take better care of it and I am glad I kept it, it has character.

My FM3A I bought brand new in 2002 is getting well worn too and if it ever dies, on the shelf it goes, not sold as parts. Other gear has gotten sold, like an F4S I bought new in 89' that I used for 13 years, had one of the highest frame counts NPS had ever seen. I kinda do wish I still had that one, it is one of only a few Nikon bodies that matrix meters with AIS glass.

So it goes, some things you keep, others you sell. My only real word of advice is to not make any decision in haste when there is emotional attachment going on....

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