How do people keep their cameras KEH EX rated?

2F/2F said:

"Hooray! An American using this phrase properly.

The more usual US version of "I could care less" doesn't make any sense to me."

I did not know this was a United States of American usage. I always just attributed it to inattentiveness, sloppiness, or ignorance, and figured that inattentive, sloppy, ignorant English speakers everywhere use it.

Honestly, I do not think that "could care less" is the "usual" usage here.

Another one that really gets me is "a whole 'nother"...argh...or "ATM machine".

That's what happens when for 50 years you waste all your money paying interest on debt and devising new fangled ways to kill foreign people instead of educating your own population.

Click to expand...

2F/2F Some of American English usage goes back to the early English settlers, and the English usage in the seventeenth century, a couple of examples that occur to me is " Yea long" to describe length, we say "So long"and "In back" we say "In the back", but I don't know about this particular one.

Judging anyone on how good or serious of a photographer they are based on the condition of their gear is reverse snobbery at best. Some people are just naturally careful with their stuff and others sloppy and some are careful with some stuff but not others. One person could read a book several times and understand what was written in it without the book looking even read whereas another person may read a book once and it looks like a library discard. Last year I sold my Spotmatic that except for some brassing looked new not 30 years old and I took it hiking, spent three full summers in tents and the field in the sub arctic and shot with it in snow, rain and any other condition as my main camera for 14 years. But it was kept in a case when not in use and mud and water wiped off. I never leave my gear rolling around on the floor of the trunk nor do abuse it. I have seen cars less than 3 years old look like they are ready for the junk yard and 15 year old cars with high mileage , never restored that looked much newer than the 2 year old car. Does not make the owner of the newer car a better driver. By looking after one's gear not only does it resale value stay higher (and having sold one 30 year old camera that made a difference of only about 10) but one would have less chances of damage to the function of the gear and well looked after equipment is less likely to break down. And people who beat their cameras do also make great photos. It is not a question of who takes the better photos but who is easier on the gear. I would never judge a person's ability based on the condition of his camera positive or negative. It might make a difference on if I would lend them my gear though.

Davesw said:

I agree, If you are a camera collector then the object is to keep it as cosmetically perfect as possible .Sure you use it but I bet you don't get as many good photographs.
my cameras are tools not investments. I am not a pro ,but I do want to take good photographs. Camera collecting also sounds like a fun hobby I think I would enjoy it actually. but my budget forces me to pick on over the other.

Click to expand...

Yeah I can't afford to collect either. I buy my cameras to use, not to display or fondle. I would like to buy more old cameras if I could afford to collect, but I would be a user-collector. My collection would be of working cameras that I actually use. I have a couple of old cameras like that which are not worth much money, so I got them cheap, but they're fun. I have an old Pentax Spotmatic and a couple of lenses, and a Minolta SRT 101. My main 35mm gear is a pair of Olympus OM-4T bodies and a large collection of Zuiko lenses.

Markok765 said:

Almost all KEH cameras have at least a EX version of the camera. ... so how do you guys keep your stuff in good condition?

Click to expand...

If you want it to look like KEH's, do what they do - let it sit on the shelf.

Used cameras will get "used". Nothing wrong with a user, unless you're a collector. If you're a collector, you're not a user - although some people may be both.

Jeff M

I thought having a camera where the paint/enamel had worn off to reveal those nice brassy bits was considered a badge of honour, actually!

Certainly doesn't bother me. I bought my cameras to use not as investments - the more scratched the body gets the more I must be using it

Click to expand...

Reminds me so much about those Lawyers and dentists that "wana be bikers" trying to scratcs their leather to look worn.
Bikers they never will be.
A torn up camera is not synonimous with a good photographer could just be a poor one
That said, i take good care of all my cameras and lenses as well as my guitars and everything else that i own. i earn my money to pay for it why not try to keep it as best as possible while enjoy using it?

jan

marko

i think some folks buy two cameras, one to use
and one to sell when they are BROKE.
cameras that are mint, probably were never removed from
their box and sold when the time and price was right.

JLP said:

A torn up camera is not synonimous with a good photographer could just be a poor one

Click to expand...

Who said 'good'? I just said 'must be using it more', only a fool would try and correlate the amount a camera is used with how good the photographer is.

That said, i take good care of all my cameras and lenses as well as my guitars and everything else that i own. i earn my money to pay for it why not try to keep it as best as possible while enjoy using it?

Click to expand...

I guess I don't see "take good care of" and "keep cosmetically good" as being the same thing - at all.

Take laptops; some people seem to get through them like water. I have about a dozen in cupboards dotted around the place, all in perfect working order. (The batteries normally die of old age, but that's about it.) The oldest is about 18 years old. They all look like they've been through the wars, with scratched paint and covers and so on, but then again that's because I use the damn things anywhere and everywhere.

I have every single mobile phone I've ever had (and I worked as an engineer for a mobile phone manufacturer's R&D department 12 years ago, so that's quite a few.) Every single one works. Look like shit, but as far as I'm concerned I've kept them in perfect condition because as tools they still do their job.


My cameras are the same. My 1V was bought brand new. It'll get sold when I die, and not before, so who cares about resale value. It acquired its first scratch on the pentaprism within a month of my having it - I shrugged my shoulders and said "good, glad that's out of the way, I can stop worrying about it now." If I'm scrambling up the side of a mountain with the camera round my neck, it's gonna get scratched. It's a tool, it gets treated like one!

Markok765 said:

Almost all KEH cameras have at least a EX version of the camera. I don't see how people keep their cameras like this! They must use them in a studio environment only!

Eg: My familys canon EOS 350D DSLR would be considered UG by keh, with a lot of scratches, and "Brassing" though it's a plastic body. My pentax SLR [screwmount] has a good amount of scratches and wear, and I don't even use it more than 2x a week!

Anyways, so how do you guys keep your stuff in good condition? I don't mind some good use marks on my cameras, but I'm just wondering how you take care of your stuff?

Click to expand...

Some people have lots of equipment and don't use all of it everyday. Perfect example was with a D70S I had a couple of years ago. I had a pair of D1X's and a D200 at the time and I hardly ever used that D70S. I sent it to KEH in its original box with original cables, LCD cover, CD, instruction books, etc. The camera I sent them looked new, not even a scratch on it.

They told me that it evaluated at EX condition (which I did not agree with, I know that this particualr camera was at least in LN condition). I wanted a new Nikon 300mm 4.0 AF-S and they were the only ones who had that lens new in stock at the time, so I took what they gave me and paid the difference for the new lens. My guess is that they do this to others as well; they tell their clients that their cameras are low grades but sell the same at higher grades.

Ironically, I have only used that new 300mm 4.0 AF-S lens about 4 times (I purchased an aftermarket Kirk collar for it) and I have kept it in its case for the past year! In a couple of years I will end up selling that lens (which will be in LN condition). I won't make the mistake of selling it to KEH though.

My EX lens has some very light plastic wear on the lens.

I do take care of my equipment (and when not used they are in dedicated camera bags), but all mine cameras have paint scratched on bottom. I guess I put them on hard coffe shops tables too often

Markok765 said:

Almost all KEH cameras have at least a EX version of the camera. I don't see how people keep their cameras like this! They must use them in a studio environment only!

Eg: My familys canon EOS 350D DSLR would be considered UG by keh, with a lot of scratches, and "Brassing" though it's a plastic body. My pentax SLR [screwmount] has a good amount of scratches and wear, and I don't even use it more than 2x a week!

Anyways, so how do you guys keep your stuff in good condition? I don't mind some good use marks on my cameras, but I'm just wondering how you take care of your stuff?

Click to expand...

Simple, I take care of my stuff..Evan Clarke

I'm really really careful with my cameras... I have in the past dropped 2 cameras which resulted in severe nausea, mood swings, depression, yelling at myself, and a decrease in extra funds. Ever since the last camera drop I am extremely careful with my stuff. Want to borrow my Benz for the day? No Problem. Want to borrow my Leica screw mount for the day? NO WAY! Be nice to your stuff

-Joe

When I was young it was the norm to take a sheet of sandpaper to a new black-finish camera and brass up the corners so it looked like it had been dragged through hell, and maybe bash in the prism as if it had deflected an AK47 round in 'Nam. Taking 'really good care' of a camera was considered, well, not quite right in the head.

Nicholas Lindan said:

When I was young it was the norm to take a sheet of sandpaper to a new black-finish camera and brass up the corners so it looked like it had been dragged through hell, and maybe bash in the prism as if it had deflected an AK47 round in 'Nam. Taking 'really good care' of a camera was considered, well, not quite right in the head.

Click to expand...

Actually, there probably is a practical consideration there - no-one's going to try nicking your camera in that state...

In the boom years of the '70's and '80's, lots of people bought film cameras, particularly 35mm SLRs,
yet seldom used them. That's why there are plenty of near-new looking 20-30 year-old cameras.

KEH knows used buyers prefer gear in cosmetically good condition,
so they pay more for gear in EX or better condition in trade-in.

KEH rates conservatively; i.e. many other sellers would grade any given item higher.

Chris