How Many Cameras do you Own?

[michr]

I've lost count, but I'm still looking for more. My focus these days is on interchangeable lens rangefinders which aren't leica clones (like the Ambi-Silette, Anscomark, Lordomat, Werra), and on American-made cameras, like those by Perfex, Argus, Clarus, Univex, and Kodak. Basically, anything relatively inexpensive, so no Kardon or Foton yet, though I do have a Kodak Medalist (still looking for a bargain on a Kodak Chevron).

 

[Eric Rose]

How many cameras do I own? Well that depends on whether you ask me or my wife. You will get a different number

 

[CMoore]

Too many. I do not even want to count.
I STILL need to shoot my Mamiya RB67 that i have had for 12 months+
I recently discovered that i prefer all my Minolta over my A-Series of Canon.
I LIKE the Canon, and they are fine cameras. I Have Shot the A-1 more than any other (over these last 40 years) that i own. Just something about Minolta that lifts my skirt. Heck, i even dig the XG-M.
So i need to sell 2x A-1 and 2x AE-1P. I almost hate to think of their lack of value, but it "Is What It Is". I do not want to spend 2 years trying to get an extra 100 bux out of Four Cameras. I will take what i can "reasonably" get.
So that will leave me with a Canon F-1 New and the Canon AT-1. If you have never experienced the AT-1, you should give it a try. For students, or shooters that do not Need/Want any kind of Auto Mode.....the AT-1 is a pretty decent choice.
Nikon...??
Try as i might, i could never bond with the Very Fine F-3. Guess i am simply an F2 dude at heart. I frequently carry two bodies. One with a 28 to 55 and the other with an 85-105. The FM (2)(n) makes a GREAT Body #2. Plus it is a bit lighter than hanging 2x F2 around my 60 year old neck.

 

[Theo Sulphate]

The issue is not how you feel, but how the wife feels about it...

That is commonly heard - and not just in photography. Unless your hobby is crippling your finances or dominating your waking hours, why should your partner be concerned?

I ask this not specifically addressed to you, but to the thousands I've heard this from over decades.

 

[MattKing]

That is commonly heard - and not just in photography. Unless your hobby is crippling your finances or dominating your waking hours, why should your partner be concerned?

I ask this not specifically addressed to you, but to the thousands I've heard this from over decades.

We have space concerns in our home, so I understand when my wife wishes there were a few fewer cameras/camera bags/flashes/lenses/projectors/tripods/negative storage binders/mat cutters/paper cutters/containers for film and paper storage/ .... hanging around.

 

[Ces1um]

That is commonly heard - and not just in photography. Unless your hobby is crippling your finances or dominating your waking hours, why should your partner be concerned?

I ask this not specifically addressed to you, but to the thousands I've heard this from over decades.

It does seem to be a common topic doesn't it?

 

[benjiboy]

To the "common heard" anyone who has more than one camera is eccentric, to say the least, if I tell people I meet if they ever ask me how many cameras I have and I tell them that I have six film SLR's they look at me is if I'm not right in the head.

 

[Theo Sulphate]

... if I tell people I meet if they ever ask me how many cameras I have and I tell them that I have six film SLR's they look at me is if I'm not right in the head.

I wonder if anyone has ever written a book on the psychology of hobbies and collecting.

In several of my hobbies I have many dozens of, shall we say "items", and I can justify (if only to my sympathetic fellow hobbyists) why I bought each one. Yet, in other hobbies I have just one or two items and cannot understand those that might have 10 or more.

Music, for example: I have one guitar, an old classical acoustic guitar. I have no desire for a second one and only fantasize of getting an electric Stratocaster. Same with saxophones: I have an old Yamaha tenor from the early 1970's and see no need for a second saxophone, tenor or otherwise, even though I've dabbled with them. In music forums, however, there is talk of GAS just as here.

Perhaps the reason for my inconsistency is that I've been interested in photography since I was 11; for music, only in the last ten years.

 

[Luckless]

To the "common heard" anyone who has more than one camera is eccentric, to say the least, if I tell people I meet if they ever ask me how many cameras I have and I tell them that I have six film SLR's they look at me is if I'm not right in the head.

The common herd in your area must be different from where I am. Here having a half dozen or so cameras is met with "Oh, that's neat, you must really enjoy photography". (Or the "How on earth do you afford all of those cameras?")

The real questions of "Why do you have so much?" don't seem to kick in till they're talking with someone with a dozen or more at least.

 

[CMoore]

I wonder if anyone has ever written a book on the psychology of hobbies and collecting.

In several of my hobbies I have many dozens of, shall we say "items", and I can justify (if only to my sympathetic fellow hobbyists) why I bought each one. Yet, in other hobbies I have just one or two items and cannot understand those that might have 10 or more.

Music, for example: I have one guitar, an old classical acoustic guitar. I have no desire for a second one and only fantasize of getting an electric Stratocaster. Same with saxophones: I have an old Yamaha tenor from the early 1970's and see no need for a second saxophone, tenor or otherwise, even though I've dabbled with them. In music forums, however, there is talk of GAS just as here.

Perhaps the reason for my inconsistency is that I've been interested in photography since I was 11; for music, only in the last ten years.

Music for Ten Years.?
By now you should have a Les Paul, Tele, Strat, National and a Collings or some other "Modern" builder.
To play those you should have a 69 and 70 Plexi...Tweed and Black Face Fenders, and a stable of Two Rock, Fargen, Carr, and a second mortgage to pay for a Dumble or a Train Wreck.

 

[Helios 1984]

One more than last time.

 

[McFortner]

More than I need to, less than I'd like to.

That is my answer, just better than I could have given it!

 

[shuttergrinch]

I do not collect yet but have two that I consider my own
Pentax Spotmatic and a Minolta Freedom Escort Point and Shoot
the rest are shared with my brother to test and sell.

 

[rayonline_nz]

I don't collect. To me they are tools. I also don't buy really nice equipment because the price is not justified ie - to me a camera captures an "image". Then the reality is I print a few out and share some online and is it, just a hobby out of enjoyment.

Film related so - Nikon Fm2n (b/w film generally speaking) and a F100 (color film). I got into medium format with a RB67 got that for cheap as like $180US (one lens kit) and then I got a Hasselblad 500CM. All are used. I also only have 2 or 3 lenses each, 1 only so for with the Hasselblad.

 

[Steve Smith]

One more than the last count. I recently acquired a little Ricoh 500 G rangefinder. I have yet to print anything, but I am impressed by the look of the negatives.


Steve.

 

[bunip]

These plus 37 that at the moment are unavailable to be shown. More than 100.

 

[macfred]

^^
GAS in its final stage - no help possible anymore ...

 

[wyofilm]

I thought too many until I read some of the posts here. Thanks! Now I feel better about new acquisitions.

2 Nikon Fm3a (I really enjoy shooting this model)
2 Nikon FE (I use this when calamity might happen)
1 Nikon F4 (big, but great metering and good for kids sports - they are slow enough for the AF)

1 Fuji G690BL (I now only use this for home defense - it is heavy enough to take out any intruder)
1 Mamiya 7ii (my goto when not shutting snaps - my wife gets jealous at the way I stare at her ... er ... it)

Drum roll ...
Under the Christmas tree is a 4x5 Tachihara waiting to be used. Well, technically I shot four sheets to check out the lens, bellows, etc.

But not least - numerous beer cans with pin holes in them and a half a dozen Holgas.

 

[benjiboy]

I don't own enough cameras to feel guilty about.

 

[bunip]

Is there anyone who could be so kind to explain what exactly GAS means?
thanks

 

[Drew B.]

I'm down to three..! though trying to sell two of them...

 

[Drew B.]

Is there anyone who could be so kind to explain what exactly GAS means?
thanks

Gear acquisition syndrome. Some people have it much worse than others...

 

[Jean Poitiers]

I like what the French say ... "When one loves, one does not count ... "

http://www.linternaute.com/expression/langue-francaise/19645/quand-on-aime--on-ne-compte-pas/

 

[spoolman]

Too many. I started collecting about 20 years ago and went after the old folding cameras because I always liked the different mechanics of them. How they open,where the film goes,especially box cameras or falling plate cameras. Also I used to drive friends nutty by asking them how to open a certain camera and they would spend, in some instances over half an hour trying to find the button or latch to open it. I was given my 113th camera the other day by a good friend I've worked with in various photo labs around Toronto from 1980 until 1993. He just drove up to my house and asked if I had an 8x10 camera. When I said no, he brought out of his van an Arca Swiss 8x10 monorail with 3 lenses and 5 8x10 holders !!!.

So now I have to get a tripod sturdy enough to handle it. In some ways this is good and others not so good because I have to find room for it,the lenses and holders.

I guess I have a severe case of G.A.S.

Doug

 

[bunip]

Gear acquisition syndrome. Some people have it much worse than others...

thanks!
Mine is terminal