I think I have a problem.

walter23 · Apr 28, 2009

A box came in the mail today. In this box was an older Bergheil 9x12. When I put it in the drawer with all the other old folders I realized this is becoming a bit of a problem. How the hell did I become a collector anyway?

From upper left, clockwise:

1. Voigtlander bergheil (needs lens), green deluxe. Bought as a spare body as I expected the one I just received to be unusuable as it was described as really crummy. Unfortunately it works well, so I may have to sell this green one or try to track down a lens for it (anyone lookin'?).

2. Voigtlander Avus 9x12 (skopar 13.5cm)

3. Some kind of old kodak I bought for the roll of film in it (haven't developed yet).

4. Voigtlander Bergheil (heliar 13.5cm)

5. Contessa Picolette

6. Vest Pocket Kodak Autographic w/ Anastigmat lens

7. VPK Autographic model B

8. VPK Autographic meniscus lens model

bill spears · Apr 28, 2009

He He - A similar thing is happening to me at the moment ........ Recently started buying and selling cameras and equipment as a means to a little extra income. Problem is I can't bear to part with some (most) of them ! It's only been going a couple of months and I'm already running out of wall space in which to put up more shelves for displaying.

Where does this thing usually end ??

Anscojohn · Apr 28, 2009

Where does this thing usually end ??[/QUOTE]

*************
It doesn't.

IloveTLRs · Apr 28, 2009

bill spears said:
Where does this thing usually end ??

Well, I'm up to 40 cameras or so ... :rolleyes:

Photo Engineer · Apr 28, 2009

Put an addition on your house.

PE

Removed Account · Apr 28, 2009

I'm fortunate in that I can usually only afford to buy a new camera if I sell one, the exceptions being around tax return time and really cheap cameras. I just got a Kodak Folding Autographic Brownie #2 with achromat mesicus lens and Kodex shutter the other week and I'm anxiously awaiting some 120 film to run through it! I can see myself needing to build more shelving soon...

archphoto · Apr 28, 2009

Gooooood looking......
Congrad's !

The reason why sellers put "crummy" or "for parts only" on a camera is to avoid complaints afterwards (and bad ratings).
Nobody will be complaining about a camera that is better than described !

Sorry, can not help you with the Bergheil....

Peter

Whiteymorange · Apr 28, 2009

Having just come from the PHSNE show and sale, where I was helping a man try to "cut down his inventory." (At two car loads we made not even a small dent in the twice downsized collection of stuff he had left.) I can tell you that it never really ends. At the close of the show, he pointed sadly to the two new boxes of cameras he had just purchased.

Enjoy it while you can. Collecting something like matchbooks makes you a bit suspect, collecting cameras makes you interesting. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

removed account4 · Apr 28, 2009

the last cameras i got were gifts
THANKS WHITEY!

john

walter23 · Apr 28, 2009

bill spears said:
Where does this thing usually end ??

Presumably with a big estate sale

Bill Harrison · Apr 28, 2009

It's reassuring to know your not alone. CLICK

bill spears · Apr 29, 2009

The problem is not just the amount of items I'm accumulating but the time I'm spending hunting around car boot sales and auction houses looking for them ! I'm actually blaming my girlfriend for all this ...... ever since she picked up a mint condition and fully working Kodak Panoram for £2.50 at a boot sale and then sold it online for £375 !! At the time, neither of us knew it's potential value, she just thought it looked cute.

Soeren · Apr 29, 2009

We have our own version of Steven Aichlen's shoe rule. Everytime my wife buys a pair of shoes I can buy three cameras..... eh uhm..... or was it the other way round :rolleyes:
Best regards

Steve Smith · Apr 29, 2009

I thought I had enough when my camera-countometer reached the thirty mark. Then I inherited another thirty which my father has collected.

And I still find myself looking at more!

Steve.

delphine · Apr 29, 2009

I temporarily banned myself from ebay to alleviate this problem.:rolleyes:

Walter, I am noticing that in your collection you have the Kodak vest pocket.. so I am taking this occasion to jump in with a side track question.

I have several models of a kodak folder similar to the vest pocket. The below, like that of the vest pocket, is held to the wood frame of the body by metal claws. It does look like they would not bend without breaking if I was trying to open them to release the below.
I am trying to replace the below of one of my kodak folders.

Any suggestions/ideas as to how I could proceed?

Fotoguy20d · Apr 29, 2009

walter23 said:
A box came in the mail today. In this box was an older Bergheil 9x12. When I put it in the drawer with all the other old folders I realized this is becoming a bit of a problem. How the hell did I become a collector anyway?

I started a year and a half ago with an autographic 2C for $5. Little did I know it would spiral out of control from there. The worst (perspective dependant) is when you buy a "lot" of stuff just to get at a nice looking Seneca, promise yourself you'll get rid of the rest, and then a year later it's still cluttering up your house.

What're you doing putting these things in a drawer? Mine, to my girlfriend's disgust, are on top of every bookcase, piled on top of my table saw in the basement (a whole pyramid of 116 box cameras), covering an entire Ikea Billy bookcase, and a couple of end tables. On the good side, as I point out, they're limited to the basement and one room.

Dan

walter23 · Apr 29, 2009

Fotoguy20d said:
What're you doing putting these things in a drawer?

Keeping the dust off them until I can get a nice cabinet or something. I really bought them to use anyway, so I take one out when I want to use it.

Toffle · Apr 29, 2009

bill spears;790445 Where does this thing usually end ??[/quote said:
I'll let you know.

2F/2F · Apr 29, 2009

You're darned right you got a problem.....That first camera needs a lens!

Valerie · Apr 29, 2009

I don't get it....... what's the problem??

Soeren · Apr 30, 2009

Valerie said:
I don't get it....... what's the problem??

Lenses for Bergheils are not that easy to come by

walter23 · Apr 30, 2009

Soeren said:
Lenses for Bergheils are not that easy to come by

Yeah, that's definitely a problem. I shouldn't have bought this body. Paid $100 for the stupid thing. Got caught up in the last minute bidding frenzy and overstepped my mark. But it would have been useful if the first camera was as crummy as the seller had said, so what can I say...

Ole · Apr 30, 2009

Soeren said:
Lenses for Bergheils are not that easy to come by

Yes, they are. Unless you insist on a Heliar, just about anything in a #1 shutter will fit on a 9x12cm Bergheil - and a #0 shutter on a 6x9.

The difficult part is getting hold of a bayonet lens mount. Someone on the German LF forum had some made a year or so ago.

Kvistgaard · Apr 30, 2009

Soeren said:
We have our own version of Steven Aichlen's shoe rule. Everytime my wife buys a pair of shoes I can buy three cameras..... eh uhm..... or was it the other way round :rolleyes:
Best regards

Keep it going, Søren - we need all the private consumption we can get to fend off the eco-downturn! Assume your SP-tillæg will be allocated to new camera purchases too? ;-)

BTW - am I at all allowed to post in this thread? I only own 4 cameras.

stealthman_1 · May 1, 2009

I started buying cameras on that aweful auction site one year and five months ago. I'm slightly over 50 cameras now. They are in every room in the house, you can't find the dining room table and I'd really like a few antique portrait cameras. I've shot almost all of them, a Premo plate camera took me forever to find a film holder for, I'd part with about 2. Don't know what to tell ya.

I think I have a problem.

Moderator

Privacy & Transparency

Privacy & Transparency