Keeping antique cameras out of the landfill

[Arklatexian]

Take them with you. Have closets built into the coffin.

Sirius Glass, I really do believe you have given me the answer to this problem. Of course, I intend to be cremated, so I can have all my equipment cremated with me while "Ride of the Valkuryes (or however it is spelled)" by Wagner is played good and loud. (I am hard of hearing).....Regards!

 

[AgX]

I think the best way to avoid them being discarded is to establish and communicate a monetary value that will cause your heirs to think twice about sending to the landfill.

If there is.

 

[blockend]

The technical sophistication of a camera, and our sentimental attachment to it bear no resemblance to its monetary value in most cases. This is especially true since the digital year zero that occurred around the millennium. Case in point, I sold a Canon AV-1 last year with lens. Both were exceptionally clean, and I'd replaced the light seals in the body. It produced excellent photographs and will continue to do for many years, but it was surplus to my requirements. The market value of AV-1 and 50mm 1.8 at auction was £18.00. The price of a takeaway meal. If the purchaser continues to use it I'm happy with the deal, but someone probably saved up for quite a while for that camera and certainly looked after it. Its real legacy will be the photographs it took, not whatever arbitrary value the market places upon it. Whenever you press the shutter, that view recedes into history never to return. You can't put a price on that.

 

[MattKing]

The OP's question was about old cameras that may very well already have significant historical value, and specialized collector's value. Those are the sorts of value that require relatively specialized resources to both protect and realize upon.
With all due respect to blockend's otherwise accurate comment, we aren't talking about Canon AV-1s in this thread.
Or even Sirius' Hasselblads!

 

[AgX]

I did not realize that either.
Maybe because over here we do not use the term "antique" in photography.

 

[jvo]

check out film photography project www.filmphotographyproject.com - i've sent them camera's and they get them into photo students hands.