Keeping antique cameras out of the landfill

[mahogcam]

I've been thinking hard recently about how to keep my antique cameras from being thrown in landfill after I've passed. My family has no interest in these things, and even my stepdaughter, who is studying photography at college, has little or no interest (the iPhone and DSLR generation). I would much rather give all my stuff to a museum than have it tossed in the trash - I really want this old stuff to survive, because I believe it's beautiful and interesting. Plus still capable of making some fantastic images.

My one hope still is that I can get my stepdaughter interested. My 18x24 Mackenstein will be fully operational within 3 weeks, and I intend to do some landscapes which get printed at enormous size - making the results of her Canon DSLR look like an Instamatic. A huge, brutally sharp and luxuriously tonal landscape is the best card I can play to win her over to big old wooden cameras. If that doesn't work, I will have to make arrangements to give them to a museum or something.

Some of these antiques have survived two world wars in Europe against all the odds. Let's keep them going...

What are your thoughts on how you're going to enable your antique cams to survive after you aren't around?

 

[CMoore]

I wish i had an answer, or even something meaningful to add.
But i will say your thoughts are "common" to many of us. I have had similar thoughts about all my 35mm gear, and That is Much More common equipment.
Anyway.....it is an honorable pursuit you have taken up. Who knows what the outcome will be. Interests in things may disappear forever, some fade for decades and then return, others hang in Niche Enjoyment for years on end.
Good Luck My Friend

 

[Down Under]

Many of us have thought about this,especially those who (like me) are retired, and no logner using some or most of our cherished (and valuable) film cameras.

It can be dangerous to one's emotions to overthink this. As we get on, our (mostly film, no-one seems to value old digital cameras tho' digi Leicas may soon acquire collector value, who knows?) cameras become more prized to us, and the emotions take over.

I'm in the same situation. My two stepsons and extended family (by adoption) are all in Malaysia,and have of late been asking such questions as how much is my camera collection worth. Sadly, their intentions are clear.

I'm unhappy with this mercenary attitude from them, and have made a rather hard decision. A codicil in my will now lists all the cameras in my collection (I have about 20) as well as lenses and other valuable photo gear. I've instructed my executor to sell whatever can be sold after I've snuffled off to that big camera club in the clouds, and donate the rest to a local charity where I'm satisfied the manager knows the value of cameras and will ensure they are sold at value prices.

I intend to sell some of them myself as prices go up and they are worth flogging off. I mean, good wine is getting more expensive, and there are still a few Asian countries I want to visit before I'm nailed down and relocated to the bone orchard.

Something semi-hard and smelly will certainly hit the air-moving you-know-what when the kin are told this. But I will be gone by then.

My partner has read the codicil, and agrees with my decision. So no warfare at home about this.

I am now working on what do do with my extensive collection of film negatives and slides and also my stored digital images, in all numbering about 200,000 or a little less. This I expect will take me about two years (touch wood and hope I have the time left). Any and all images of interest to family and friends will be given to them as gifts via OL transfer. My archives of architectural and historical images from North America, Australia and Asia will be disposed of (again by me) I hope to selected educational institutions, I will be emailing several university libraries about these in the near future.

A lot of work. But oh, well, it's something for me to do in my retirement. While I diligently apply myself to emptying our home wine cellar.

 

[Mr Bill]

What are your thoughts on how you're going to enable your antique cams to survive after you aren't around?

Hi, it's something I've never thought about - I'd rather see some of my photos survive. And I think a number of family photos will. But how about this: make some memorable historic photos of your town, maybe including local people, business owners, mayors, etc., that you think might become nostalgic about the time you figure to "kick the bucket," so to speak. Be sure to print and sell or donate some of this so they'll end up in prominent places.

Now, here's the sneaky little trick - do some in large mirrors or super-reflective storefront windows that clearly show you with your camera. Maybe even hang a sign under the camera with date, camera name, lens, etc. Now consider, if some of your photos become local historical records, how can anyone actually THROW AWAY the camera, as seen reflected in some of these photos? It's a dirty trick to pull on your immediate relatives, but hey! They're asking for it, right?

 

[Theo Sulphate]

Taking it all with me inside my back garden Pyramid.

 

[skorpiius]

Could simply will them to a local antique store.

 

[darinwc]

Find homes for the well before your final darkroom visit.
Slim down your collection to a very few that you can continue to use.

 

[Sirius Glass]

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

 

[Laurent]

If you are concerned about what consideration they get, then manage this before you leave...

If I was in the same situation, I'd rather give them to someone I appreciate and from whom I know will use them, or sell them and have fun with the money.

 

[AgX]

I do not even know a public museum with camera-knowledgable staff (this includes photography museums I know).

I do not expect my cameras to be worth of anything, they rather would cost money to dispose off.

 

[Kodachromeguy]

Sorry, the only solution to keeping cameras out of the landfill is to sell or donate to analogue photographers while you still can make connections, pack items, ship them, etc. Your descendents will have other things on their priority list. General photographers won't care. As a demonstration, at least twice a week, some idiot on Dpreview will write, "Film is dead." So nice of them to share their pearls of wisdom and brilliance with the world. But that is what you are facing.

 

[CMoore]

I am not an Attorney or a Governor, but.......perhaps the owner(s) of APUG could Start/Write some kind of Trust/Charter to facilitate this.? They could "Accept" these cameras and hold them for honorable distribution to future Photographers/Schools/Camera Clubs.....you guys get the gist of what i am saying.
I realize it might be a stretch, we already cannot get many of the members..... of the only Forum Of Its Kind....to fork over a paltry 20 bux a year to support this place.....but if we Would start some kind of fund Now, we COULD save these cameras for a future that none of us are able to foretell. My 35mm bodies.?.....i have spent as much and often more on CLA/Repair than what the cameras are "worth". It would be nice to know i had preserved them for some thankful photographer who might not even be born yet.
It is thought like this that preserved a much quickly disappearing lands, and saved it for what are now (in the usa) our State and National Parks.......

 

[4season]

Hate to say it, but if I were on the receiving end of a valuable collection, I'd probably liquidate most of it ASAP because items like cameras need proper storage and maintenance lest they rot or get stolen. If I had a family of my own, their needs would have to come before preserving some deceased relative's stuff, and as far as remembering that person, do I really need to hang onto old possessions simply to remember?

If those items have real monetary value, perhaps you could find a way to ensure they wind up in the hands of a specialist auction house (such as Westlicht), then distribute the proceeds to your descendants.

Otherwise, maybe there's a way you could leave them to internet friends.

 

[blockend]

Generally speaking, photographs are more valuable than cameras. Cameras can be valuable depending on who used them. Cameras without any provenance are worth market value, which in the case of film cameras ain't much. As ever there are exceptions.

If people have been photographing a long time, nicely printed, fully indexed photos that subsequent generations will understand are a bigger priority than this camera cost the price of a new car in 1910. It won't stop your stuff becoming landfill, but a message in a bottle is better than no message at all.

 

[AgX]

... if we Would start some kind of fund Now, we COULD save these cameras for a future that none of us are able to foretell. My 35mm bodies.?.....i have spent as much and often more on CLA/Repair than what the cameras are "worth". It would be nice to know i had preserved them for some thankful photographer who might not even be born yet.

What do you mean by "fund"?
Monetary fund to buy up these cameras? Or a rather physical fund in the meaning of storage to collect those cameras in for future photographers?

 

[benjiboy]

Digital technology is moving so fast and will make the cameras obsolete so fast that your stepdaughter's digital camera will probably end up in the landfill first.

 

[saman13]

I've always wished that I had a grandpa or uncle that was a serious photographer like y'all. I think my grandpa has only ever owned P&S cameras. I'm young, in my early 20s, and really can't afford to get into large format photography but know that I would be able to keep one shooting for many years. Plus, I always enjoy shooting a camera more knowing where it came from rather than buying one on ebay.

 

[Kodachromeguy]

I've always wished that I had a grandpa or uncle that was a serious photographer like y'all.

My father bought this Leica IIIC on Guam in 1949. He had been using an American Perfex camera and had wanted a Leica but could not afford it until he worked for an engineering company post-WWII. He used this IIIC for all the family pictures in the 1950s. It developed a shutter problem and sat in a cabinet in the house for years until I finally decided to have Don Goldberg restore and repair it. It just came home again and feels smooth and precise. Sure it cost a lot, but it is one of the few family items left. Mr. Goldberg does great work. The 50mm Summitar is one of the few now without scratches (i.e., "cleaning marks") on the coating. And note the focus scale is in feet, so this lens was intended for the USA market. Time to test it with fine-grain film.

 

[saman13]

My father bought this Leica IIIC on Guam in 1949. He had been using an American Perfex camera and had wanted a Leica but could not afford it until he worked for an engineering company post-WWII. He used this IIIC for all the family pictures in the 1950s.

That's certainly nicer than any camera my dad or grandpa would pass on. I've always liked the look of the Leica iii, the body styling has more of an architectural look similar to a Nikon F2.

 

[Helinophoto]

I've always wished that I had a grandpa or uncle that was a serious photographer like y'all. I think my grandpa has only ever owned P&S cameras. I'm young, in my early 20s, and really can't afford to get into large format photography but know that I would be able to keep one shooting for many years. Plus, I always enjoy shooting a camera more knowing where it came from rather than buying one on ebay.

Same here, albeit now I am older and I can understand why no-one in my family ever owned any other stuff than small format P&S cameras, let alone did any photography or printing;
- They all had to work to get something to eat, few to none had any education, so it was a struggle. (my parents were born around WWII).

So I didn't get any fancy stuff myself before I started working....and since I was working in IT and times have been good, I have a good number of very nice cameras today that I use.
Still, large format alludes me due to space-challenges in the city-apartment where I live.

Not sure what to do when I kick the bucket though (I am 43 now), perhaps put it all into a "time-capsule" with laminated descriptions of the cameras in there and bury the thing somewhere deep in the woods somewhere .

I can understand the issue the OP has, but IMO he should possibly start selling off stuff he can be without trough communities like APUG or local clubs etc, at least there are people there who knows what kind of cameras they are and how to use them, or maybe give a deal to someone young who is genuinely interested.

I am sure a museum would be very interested in a large-format camera, and it sure beats the landfill.

 

[saman13]

I agree. IF there is no one young in your family (or a family friend) interested in film photography, sell it to people on APUG where you know it will continue to be used. I hate to see people using old cameras as decoration, especially large format.

 

[CMoore]

What do you mean by "fund"?
Monetary fund to buy up these cameras? Or a rather physical fund in the meaning of storage to collect those cameras in for future photographers?

Yeah.....Sorry.
I was thinking the cameras would be donated to APUG, and then they would need Money to administer the "distribution" of cameras.
Do Not Know Who, exactly, would keep them or where.....my first thought was The APUG Ownership.
I realize it would be a lot of work....perhaps it is all a Utopian Dream, bit it is a possibility.
Maybe a "scholarship" for burgeoning film photographers.?
Just kind of thinking out loud i guess.......

 

[mgb74]

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.

 

[Theo Sulphate]

I, too, had been thinking of an "APUG Repository" - consisting of members who store donated cameras which are then sold to those who want them and the proceeds help fund APUG/Photrio.

 

[Brian Schmidt]

Here's a load and a half of observations about this and similar hobbies... Shoot, ask for a two cent opinion and I'll give you your money's worth!

Across all these hobbies that revolve around "outdated" technology there is this same fear. Be it cameras, tube radios, old cars and motorcycles, or old computers even. The guys get old and wonder what will happen to the items they've enjoyed so well, spent so much time on and taken such good care of over the years. And yeah, there's a great push among all these hobbies to get kids (under 40 they consider usually) into wood wheeled cars, old cameras, hit and miss engines, whatever, mostly since they (understandably!) want their things to go to good hands, and often equally as important, convert the item into a bit of retirement money. Being in my early 20's I've had the old guys ask me personally how to get more kids interested. I just tell them my dad was always fixing things so I realized everything is fixable somehow and went from there. Of course most people aren't that way so that's a real dead end answer for them.

There are so many of these guys trying to sell. It seems many people have all they want and there simply aren't many prospective buyers. So what I foresee are a few young collectors with loads of stuff, probably received cheaply due to the great supply. Thing is that I have all the cameras I have a burning desire for, at least for the foreseeable future, and don't want to spend too much.

I can tell you if you were to sell them very cheaply I'd still buy about anything. I'd take excellent care of it also, and of course, would have trouble resisting using it. I'd think of the original purchaser and where the camera must have been over all these years and how proud he was of his new camera. I'd be even more proud to be the one to care for such a lovely artifact. For example, the other day I fixed a snowblower for this old fellow. I knew he had a Kodak that took 130 film. He was awfully down on his luck so I said I'd be happy to take the camera as payment (for a couple hours work) but it was his dad's and didn't want to part with it. We settled on some metric wrenches as payment. I came to get those a couple days later and handed me two bags, one with the camera and one with some wrenches. He realized it wouldn't end up in a pawn shop or the trash and would be taken good care of, especially since I liked it to the point of remembering it after a couple years.

Now there is such a thing I noticed about hobbyists. They tend to be interested in about anything remotely similar to their hobby. If you can find somebody who likes woodworking and show them a camera with beautiful woodwork, or somebody who likes fine mechanisms and show them a complicated mechanical camera, or anything like that, their interest will be piqued. Of course they might just like refinishing it or clicking the shutter by the light of their nightstand lamp late at night, but they may be inclined to use it one day also. It's kind of hit or miss.

So I guess one way or the other the future is bright for the relatively few young collectors. Maybe in ten or twenty years I'll be able to have a barn full of Maxwells and Overlands and a basement full of old Indians, Excelsiors and metalworking machines. Hardly anybody could so much as make use of a working one. How about I daily drive a early 20's Dodge Brothers, carefully and respectably. Why not?

I don't find much merit in the repository idea. It would just put together the dozen collections that are contributed and still have the same problem of what to do with it. Difference is it would turn from a dozen little issues for individuals to decide on into one big, expensive, collectively indecisive and emotionally charged issue. I've had simple cameras sitting around hoping I could convince somebody, anybody to give them a try but I can't get somebody to so much as think about it. I don't think I've seen anybody jump toward the few young folks who are known to prowl this very website offering equipment as a gift. Seems there are a couple young fellows in this very thread who would be good caretakers and appreciators and users, and another comes immediately to mind who is a regular poster, and there's certainly more around. Of course Thailand is a ways off, but for those in the lower forty-eight...

How about this -- Set up a form where you can post a camera to give away or sell cheaply or whatever. Whoever writes the most convincing essay to the thread author gets it. Make it like a scholarship application. If the OP is unhappy with the responses he can just keep it.

I hate to say it, but the best way to get money out of it would probably be good old eBay. They wouldn't buy it just to throw it away. Time to sell is now. Prices might be low but it could be simply a no-sale before long. Of course they might part it out to fix their current camera or just use it for decoration. Who knows.

But above all, if you've got anything nice you can guarantee somebody will take good care of it, somewhere.

Brian