The ethics of using antique caneras.

Xmas · Dec 23, 2014

We instead need a thread about the modern cameras we have filed in trash can.

My local village used to have three camera shops all gone although one pharmacy still sells film. Now about 25 shops selling (& renting) smart phones.

And I regularly use M2 or canon P.

benjiboy · Dec 23, 2014

Xmas said:
We instead need a thread about the modern cameras we have filed in trash can.

My local village used to have three camera shops all gone although one pharmacy still sells film. Now about 25 shops selling (& renting) smart phones.

And I regularly use M2 or canon P.

I was talking to one of my sons who lives a few hundred miles away on Skype yesterday and he was saying the average expected life of a smartphone is 21 months.
http://smallbusiness.chron.com/life-expectancy-smartphone-62979.html I find this shocking for a device that's so expensive.

blockend · Dec 23, 2014

benjiboy said:
I was talking to one of my sons who lives a few hundred miles away on Skype yesterday and he was saying the average expected life of a smartphone is 21 months.
http://smallbusiness.chron.com/life-expectancy-smartphone-62979.html I find this shocking for a device that's so expensive.

Digital forums have threads about buying a second body of a favoured camera before its obsolete, because the current one is two years old and assumed to be life expired. Strange times we live in.

E. von Hoegh · Dec 23, 2014

Arcturus said:
I have a Voigtlander Perkeo II that I use heavily and have run a lot of film through. It's by far my most used camera, and recently the frame counter started malfunctioning. Not a big deal but it got me thinking; how should we use our antique cameras? I see cars of the same era all polished up, treated very carefully, and rarely if ever driven. Should I put my beloved Perkeo on the shelf where its safe and get a newer camera to face the rigors of daily shooting? After all, I never see anyone driving to work in a 1953 Bel Air. It's such a sturdy camera it's easy to forget how old it is.

That's funny - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNtHHoiTkJI - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1aIZXte5ug - some people actually drive much older cars.

I have a friend whose daily summer driver is a 1928 unrestored Packard.

Use the camera.

paul_c5x4 · Dec 23, 2014

I have a camera that dates from the late 19th century. Once I have fixed it up and found a suitable tripod, I have every intention of taking it to do some shooting. Many older cameras have little to go wrong and may well outlast the current owner.

benjiboy · Dec 23, 2014

blockend said:
Digital forums have threads about buying a second body of a favoured camera before its obsolete, because the current one is two years old and assumed to be life expired. Strange times we live in.

It's the era of "planned obsolescence" they have to re-invent the wheel every couple of years to keep the wheels of industry turning and keep people ion jobs.

fotch · Dec 23, 2014

Older car have are lacking in up to date safety devises and pollution issues and not the same in that respect. Old cameras are more like old clocks, they can continue to serve without any adverse effects. Also, a lot more affordable. I love old cars, just cannot afford them.

blansky · Dec 23, 2014

I think we should use what we want to use until we choose to use something different.

Owning cameras does not make us the curators of the history of photography.

Personally I find mechanical objects that were designed for a purpose, cameras, watches, cars, etc to be horribly denigrated when they become trophies or ornaments.

But that's just me.

Sirius Glass · Dec 23, 2014

benjiboy said:
I was talking to one of my sons who lives a few hundred miles away on Skype yesterday and he was saying the average expected life of a smartphone is 21 months.
http://smallbusiness.chron.com/life-expectancy-smartphone-62979.html I find this shocking for a device that's so expensive.

My cell phone is five years old. Maybe because it is just a cell phone.

I have two cars: one built in 1995 and one built in 1997 and both with over 190,000. They go will with my Model D and the Speed Graphic.

jerrybro · Dec 23, 2014

fotch said:
Older car have are lacking in up to date safety devises and pollution issues and not the same in that respect. Old cameras are more like old clocks, they can continue to serve without any adverse effects. Also, a lot more affordable. I love old cars, just cannot afford them.

No airbags, rear wheel drive, drivers smoking cigarettes, amazing we all survived childhood. I still laugh every time I see bike riders with the skin-tight logo laden costumes and a bike helmet. But, back on topic, I should grab a pic with the speed graphic. Oops, was I supposed to say capture an image?

E. von Hoegh · Dec 23, 2014

fotch said:
Older car have are lacking in up to date safety devises and pollution issues and not the same in that respect. Old cameras are more like old clocks, they can continue to serve without any adverse effects. Also, a lot more affordable. I love old cars, just cannot afford them.

And, like old clocks, old cameras require a certain level of competence on the part of the owner/user - which does not always obtain.

E. von Hoegh · Dec 23, 2014

blansky said:
I think we should use what we want to use until we choose to use something different.

Owning cameras does not make us the curators of the history of photography.

Personally I find mechanical objects that were designed for a purpose, cameras, watches, cars, etc to be horribly denigrated when they become trophies or ornaments.

But that's just me.

+1000 See my previous post in this thread.
At the moment I'm carrying a 16s Waltham in a sterling hunter case, it has an inscription on the cuvette dated 1888.

I do think that we have a debt to posterity though. These are only objects, but they are objects which will never ever be made again. So, I use the users, preserve the few pristine ones that I have, and take very good care of them all.

blockend · Dec 24, 2014

My only gripe with Leica fans is the ones who don't use them. What is a camera if it doesn't take pictures? A paperweight? I don't believe the ones who pay £10k+ for a camera have any intention of taking one outside and putting a film through it. They should invest in porcelain or something meant to be looked at.

removed account4 · Dec 24, 2014

i have a few old rare cameras and i use them regularly.

Old-N-Feeble · Dec 24, 2014

RE driving antique vehicles: Some folks do drive their old cars and trucks. There's an older gentleman not far from me who drives his 100 year old truck to his business every day. Its top speed is only 30 MPH so he must drive it on the shoulder of the highway. He enjoys and has fun with his old truck.

If I enjoyed using antique cameras then I'd certainly use them. The only ones I'd quit using are those I can't afford to replace or have significant sentimental value.

frank · Dec 24, 2014

blockend said:
My only gripe with Leica fans is the ones who don't use them. What is a camera if it doesn't take pictures? A paperweight? I don't believe the ones who pay £10k+ for a camera have any intention of taking one outside and putting a film through it. They should invest in porcelain or something meant to be looked at.

Why should you care one way or the other? "They should" do whatever makes them happy, not what you think others should do.

I have no time for intolerant people.

NedL · Dec 24, 2014

I like to think that he owners of my antique cameras would be pleased and perhaps astonished to know that they are still being used to make photographs.

canuhead · Dec 24, 2014

as others have asked...how is this an ethical problem ?

have one ? use it or stick it on a shelf.

Old-N-Feeble · Dec 24, 2014

frank said:
Why should you care one way or the other? "They should" do whatever makes them happy, not what you think others should do.

I have no time for intolerant people.

I have no tolerance for intolerant people.

frank · Dec 24, 2014

Old-N-Feeble said:
I have no tolerance for intolerant people.

That's what I meant to post, but was too impatient.

Old-N-Feeble · Dec 24, 2014

frank said:
That's what I meant to post, but was too impatient.

I'm losing my patience with your impatience!!!oliceman:

blockend · Dec 24, 2014

frank said:
Why should you care one way or the other? "They should" do whatever makes them happy, not what you think others should do.

I have no time for intolerant people.

Investors take working cameras out of the marketplace, and escalate values of the remaining examples. In the 1980s a clean used M3 sold for about 30% more than the equivalent Nikon. Then Leicas became retirement tokens, instead of photographic tools.

Theo Sulphate · Dec 24, 2014

blockend said:
Investors take working cameras out of the marketplace, and escalate values of the remaining examples. In the 1980s a clean used M3 sold for about 30% more than the equivalent Nikon. Then Leicas became retirement tokens, instead of photographic tools.

What you say is true, but it is human nature. The best thing I think a person can do is find and buy the cameras they like before those items achieve cult or collection status. Digital photography has allowed us film-camera aficionados to buy equipment at prices that are only a fraction of their original cost. At the same time, certain mechanical cameras which have qualities that will never exist again in contemporary or future products become all the more desirable.

The ethics of using antique caneras.

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