Thinning out the herd

I had until recently too many Canon 35mm SLRs and I've recently sold my A1 ( which I've never liked although I've had it about 25 years ), and 2 T90s all with a FD 50mm f1.8 lens which I had too many of, this leaves me with 2 Canon F1N-AE bodys a 1 F1N body with the plain prism , 1 Canon EF body, and 1 T90 body, plus my medium format gear which is more than enough.

I found the experience of parting with them strangely liberating and have vowed to myself never to buy another camera although the quantity of my holdings wasn't so excessive compared to some other members of this forum ( considering I've been involved in photography for more than fifty years ), and I've actually only bought 3 cameras in the last 25 years. I'm a photographer, not a collector, cameras to me are just a means to an end, I not an end in themselves, and to me the F1N is the best Canon manual focus 35mm SLR ever, and It's the one I mainly want to work with.

Good morning, BenjiBoy;

Such self control and restraint. I am impressed. In contrast, I have not been able to resist the Force of GAS to any degree at all like that. Even my Canon holdings are becoming somewhat extensive, although not yet voluminous. The only bright spot I can point toward is the fact that one of the F-1 bodies and its lenses were purchased with the intent of giving them to Gary, and that has been done.

For many years, I was just a photographer with one main body and the 5 lenses for it ranging from 28mm to 200mm. Then life changed and lots of things disappeared. My beloved Minolta SR-1b somehow just "disappeared" in those early days. Later I did learn of some yard sales that took place during the prolonged time period when I was denied any access to the house.

Then there were the interminable appearances in court and all of the legal bills to be paid, and I was assigned the obligation for paying for both sides. What a neat system. There was nothing that could be done during what became the years of deprivation, the years of "the lingering financial obligation." Finally even they were over, and I could think once again about replacing my Minolta SR-1b. But I also kept finding all of these other camera bodies and lenses, and they were so cheap during the early years of "the digital wave." Without any imposed restraints, my unfettered desires ran wild. No one cared what I did with my money by that time. What a luxury!!

Things have slowed down. No longer are there two to four orders coming from KEH each month. Yes, it is possible to reach a point of satiation. Still, life is pretty good. Yes, there is life after child support, if you survive it. To half the guys out here, I say; "Hang in there. It does get better, eventually."

Enjoy;

Ralph
Latte Land, Washington

Hello Ralph,
I came to the realization years ago that the more gear you have the more you need to worry about, protect, have serviced, insure, and that photography wasn't a problem that couldn't be solved by throwing money at it, and that rather than buying more and more cameras I would rather use any disposable income I had to spend on my photography on keeping the cameras I use in tip top condition, and to improve my photographic knowledge by buying photographic books, studying them, and attending courses occasionally, this works for me, but if people want to have 50 plus cameras it's their money and their life.

Although I have too many cameras nowadays, from 1975 until 1992 I managed perfectly well with one camera body at any time. Since digital and the subsequent price drop in film cameras, there has been no necessity to sell a camera to fund its successor. My A-1 doesn't see much use, although I've shot the T-90 for the last two days. I like my AV-1s as point and shoots, the AT-1 because the novelty of a manual exposure camera with an electromagnetic shutter appeals, and the FTb because it's of the classic era. My T-70 gets about one film a year through it.

If I had to choose one I think it would be the AT-1. It's much lighter than the T-90, exposure can be easily over ridden unlike the AV-1s and it's prettier than the T-70. The only competitor is the FTb, but that takes a defunct battery. I sometimes find myself using a camera because it has been standing a long time, rather than preferring it, which leads to unfamiliarity, or at least a lack of instinctive feel single camera ownership instills. For the price I'd get for the cameras it's barely worth selling the surplus, so they sit in a drawer provoking guilt and illustrating the absurdity of consumerism.

Good morning, BenjiBoy;

Well, yes, I have already confessed that I probably have overdone it. And, yes, there are some problems with having a lot of things that do need routine maintenance. The monthly task of powering up the electronic flash units on AC mains power and reforming the flash capacitor does take some time. There are other examples. However, I do have the replacement photography things with me still. In comparison, I have no contact at all with those people I was required to pay child support for. They do not respond to any messages sent to them or any other attempts I have made over the years to maintain any line of communication with them. Even I can eventually recognize a pattern, and I have stopped trying after 30 years.

And finally I did find a CANON FD 55mm 1:1.2 S.S.C. lens for Gary's camera. Now he seems to be quite happy with the replacement kit that covers what he had bought in Hong Kong while coming back from South Viet Nam, but just "disappeared" while he was going through retraining and rehabilitation in Miami.

Enjoy;

Ralph
Latte Land, Washington