Good grief... is this bit of click bait still up and about? It must be one of the oldest threads on this site, way way back when APUG was at its best and, in many ways, its finest. Mostly gone now and sadly missed by many. (Disclaimer) Still a pretty good place, though. In parts.
Nonetheless I've just read thru the entire eight pages and found just about everyone who is anyone here has contributed. Some truly gorgeous bits of gear written upand on display in these pages. And I'm now thinking, well, why not...
My oldest and one of the most pristine prizes is a First World War era Kodak Autographic 1A inpristine condition, acquired a decade ago from a charity shop where I did volunteer work. It belonged to the (late) mom of a volunteer who donated it but one of the ruling biddies in the place then put it in the window for a whopping A$2- luckily I was passing by and raced in and bought it. Complete with case, instruction manual, original invoice (bought from Kodak Australasia in Collins Street, Melbourne in 1919) and a dozen rolls of original Kodak and Ansco films in now very faded boxes. I had thirteen rolls, an unlucky number! so I exposed one and got passable results at ISO 6 and very, very careful processing. This camera works beautifully but is really my show babe now and on permanent display in my library, encased behind glass.
Two Kodak 1920s and 1930s folders given to me by friends, all120 film shooters with rectilinear and/or anastigmat lenses. Both work fine and get used now and then when I get nostalgic urges to shoot vintage style landscapes. Hand printed and sepia toned 6x9 contact prints are gorgeous and make fine gifts for friends.
A 1943 Kodak Brownie Hawkeye Six-16 my dad bought for my mom in August, 1943 when they got married. He then went off to the war and the camera was put away until I popped out of the nest in 1947. Many hundreds of my baby snaps were made by it. I now have the camera and last used it about a decade ago when I lucked into a few rolls of 616. Also all the original negatives of moi as a baby, toddler and growing up to age about 12 when for some reason the family stopped taking snaps.
A Zeiss Nettar from 1951 (the albada finder model) with its original case. In good plus condition, some paint flecks, everything on it works just fine. Bought in 2006 at a charity do, has an 80mm f/4.5 Novar capable of rock-sharp negatives. My pocket folder, only surpassed in quality results by -
a 1952 or 1953 Voigtlander Perkeo I with the 80mm f/4.5 Color Skopar. A masterpiece camera. My uber-minimalist kit, with a lens hood, a yellow-green filter, and a Weston Master V. Another walkabout camera.
Rollei TLRs cameras. A 3.5E2 from 1959 or 1960, two Ts from the mid to late 1960s, and a Rolleicord Vb from 1965 or 1966.
Three Nikkormat ELs and two FT2s, all from the 1970s. Two were purchased new, the others acquired since 2000, mostly as gifts from friends who no longer used them. Nikkor lenses for same (all F mounts) from 24mm to 180mm including seven or eight standard 50s. Worth nyet on the resale market these days, not that I ever intend to part with them.
Four (or maybe five, I haven't counted them recently) Contax G1s which are 1990s cameras so not really oldies. Zeiss lenses from 21 to 90. Often used, but not yet ready to join this exalted club for another decade or two, by which time my Malaysian stepsons may be using them, that is if the G electronics still function. Haven't had one expire or even malfunction on me yet but with ageing 'lectrics, who knows? Future antiques, anyway.
Also a few other old cameras securely put away in boxes. I really must take these out for a good cleaning and some minor servicing and then use them, if/when I do I may add an updated post in future as I do.
All the above are taken out and used at least once every year except the Autographic which is now in splendid retirement.
So there we have it, I've now joined this club. Why do we collect these bits and pieces? In my case, as beautiful equipment,well made,in an era when quality was valued above quantity, craftspeople took pride in their work and marketing did not far exceed the cost of production. So, well, why not collect them? What else would I be doing, stick stamps in albums like so many of my fellow duffers still do in their dotage, no thanks! I did that in my early teens until photography grabbed me by the (never mind) and the high school's prime cheerleader got a crush on me...