Temptations for buying a new camera

[Berndt]

I wonder, which are the temptations for everyone, buying a "new" camera for his collection. I thought about some criterias:

a) Rareness
b) Beauty or an odd design
c) A certain valuable brand
d) Cheapness
e) Getting interesting results ( pictures taken with it )

Answering the question for me, I would say, b) and e) are most tempting, then maybe a), c) is not really important for me and well, d) just if I am really interested in buying this particular camera.

How about you ?

[mickeyobe]

berndt,

No matter what extraordinary qualities it may have If I cannot afford it I shall never have it to enjoy.

Mickey

[pompiere]

For me, it is usually d) in combination with one of the others. I don't buy a camera just because it is cheap, nor do I spend a lot just to have a certain camera.

[Berndt]

@mickey: Of course. Me neither ... but I mean, there are thousands of ( affordable ) cameras out there, we might not own yet ... or your collection is already that big, that it contains all cameras affordable for you. But event then ... think of the past

[mickeyobe]

OK, berndt,

In that case I would go for A and B and I would modify C to remove "valuable". I have a lot of Kodak and Universal and Argus and Canon cameras. None of which are extremely valuable.
However, anything is fair game if it takes my fancy.

I really don't have much interest in taking pictures with them.

Mickey

[Berndt]

You are right Mickey. "Valuable" could be questionable. I like Aires and Samoca as particular brands ( and Fuji in the "digital world" ), which are also just valuable for me and not necessarily in general. But well ... it might be okay too, if we see it that way.

[nikonbob]

Personally, I have acquired cameras for all the reasons you mentioned or a combination thereof at one time or another. That would explain the varied and eclectic collections that most people I know have. If I were dead "serious" there would only be one model of camera in NIB condition in all it's know variations but that is a bit tedious and restricting not to mention very expensive in some cases. Variety is the spice of life or so I have been told.

Bob

[Randy]

I have purchased most of my cameras because I like them. Once I had a Minolta SRT-101, I had to have a 102....and on down the line. I did buy a Fujica STX2 because the winning bid was only 9 dollars once, and it's funny, I love that camera.

[daveh]

f) usability.

[Peltigera]

The start of the process has to be "Oh, that's nice." otherwise there is no point in buying it. I have had a lot of pleasure buying cameras that I drooled over in the early 1970s - what I could not afford then is cheap now.

Mostly, I want cameras that are designed well, made well and fit in with what I already have. (that last is just to stop me buying thousands of the d**ned things). That means Zeiss Ikon, Voigtlander and Agfa in the main but not exclusively. They also need to work - I use my cameras (or at least most of them) so that means 120 or 35 mm (perhaps 127 if I see one I like). They also need to be cheap - I am a factory labourer and do not earn much, so any camera is a luxury My limit is about £25.00 including postage.

[photax]

As Ron said, for me it is also d) in combination with one of the others, maybe except e), because it would take me a decade , if a would run a roll of film through every camera. I only add working cameras, or those that are easy to repair, or restore to my collection. I find most of them at flea markets in the summer, or at local private sale sites at the internet.

MIK

[mickeyobe]

What this discussion seems to distill down to is that we all have some kind of emotional, nostalgic or aesthetic, attachment to those mechanical marvels of past days. And sometimes just plain curiosity or a desire for completion.

In other words there are numerous reasons some of them quite irrational.

Mickey

[nikonbob]

That may be numerous reason to us but I think they are rationalizations for having a mild case of OCD which is quite irrational. I think it may be time for me to give up self analysis and just enjoy.

Bob

[herron]

For me, it all started with (c) ... although I could not include the "valuable" part. I started collecting Mamiya 35mm cameras while in college. I had a 1000DTL and bought an NC1000, too. They were affordable, fun and had pretty good optics.

I bought a few more of them over the years.

Then, in 1984, they quit making 35mm cameras at all. I started looking into the company and got interested in finding all the 35mm models they had manufactured.

I finally accomplished finding one of each model a couple of years ago, so my collection is complete.

However, (b) entered into a few decisions for non-Mamiya camera. When I got to almost 200, I decided to curtail the collecting and even try to trim the herd a bit.

Still working on that part.

[Deleted]

At one point I was trying to collect all the Soviet Zorki variations and was up near 100 cameras. Then I sold quite a few off and just kept some of the nicer operating examples. No sense trying to collect film cameras based on value. Only a few Leicas and early Japanese Contax and Leica copies have much value. Certainly not an investment for retirement. My main worry is that my cameras will get hauled to the dump when I gone because no one appreciates them or wants to take the time to try to sell them. Even the film Nikon SLRs I have collected have dropped down to minimal value. Most of the cameras I have acquired in the past five years are ones that were given to me by people who know I have an interest in film gear.

I seldom shoot film any more, at least not with the Soviet gear. I occasionally will shoot a roll of C-41 process black and white as it it easier to scan (can't scan silver based film with DIGITAL ICE). I have the gear and chemicals to process black and white and probably 50 feet of bulk Tri-X . Always thought I probably would want to do some processing when I retired but haven't had the urge in the first two years