When the 'better half' isn't a collector

[chilla]

I've always been a "collector" well maybe more of a hoarder... same same right?

My latest affliction has been film cameras. I bought a handful a few years back. An old fold out 1938 Kodak brownie, a Flexaret TLR, Pentax P30 and a Fujica ST. All because they looked cool and took up some nice shelf space in the "better half's" office. 

My better half is a photographer, runs her own business and loves it. Her camera philosophy is however, much different than mine. 

She is a photographer, not a collector - She owns 2 very decent DSLR's which she uses for most of her work. We have also picked up a Pentax 6x7 and a Mju ii view finder for her to branch out into film with.  She is happy with that and has no desire for anything else. If she wants something else she will happily sell what she has and buy the new camera she wants. Weird?? 

Every time a new camera pops up at home in the mail or is smuggled in from one of my trips to the thrift shop or yard sale I am met with a "why" and a "how much" followed by a "what are you going to do with it and how much can you sell it for"  

I've added a lot of cameras to my collection over the past 3 months or so and I now have to shed some of the ones I don't want to keep (It's hard to explain that there aren't any I don't want to keep but that's a different point)

The old collectors rule of N minus 1 or N-1 (where N= the number of something owned that will get you divorced) is in full effect at the moment. 

How does everyone else on here keep their significant others happy with their ever growing collections? 

Any suggestions on being a collector and keeping a happy home? is this even a feasible possibility? 

[hansz]

A very difficult question... My wife insists on the one-in-one-out principle.
I solved it - for the time being:-) - in the following way: my son is - next to his study - a professional photographer using digital Canon gear. But I've got him addicted to the film gear GAS also! Whatever I have in surplus, he's using it. I must admit he is a bit "classy"... he likes Hasselblad, Rolleiflex and my Contarex lenses, not the cameras:-(

So, lots of my excess gear (and also the gear not in excess...) have found a new (family) home.

But here comes the funny part, as I'm a very ill person - I run from chemo therapy to chemo theray, #14 is inside - my wife often comes home to give me a boost for my morale. Today it was a Praktica B200 electronic with Prakticar 2,4/50mm, fully working, in a splendid condition, for a mere €3!!

Hans

[raybar]

The trick is to marry someone who collects . . . something . . . anything. Then she can't complain about all your stuff. And when she says "it's starting to look like a store around here" you can say "look who's talking." But she might expect you to keep an eye out for additions to her hoard as well as your own. I have found myself buying more china than cameras in recent months.

[hansz]

Haha, that sounds soooo familiar!
In the attic (I hope this is the right English word) we've got boxes and boxes full of Petrus Regout porcelain from Maastricht, The Netherlands. And I must also admit that I always have a keen eye (and purse...) for this porcelain while hunting cameras and lenses:-)
Hans

[raybar]

Yes, Hansz, attic is the correct word, and we could use one. But . . . Los Angeles - - - low pitched roof . . .

Molly, being Canadian, tends to favor British makers. Current craze is Moorcroft pottery and Royal Doulton Toby Jugs. She started young by choosing an uncle who owned a china shop.

Uncle Bill's store in  Toronto in 1954 when Molly was 8 years old, and with a more recent occupant.

[hansz]

Ah, raybar, English porcelain... the old English rose of Wedgewood. Very popular here in the Netherlands. And also with the Lady of the House:-)
Hansz