Collecting Digital?

[Doug T.]

I've started buying up old digital cameras whenever I find one.
I found this one at a local thrift store for a whopping 5 dollars!



It's a Polaroid PDC 700 with a 5mm/f3.5 macro lens! 810k pixels!!
I've tested it, and it works great. Somewhere around here, I've got some old Polaroid Photomax Software.

Lately it seems as though whenever I find a film camera, they want WAYYYYY too much for it, even the lowly point & shoots are going up in price. I don't know how many times I've been told that "All film cameras are collectible. They don't make them any more."
Old digitals are going for peanuts now!

Doug

[daveh]

It looks a bit smarter than the Polaroid digital I have - another photo to do and post later.

[cameras]

i collect digital cameras best deal i ever got was a Concord Eye-Q Duo LCD 1.3mp for $1 only bad thing is the drivers for the cam only work on windows xp

[Doug T.]

Since I began collecting these, I find that I am forced to collect old computer hard and software as well.
I recently traded a monitor for a Compaq running Windows 98; it has a floppy drive that I can use for the old Mavicas.
They basically give old computers away at the local yard sales and flea markets

Doug

[Stan]

I'm a little handcuffed in my collecting being in a smaller house with 2 children, but I have started a little bit of a collection of old Nikon digital cameras though. I already had a CoolPix 880 and 995, but then my brother sent me 3 other CoolPix cameras, so now I have an accidental collection!

[dee]

Collecting by dee-fault is my problem in that I could not bear to part with any I have bought-

Leica M8 with Contax mount and Helios or CV 35mm/Summitar screw mount .Once in a lifetime indulgence.
Which also accepts an amazing Fed Collapsible 50mm F3.5.

Canon G2, my first digi-box, works perfectly Leica Digilux 3, just a lovely retro chrome camera.
Plus Panasonic L1 body the black version of the Dig 3 , both with a pair of Olympus zooms.

New Pentax K10d for manual Pentax lenses which seemed to better the contemporary Nikons.
Panasonic G1 refurb.for that twist screen and third party lenses.

Sony A290-gift to use Minolta lenses.
Sony A35 'cos I liked the A290 and it's perfect on manual as I can see the results of altering settings .

Samsung NX1000 'cos it was cheap virtually new, ex dem and I fancied the little 24mm pancake lens
Fujifilm FX1 'cos it's just so neat-and cheap, my entry into the camera 'phone notebook idea.

At least the Sonys have some lenses to back them up.
My fave combination is the Dig 3 or L1 with tiny,light,135mm f3.5 Rokkor on infinity,creating a great nom 270mm lens.
The Dig/L1 also have bounce flash facility.
The 45mm=90mm Pancake Rokkor is another great combination.

I have to say that I keep coming back to the simplicity and clear finder of an SLR-the Sony and Dig specifically, as the K10d is a bit of a handful!!

Hopefully, most will keep my going during a rather restricted retirement-certainly there will not be any more cameras.

[belgiumreporter]

One BIG problem when collecting digital (providing you want to) is to keep them going. Even 10 year old cameras are conciddered stone age technology and you'll have trouble in finding both soft and hardware support. ANY film camera, providing it's in a mechanical working condition, just need a roll of film to deliver (good) results, so apart from being collectible film cameras stay usable and i would say something like a nikon F or leica M3 wich are both 50 year old cameras that have set a standard for many years to follow, are still VERY usable, something wich can not be said from ANY 15 year old digital camera like the pro level Nikon NC series or kodak DCS . So ( and this is maybe a bold statement to some) i don't think digital cameras will, in my opinion, never be as collectible as film cameras.

[daveh]

Everything is collectable and will be collected by someone.

What drives the market on to things anew is when existing collectables become too expensive for the average person. The very fact that digital will be difficult to keep going, if that is so, is what will drive some to collect it. Film cameras are not exempt from being obsolete though lack of software, if you want to call film software. Batteries are a nuisance too for many cameras, and each camera cannibalised for parts for another means there is one less to be collected. As it stands there are still plenty of film cameras out there, but they will be thrown away by many. Virtually nothing of my grandfather's old equipment remains - a couple of lenses (and I mean just a single element lens, and one with two elements) is all that is left from his time as a professional photographer 100 years ago. Why isn't there more? Because no one at the time thought that what he had would become collectable a hundred years on. Plus ça change.

[dee]

i will just enjoy them while they are working-hopefully,being able to spread the use across several, may keep them going longer.
... I sure won't be parting with the Leica Digilux 3, working or not!

[truls]

Digital cameras are highly collectible. If we go 20 or 30 years in the future, many of collectors will be most interested in cameras from our age today. As for operability, if taken care of, it should work fairly well. Some may be converted to use other batteries, or use spare cameras to change parts. As fiddling is popular with film cameras/lenses, this could also be a hobby in a digital collecting world.

The advantage we have today is many of these digital cameras are easy to get. So, starting a digital collection is easier today than in about 15-20 years from now, and much cheaper.

Old software can be run through emulators in Windows, also other OS's. As collectors we should focus on possibilities, not the hinder, even if they exist.

[dee]

I think that you are correct,trulls,most newcomers to photography will not consider film cameras to be interesting, and will seek to revive digital cameras-and tablets and 'phones, which are now in the same domain.
In my day, writing,telephoning and snap shooting were quite separate activities.

[camfiend]

Hi Dee
dont know if there will ever be a time where film cameras will not be of interest.. I think most collectors are like me and although items are outdated and perhaps some are unusable its interesting just to be able to hold something in your hand which was 'once upon a time' considered leading edge technology.. have a couple of really old disposable cameras here which are little more then a cardboard box with a film in them but I can imagine someone marvelling at being able to catch a picture of what he was viewing.. even if the quality of that picture is pretty crappy (pardon that word)

Bob