Buying the same camera twice

[certifiable]

I bought the Bessa L for the second time, first time with the 15mm, a little to wide and hardly used it. This time I bought it with a 25mm... Way better!

[Paul Jenkin]

I have to confess that I traded my original "classic" Leica M6 in a fit of rage after struggling like a man with six thumbs on each hand whilst trying to load film on a particularly freezing cold day. I swore I'd never buy such a stoopid contraption ever again. I now own an M6TTL and an M4-P.

Live and learn.

[Dirk]

Minox 35GT. I had one in the 80's and always remembered how much I liked working with it, the lens, the smallness and the overall brilliant design. Bought one again a couple years ago and will keep it this time.

[ChrisPlatt]

I foolishly sold my Bessa R when I got something "better".
Turns out it wasn't better for me, just more expensive.
So I sold it and got another R. This one's a keeper.

Chris

[bastian a.]

I had sold a Leica R7 and bought one again about two years later.
It's the same with a Contax G2 ... and now I have two of them.

[Jani_from_Finland]

I know a fellow who had bought the exact (kept track with serialnumbers) same Contax camera 2 or 3 times. The last time it had been completely overhauled as when he had sold it the previous time it was "a mess" according to him and the last time he paid less for it than he had sold it for and got a lot more when sold off for the final time, maybe it was his pot of golden coins? I recall that he owned the same camera 3 times.
On my own account, must admit that the Olympus OM series stuff is on a second run for me as is also the Contax T2 and T3 cameras, the only on still with me that is the same old one is the Olympus 35 RD and the mju:II that i had to switch for a working one last year. The Original Olympus Mju:II i had was bought when they first came out and was the Japan version if i recall, then it started to leave more and more blank frames and was not working properly and i let it on retirement.

[Jobin]

Happy to say I won't be re-purchasing a x100.

[Rayt]

I sold a lot of stuff to get into digital but when that did not workout I sold the digital and bought back the stuff I sold mainly 6x6 stuff and blew tons of cash in the process. Oh well..

[RBruceCR]

I enjoy Mr. Hick's columns very much, to the point that I have been following M3's auctions over eBay for quite a while, like a bond trader trying to ascertain the point of buy or sell. So far I haven't had the nerve to drop in, however, at $1,100 with 50mm Elmar, case, MR meter I've come pretty close. I believe that these cameras will need some sort of Leica service and I would have to compute that too into the price, the owner agreeing to ship to another address in the USA to a friend in NYC for him to ship to Leica and then bring it to Costa Rica where I live. Quite a Roman enterprise, like we often say here!

I come from a Yashica Electro 35 GSN that in 1978 was given to me by my father. I learned photography from him. We used to shoot landscapes for the calendars we printed in our printing shop, with the Electro 35 using Ektachrome 64 mostly. The Yashica is now in CT for a reviving POD issue and for CLA.

Later I owned a Maxxum 3000i wanting to have long lens and SLR compact body, but I missed my RF for its small footprint and finally I settled on with a Maxxum 600si. My main lens a Sigma 28-80/4 stuck at infinity, no English humor here, and I have to recuperate it from the technician that has had it for the last four months, perhaps airmail it to NYC for repair also my first 600si body that I left there for CLA and grip replacements.

Out of curiosity and fondness with my 1995 choice, I found another Maxxum 600si on eBay. I have been using her non stop, shooting a roll of film every week and enjoying it thoroughly. I even bought two more lenses a Maxxum 35-70/4 and a Sigma 18-35/4 that is noisy I but a pleasure to use in landscapes and candid photography. I still have the old Maxxum 80-200/4 and use it more than before! I am considering developing and printing my own black and white pictures in one of the former dark rooms that we have left at the printshop having fallen prey of the digital era due to a violet CTP.

I have bought Aerochrome EIR in England and will attempt E-6 process if I can smuggle the chemicals somehow. So far I have bought three filters for EIR, a 950 Nm, a 750 Nm and a B+W 099 filter, the most expensive one. All of the filters in the size for the Electro35 and since I have a step up adaptor for my Maxxum lenses I might as well try EIR with her.

What else, I own dad's Mamiya Standard 23. I have the three lenses, a 65/3.5 an 85/3.5 and a 150/3.5 but the backs leak and I have yet to repair them with the correct tools or find a technician in Costa Rica that will do it with the parts that I have imported from Japan. I like this system very much as it has three sizes, 6 X 4.5, 6 X 6 and 6 X 9, it is an all manual system, it seems practical for landscapes and portrait.

I was going to buy a Mamiya 645AFD to do Ektachrome, however, it is becoming scarcer and there is nobody in Costa Rica that will process other than with C41 and I don't want to damage my landscapes. So I decided to repair the backs before the 645.

Today I bought an Olympus XA2. I wanted to get an XA for my 8 year old son, we have been doing photography together and it seems that the mistake was a fortunate one since this rangefinder has zone focusing (that is my rationalization to justify it, Mr. Hicks) and it might be easier for him to learn the ropes or I will have a nice camera to do street photography. The Yashica, my sweetheart camera will be used for people photography as well as landscapes. I don't think it can be used for street photography that well!

Returning the path of the Maxxum I wondered what happened before the demise of Minolta and found a Maxxum 7D used on eBay. It might be after all my path into digital, perhaps not!

Too many cameras and too many projects. I'm going to tackle each one on a one to one basis.

So this is my letter of introduction to you all,

Regards,

Robert
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rbruce63/

[John Bragg]

I have bought the same model twice a couple of times. Once building an OM system, and again when I discovered second hand Olympus Mju II on ebay. I bought another soon after in case the first one ever died on me.

[zerobuttons]

Originally Posted by Roger Hicks

Sell a camera (or lens)... Realize you miss it... Buy another the same. Surprisingly many RFF members seem to regard this as the norm. Why? Who else has never done it, and who makes a habit of it?
........

I couldn´t see myself doing this. I bond too much with my equipment to sell it in the first place. On the other hand I consider very carefully, before I acquire anything (mostly because I tend to buy expensive things).

A few years ago, I sold some digital equipment (which I don´t bond with) and included my Arca Swiss ballhead in the sale. Within a few days I had regrets, but the ballhead was gone from the store I sold it to. A year after, the same ballhead appeared in the same store´s secondhand list. I bought it at a price not much lower than I had paid for it from new, but this model is not manufactured anymore, and I´m not so sure about the newer models. I know it´s the same ballhead because of a mark on the friction-setting knob.
This taught me how much I would suffer from selling equipment I have bonded with - it won´t happen again.

[thegman]

My first real film camera was a Zeiss Ikon, and I do miss it on occasion. I sold it on a whim for an M6, and did not really like the M6. I've since sold and bought others, but my mind does sometimes wander to re-buying the Ikon. I currently use an MP, and it's great, but I do sometimes consider a trade for another Ikon.

[dotur]

For me, it happens with TLRs.
I've sold my first TLR (a Rolleicord Vb) in 1976, and bought the very same camera from another owner eight years later.
Three years ago I traded my Rolleiflex 2.8 F white face for M3 DS outfit (+ Summilux 35 (v.3), Summaron 28 + Elmar 50 2.8 collapsible) and bought the very same Rolleiflex a year later, when the new owner decided to sell it. Rolleicord is long gone, but the white face is not for sale.

www.ivanlozica.com

[FrankS]

In the past I owned 2 cameras in particular that were very good cameras, but I sold them because my aging eyes could not clearly read the engraved information numbers for the lens and shutter settings on the shiny chrome of the lens. Since then I've gotten eyeglasses (bi-focals) so this is no longer a problem. I've already re-acquired a Retina lla and am awaiting a Perkeo ll in the mail.

[ianstamatic]

I have some real trouble with the selling part in the whole buying selling cycle.

Autocord x2, Yash Electro 35 x3, Welta Waltur x2, Zenobia x3, Iskra x2, Mamiya RZ Pro x2 bods, about 8 similar tlrs

Also if you like a camera system alot it makes sense to have a second body for different films and backup.

FranksS - I also recently started with bifocals. distortions took a while to get used to, but seeing again was a hoot !

[John E Earley]

I replaced a Nikon that was stolen and I do own 2 Bronica ETR's and 2 Vito B's but I don't think in 50 years of camera owning that I've ever sold and bought again.

[Harry S.]

I bought (and sold) the same canon EF 50mm lens three times. Each time with less enjoyment.

[Texsport]

Two reasons I've bought the same camera twice, or 3 times:

(1) To have extra bodies for use with other lenses---Fujica 690/670 cameras.

(2) To replace stolen cameras---Nokkormat.


Texsport

[someonenameddavid]

Back in the Philadelphia photo retail days, '81-4, we had a customer we named "Doctor Switchit" because he would periodically arrive to trade in high end 35mm and 120 equipment and then buy it back within a week or two and make a $500 to $1000 loss on the transaction. When he traded his R4 in it was sold before he had the chance to buy it back (but not to me....) we concluded he must have a mistress and needed "untraceable money" because his wife could identify purchases made at the camera store as being innocuous enough.

His M3 was the one that set me on a search for a Leica I could afford. Only took 18 years

David

[whitecat]

I have bought more than one camera twice. I guess I just missed them. Among these would be my Widelux, Certo 6, Contax TVS III.

[1joel1]

I suffer greatly from this seller's regret. I had bought and sold Plaubels through the years and finally kept my W67 and won't sell it again. I rebought a Canon T90 and 80-200 f4 L lens, one of their best ever, but am selling them shortly. I just rebought a Contax RTS III and am looking for the legendary 35-70 f3.4 zoom. Those will be keepers. I have regretted selling my M6, but am enjoying my M8 greatly, so not sure I'm gonna replace that one with another M6 or M7. Not sure where the fondness comes from. Perhaps it is nostalgia and a linkage to images made with the old cameras and lenses. I miss my old F2AS, and had replaced it years ago, but doubt that it will find its way back into the fold.

Just bought an old 1975 Honda CB400F to go with another older bike I have. I think nostalgia runs very deep in my blood and bikes and cameras are a big part of it. Just a theory and my 2 cents.

Cheers,

Joel

[kubilai]

Remembered that I purchased twice :
- Minolta MC/MD 85mm/1.7
- Tamron Adaptall SP 90/2.5 macro (52B and then 52BB)
- Minolta M-Rokkor 90/4.0

I Still have Tamron and M-Rokkor. Will have I a third Minolta 85/1.7 ?

Interesting : all are 85-90mm, it seems an usefull range.

[Rodchenko]

An interesting thread. I am currently buying (pretty much) two cameras I used to own.

Firstly, a Minox PL a friend no longer had a use for. My first Minox was a PL, and I've had one ever since (currently a GL). I didn't sell the PL, however, it was knocked from my hand in the street, and smashed against an unfortunately placed lamp post.

Secondly, I've bought an Olympus. My first ever camera was an OM-1, and I was sorry when it went (I think that was lost along with my Fuji GS645S, a Minox 35GT and various others when we were burgled nearly twenty years ago). I went off SLR photography, buying a DSLR when I was made redundant which never inspired me. But I've been using a Minolta and a Canon film SLR (the latter from the charity shop), so I looked for an OM-1 online and struck lucky with an OM-2SP, which is what I aspired to previously.

And, in buying a rangefinder, I considered going back to a Kiev, with it's lovely long-base RF before plumping for a Yashica Electro 35 GS, which is a camera I've never tried before.

[hepcat]

I love it when an old thread gets resurrected.

Having read the whole thread, I confess that over the past forty years I have in fact bought and sold pretty much the same kit now at least three, and maybe four times. And each time it was Leica. And each time it involved one body at a time and at least a 35-50-90 combo. I've had two M3s, an M2, an M4-2, M4, and now an M8, M9, and M4-P with eight lenses and a Visoflex III.

In between and concurrently there have been other systems: Canon EOS film, Hasselblad, Kiev 88CM and Olympus digital (plus a slew of individual bodies and lenses I bought and sold cheaply just because I wanted to play with them to see what they were about.) I also played with FSU rangefinders and lenses, but frankly that was mostly for fun as the bodies are klunky and difficult to use (IMHO.)

And now for why...

The past 40 years in photography have been unlike any other time in its history. From the development of the wet plate to the development of the M4, Hasselblad 500c, Nikon F, and Canon F1 cameras just hadn't changed much. Photography hadn't changed much. Negatives and cameras got smaller and more refined, but the technology remained similar. Pioneering 19th Century wet-plate photographers could have picked up an M4, F, or F-1 and been making images in minutes.

The world changed with the introduction of the Canon EOS 650 in 1987. Electronic cameras took over the world. The computerization of cameras and then digital imaging has turned the world of photography upside down. From the 1970s through the 1990s automation improved and auto features improved so significantly that sometimes auto focus and auto exposure could actually respond faster than I could. I sold my M4-2 kit and bought an EOS1 kit and didn't look back for over ten years.

Around 1998 I got out of the business. I sold my Hassy system. I sold most of my EOS system. I kept one EOS 1 and a couple of lenses. I just wanted a family snapshot maker, and returned to Leica and bought an M4... and the 35-50-90 setup.

Digital made it's debut... and started taking over. I got back into the business with Olympus DSLRs in 2003. I sold the last of the EOS1 gear, but kept my M4. After another year, and now being heavily invested in Olympus digital gear, I knew I'd never use the M4 again, and there was no sign of an affordable digital M on the scene, so I sold the kit. Big mistake as it turned out.

Now, another ten years has passed and digital has matured. Leica is in their third generation of digital. New ancillary technology is emerging. EVFs on mirrorless cameras are becoming the dominant market share. I've found that I don't like EVFs, not at all, and for a variety of reasons. Olympus is going down that mirrorless road now, and I suspect that their next flagship pro model may likely be mirrorless with an EVF. Further, Olympus had dropped most of its pro accessories; flash battery packs and other pro-only gear, so it's likely that their next "Pro" model would be even less "Pro"- oriented than the E-5. So, I was faced with a decision: a) play the waiting game until the current gear I had was hopelessly outdated in the digital world and lose my shirt if I liquidate; or b) stay with Olympus and potentially have to use a body I'll likely detest; or c) just sell it all and get out while the getting was good, my equipment still held value, and the Olympus pro-E line was still static. I chose plan c).

After evaluating all of the choices available and recognizing my life-long comfort with Leica M, re-buying my Leica kit in digital seemed like a reasonable option.

So, here I am again for the third or fourth time. It's like deja-vu all over again... and again... and again. This time, though, I'm a lot more mature, there isn't the market change we had twenty years ago looming on the horizon, and the technology has matured. I think I'm here to stay.

[Vickko]

Twice. Ha ha.
I think I've bought a chrome Nikon F with eye level prism for the twelfth time.
Never learn.
Maybe it is an addiction.