Camera Collecting, The Incurable Passion, How to know if you’re a camera collector and what you can do about it.

Retro-Grouch said:
DownUnder's post raises the difficult question, for those of us getting along in years, of where our beloved analog cameras will go when we're gone. I'm thinking of making mine a donation to any higher education institution that has a good photography program as part of their Fine Arts Department; for me, the University of New Mexico is in my back yard and would be a great choice.
Now, the thought of some 18 year old photo student manhandling my precious Hasselblads and Rolleis makes my stomach churn, particularly as I manned the Photo Dept. tool crib in college; many a student-mangled Leica passed through my hands. But if someone could develop a passion for analog photography by using (and even abusing!) those cameras, I suppose it would be for the best. Better than the dumpster, for sure, but the time to make those arrangements is now.
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My personal encounters with camera club members and fine arts (photo major) university students have led me to the conclusion that I will be doing one of two things with my own collection. This decision I have arrived at after much thought and a fair few discussions with my partner, whose relatives in Asia would (here I do not say "will" which is relevant) likely not use them and sell them off.

All this taken under due consideration, bearing in mind that when I am no longer here I will have no control over how my things are disposed of anyway, so all that follows in this post is entirely theoretical, I will do one of the following -

As well, after having contacted and (very briefly) discussed this matter with the relevant administrators (most were little interested or even politely dismissive of my queries and my offer anyway, which does say a lot) here in Australia my collection after being donated to a university or college photo faculty, will likely be sold off. Which I can easily do myself and pocket the proceeds for my own use. So!

2. Directly moving on from the previous point, selling the lot and indulging in a pleasant holiday (with my partner), probably our last visit to the southern countries of Europe where life is enjoyable and costs lower than those other more "cultural" countries further up north. My cameras even if sold as an entire lot at the best possible prices on today's market, would not come close to funding such a voyage as we would be away for at least two months. But it would pay for a fair few luxuries like days spent on Mediterranean beaches, good seafood lunches and afternoons in shaded cafes sipping the local wines. Life is short and I feel a duty to my partner to make it as mightily sweet as I can afford. Selling my collections would help me achieve this.

My various other collections will be sold by my estate. At this stage I am unsure as to what these are worth but my executor has kindly offered to take this in hand when I am no longer here to annoy and bother and harrass her over the minutiae of what she will have to do on my (by then departed) behalf.

Now let us return to cameras...

In summing up all this, I collected the lot and more importantly I paid for them. Hence the final decision as to how to dispose of them and more importantly to us, how to spend the money made by such a sale, will stay with me. Fair is fair.
 
A small correction to my previous post (#41).

Re the paragraph
"1. Donating my collection to someone who is likely to cherish it. No likely candidates on m list as well. Unlikely to be family as they are all dici-heads and money-minded, so my collection would be quickly disposed of at whatever prices the local secondhand shops (in Kuala Lumpur) offered. Which doesn't please me at all."

I meant to write "digi-heads" and not "dici-heads". The latter is too cose to a certain common insult term which would likely get me eliminated in a family coup.

Apologies to all for the mis-spelling. I've noticed that small word errors tend to creep into many of my postings, which I attribute to a combination of old age and a little too much good red wine in the evenings.

As usual my MacBook Air(head) did me in (this is my standard excuse in our household) but I really must learn to read what I write more carefully before posting...
 
I'm the anti-collector, a camera ascetic. If it isn't being used I don't want it around.

Here's a Psychology Today article on collecting by a neuroscientist and collector: Collecting: An Urge That’s Hard to Resist

Although we're basically all the same, how different we can be. I guess what lights up the pleasure centers of my brain is minimalism and utilitarianism.

But Happy Collecting to you! :)

John
 
Quote “Collectors also gather what they consider treasures to enhance their network of friends; in other words, they have a social motivation for collecting. Perhaps their love of objects came first; then, somewhere along the line, they realize there are people like themselves. They may find them independently or join organizations for like-minded people. Friendships forged through these vehicles no doubt expand social lives.”
 
Collecting is just another social lubricant. When I rode a motorcycle strangers would come up to me and start conversations and I would get invited to rides, BBQs, biker bar hangouts. I met so many friends and I didn’t even try. When I have a Leica around my neck somewhere on this planet another other person with a Leica would inevitably start a conversation. With Leica groups there would be Tupperware parties of sorts where these guys would show off their M2 black paint or some exotic optics. People are lonely for friends I guess. It can be watches or hi end audio.
 
KoNickon said:
Some people collect wine, which is designed to be consumed. A different philosophy.
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Been there, but unless you are wealthy enough to have a huge cellar, the "Collection" can disappear quite quickly. Some of my friends and relatives think of me as a wine collector, having a refrigerated cellar which holds about 100 bottles, but in truth, these are meant for the future enjoyment, as I have found most today go to the grocery or their local wine shop to buy a bottle or two and drink them that night. At the price of a fine red wine today, I feel they are wasting their $ as most are still being made to last 15-20 years, whether you decide to keep them that long or not. My oldest bottles are from the 2005 vintage, but the vast majority are from 2016, 2018, and just getting into some 2019's, again mostly Californian cabs and blends, as my days of affording any Classified Growths from Bordeaux have ended. When I started drinking decent wine (beyond Boone's farm), I was able to afford a 2nd through 5th growth Bordeaux and the occasional splurge of a 1st growth now and then. At the current prices of at least $700-1200 a bottle of 1st growths today, I am not in that tax bracket..... and haven't been, forever! Any of my most valuable cameras would have a hard time achieving a sale price of a Chateau Lafitte bottle. With that being said, there's still a great enjoyment of opening a 15 yr old bottle and finding how great it has evolved. On the other hand, maybe also finding a bottle upon opening, that was probably bad from the start....
 
I've taken most of the items that I've collected apart, to find out how they work and what makes them different.
On some- discovered undocumented changes introduced during the production run. Existing written information regarding some - simply incorrect.

When I was a kid, I took apart most of my toys. Got pretty good at putting them together again. With cameras and lenses- put them back together in a condition better than before taking apart, at least 98% of the time.
 
Sonnar Brian said:
I've taken most of the items that I've collected apart, to find out how they work and what makes them different.
On some- discovered undocumented changes introduced during the production run. Existing written information regarding some - simply incorrect.

When I was a kid, I took apart most of my toys. Got pretty good at putting them together again. With cameras and lenses- put them back together in a condition better than before taking apart, at least 98% of the time.
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I took my toys apart, too, but never got to the part about putting them back together. Sometimes others' toys as well; my father's stopwatch suffered the same fate at my hands. Fortunately, with age, I've gotten a bit better at part two.
 
hilltime said:
... there's still a great enjoyment of opening a 15 yr old bottle and finding how great it has evolved. On the other hand, maybe also finding a bottle upon opening, that was probably bad from the start.
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Think of it as expensive balsamic vinegar. Wonderful stuff on fresh green salads or marinating vegetables...
 
Dralowid said:
Age has a lot to do with it, your age that is, not the equipment's. As Retro Grouch says, it becomes important to get rid of stuff because the next generation will not attach the same value to it as you did. Sell, donate or whatever, just don't imagine your children will cherish boxes full of equipment that is no longer relevant unless it has a very close family provenance.
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Nice! After reading your post, the sendup of an old song keeps repeating in my head, “Sell all your stuff, it’s later than you think!” There are no pockets, or neck straps, in a shroud, eh?
 
Jason Schneider said:
Nice! After reading your post, the sendup of an old song keeps repeating in my head, “Sell all your stuff, it’s later than you think!” There are no pockets, or neck straps, in a shroud, eh?
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You should start another thread entitled: 'What cameras will you find in Hell when you get there?' or was that a track from a long forgotten Paul Butterfield Blues Band album?!
 
I
DownUnder said:
My personal encounters with camera club members and fine arts (photo major) university students have led me to the conclusion that I will be doing one of two things with my own collection. This decision I have arrived at after much thought and a fair few discussions with my partner, whose relatives in Asia would (here I do not say "will" which is relevant) likely not use them and sell them off.

All this taken under due consideration, bearing in mind that when I am no longer here I will have no control over how my things are disposed of anyway, so all that follows in this post is entirely theoretical, I will do one of the following -

As well, after having contacted and (very briefly) discussed this matter with the relevant administrators (most were little interested or even politely dismissive of my queries and my offer anyway, which does say a lot) here in Australia my collection after being donated to a university or college photo faculty, will likely be sold off. Which I can easily do myself and pocket the proceeds for my own use. So!

2. Directly moving on from the previous point, selling the lot and indulging in a pleasant holiday (with my partner), probably our last visit to the southern countries of Europe where life is enjoyable and costs lower than those other more "cultural" countries further up north. My cameras even if sold as an entire lot at the best possible prices on today's market, would not come close to funding such a voyage as we would be away for at least two months. But it would pay for a fair few luxuries like days spent on Mediterranean beaches, good seafood lunches and afternoons in shaded cafes sipping the local wines. Life is short and I feel a duty to my partner to make it as mightily sweet as I can afford. Selling my collections would help me achieve this.

My various other collections will be sold by my estate. At this stage I am unsure as to what these are worth but my executor has kindly offered to take this in hand when I am no longer here to annoy and bother and harrass her over the minutiae of what she will have to do on my (by then departed) behalf.

Now let us return to cameras...

In summing up all this, I collected the lot and more importantly I paid for them. Hence the final decision as to how to dispose of them and more importantly to us, how to spend the money made by such a sale, will stay with me. Fair is fair.
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I never realized until now that collecting cameras (or anything) had such close connections with our mortality. However it runs much deeper than merely how we assign and dispose of our worldly goods. On the surface, the act of collecting is focused on accumulating material possessions, but its ultimate aim is transcendent, namely elevating the material to some semblance of the eternal. The fact that we must inevitably leave our collections behind when we shuffle off this mortal coil does not diminish the passion, love, appreciation, and humanity they represent.
 
I am not a camera collector. However I do fall into a 'specialised' category in that I have a collection of Grubb lenses which originate from Dublin, Ireland and date from the 1860s onwards. Condition is not a consideration and at least one has its glass missing. Much of the attraction is the associated history and research required to understand how and why they were made and the politics behind how they were received at the time. Its a complex story and having worked on it for years and having so far written about 30k words I feel that there is plenty more to appreciate. Grubb is most likely the originator of the Rapid Rectilinear lens although he did not patent it. Snap taken on a 1950s Summarit .....
Grubb Lenses.jpg
 
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pgk said:
I am not a camera collector. However I do fall into a 'specialised' category in that I have a collection of Grubb lenses which originate from Dublin, Ireland and date from the 1860s onwards. Condition is not a consideration and at least one has its glass missing. Much of the attraction is the associated history and research required to understand how and why they were made and the politics behind how they were received at the time. Its a complex story and having worked on it for years and having so far written about 30k words I feel that there is plenty more to appreciate. Grubb is most likely the originator of the Rapid Rectilinear lens although he did not patent it. Snap taken on a 1950s Summarit .....
View attachment 4832526
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Very Nice Grubb lens collection indeed! According to Wikipedia the Rapid Rectilinear was "introduced by John Henry Dallmeyer in 1866" and "its symmetrical design reduces radial distortion, improving on the Petzval lens." However, The RR was generally limited to a slow maximum aperture of f/8. At f/16 it's quite sharp, capturing images with excellent detail, moderate contrast, and gorgeous rendition. The Wikipedia entry doesn't conclusively state that Dallmeyer invented the RR , so perhaps Grubb was an early proponent.
 
Jason Schneider said:
Very Nice Grubb lens collection indeed! According to Wikipedia the Rapid Rectilinear was "introduced by John Henry Dallmeyer in 1866" and "its symmetrical design reduces radial distortion, improving on the Petzval lens." However, The RR was generally limited to a slow maximum aperture of f/8. At f/16 it's quite sharp, capturing images with excellent detail, moderate contrast, and gorgeous rendition. The Wikipedia entry doesn't conclusively state that Dallmeyer invented the RR , so perhaps Grubb was an early proponent.
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The original patent by Dallmeyer was not for a symmetrical design. I have two Grubb Doublets from 1865 which are similar though and which I am trying to figure out (Grubb Patent and portrait lens combination apparently). Kingland comments on the similarity of the RR and two Grubb Patent lenses symmetrically arranged about the aperture stop. But Dallmeyer was the person who patented his design in 1866. Its a complicated, messy story and one which unleashed controversy in the photographic press of the time. It seems that we have been arguing over the merits of lenses since photography began!
 
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