das
Well-known
I at least try to tell myself that I am going to "use" any film camera I pick up. I have definitely spent my fair share for the rehabilitation of camera gear, often unnecessarily versus the purchase of another one. I am happy, though, to support the camera repair industryOverhauls and CLAs are the bane of user-collectors. If I had a nickel for every camera I bought where the cost of repairing it exceeded the purchase price, I might not be rich, but I'd probably be able to take my wife out to a fancy dinner-Maybe I'll write an article on this subject--thanks for the inspiration.
.Duofold RF
Well-known
If invested the $400 in SP500 in 1975, today will worth $92748, that's enough to buy 13 lenses at $7000 each. The asking price is not the real market price.
ranger9
Well-known
We all have seller's-remorse stories (don't get me started on the 75mm f/1.5 Zeiss Biotar in LTM mount that I bought for $25 out of a camera-show "junk box") but when my pangs get too severe, I remind myself of this non-photo-related story: quite a few years ago I bought a dilapidated specimen of an Italian sports car called a Fiat-Abarth 1000. It wasn't expensive, but it was at the top of my price range and wiped out all of my fun-car budget. When I realized it had hundreds of faults that were far beyond both my means and my ability to fix, I took a deep breath and handed it over to a local enthusiast who promised to see if it could be parted out to help other Abarth owners. I later discovered he had sold it, at a profit, to an out-of-state collector.
I was furious about this until about a year later, when I heard from the collector who had bought it and was trying to trace its history. An Italian-car fanatic, he had treated it to the same sort of impossibly costly rotisserie restoration he previously had lavished on his collection of Ferraris and Lancias, and he was delighted with the results. He sent me photos of the glistening, flawless jewel my sad little car had become. I realized that if I had kept it and tried to do something with it myself, it would have ended its sorry life as an incompetent bodge job. By walking away, I had enabled it to be reborn as this beautiful thing that was delighting crowds at car shows. I decided to treat my minor financial loss as a contribution to the preservation of a work of art, and I was (and still am) proud of myself for doing the right thing.
I was furious about this until about a year later, when I heard from the collector who had bought it and was trying to trace its history. An Italian-car fanatic, he had treated it to the same sort of impossibly costly rotisserie restoration he previously had lavished on his collection of Ferraris and Lancias, and he was delighted with the results. He sent me photos of the glistening, flawless jewel my sad little car had become. I realized that if I had kept it and tried to do something with it myself, it would have ended its sorry life as an incompetent bodge job. By walking away, I had enabled it to be reborn as this beautiful thing that was delighting crowds at car shows. I decided to treat my minor financial loss as a contribution to the preservation of a work of art, and I was (and still am) proud of myself for doing the right thing.
quadtones
Established
Having once owned a Fiat-Abarth OT1000, I find myself wondering whether restoration and a shiny new coat of paint isn’t a little like putting lipstick on a …Oh never mind. But then, I do recall (and regret) trading my black Nikon SP, converted for motor drive, for a Leica M2 and 35mm Summicron. Well, at least I still have the Summicron, since CLA’d and 6-bit coded,
wlewisiii
Just another hotel clerk
Yep, my Nikon S2 needs one. I already knew that, just realized it needs it even more than I thought after a brief talk with Brian. Well, "so it goes and so it goes but where it's going no one knows.... " Time to play with the budget spreadsheet again.Overhauls and CLAs are the bane of user-collectors. If I had a nickel for every camera I bought where the cost of repairing it exceeded the purchase price, I might not be rich, but I'd probably be able to take my wife out to a fancy dinner-
Classic cameras and lenses are easier to work on than cars, and does not take up as much space. The tools are smaller.
Retro-Grouch
Mentor
They're also easier to hide from disapproving spouses.
wlewisiii
Just another hotel clerk
I stayed with classic cameras rather than classic computers and workstations! Of course, I also no longer have that spouse... I think we're both happier with those decisions.
Jason Schneider
the Camera Collector
Before I quit drinking 28 years ago I used to cry in my beer about selling the 1937 Packard 120 coupe I had bought in Altoona PA for the grand sum of $450 ( the seller thought the enginre black was cracked but it wasn't) to a collector friend for $450 plus the cost if shlepping it to NY. He did a frame uo restoration, which cost him $12k even back then, and the car is now valued at over $500k. In retrospect, back in the '60s I didn't have a place to store it nor the wherewithal to restore it, so what I did turned out to a cosmic good deed, namely saving an exquisite classic and turning t over to there right person. About 20 years ago I got to ride in it, and any recriminations I may have harbored were long gone.
Jason Schneider
the Camera Collector
Too bad about your long lost Voigtlander Color-Skopar (by Cosina) 35mm f/2--a very nice lens indeed.. FYI the Chiyoko Super Rokkor 35mm f/2 does perform on a par with the 50mm f/2 Summitar, but it's a 7-element, 6-group design more akin to the Summicron, than 7-element, 4-group Summitar. Since Leitz brought forth the original Summicron in 1953, the Chiyoko Super Rokkor (by Chiyoda Kogaku, later Minolta) of 1955 was "inspired" by the Summicron, not the other way around. As always, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
kermaier
Well-known
My spreadsheet of cameras and lenses always included a CLA column, in addition to Bought/Sold, to make sure I always fell into that trap with my eyes open. ;-)Overhauls and CLAs are the bane of user-collectors. If I had a nickel for every camera I bought where the cost of repairing it exceeded the purchase price, I might not be rich, but I'd probably be able to take my wife out to a fancy dinner-
ranger9
Well-known
I get ya, but on the other hand, cute little piglets are always crowd-pleasers at the county fair! More topically, a few months ago I came across a shiny, like-new Renault Caravelle in a parking lot, and it put a smile on my face... hardly anybody thinks Caravelles are worth saving, so hardly anybody saves them, making it a red-letter day if you happen to see a pretty one out in the wild. Of course, I'm the guy who used to own and use TWO Leningrads, in the hope that one of them would feel like working on the days the other was on strike and vice-versa, so my taste in cameras is just as suspect as my taste in cars...
The Minolta Chiyoko 50/2 is one that I bought two of, to resolve the question of the optical formula. I've seen the lens described in Minolta Literature as a Seven Element in Four Group 2-2-2-1 layout, just like the Summitar. AND I've seen the lens described as a seven in six, 1-1-1-1-2-1 layout. There are two versions of the lens, the earliest lenses use 40.5mm filters and most use 43mm filters. SO- maybe the formula changed? I bought one of the uncommon (very early) lenses with 40.5mm filters to find out. It needed internal haze removed, and was cheap.
www.rangefinderforum.com
Both versions of the lens are the same optical formula. The formula is a seven element in four group design, where the first two groups are air-spaced doublets in place of the Summitar cemented doublets. Kingslake "Lenses in Photography" mentions cemented groups, air-spaced groups, and oil-filled groups. The latter two allow a higher degree in freedom for the curvatures used to correct aberrations, compared to a cemented pair. MY WAG: Minolta took the design of the Summitar, originally an uncoated lens. Using coated optics, they could use air-spaced doublets in place of the cemented groups. These days- most people think of optical groups as always being cemented.
Minolta Chiyoko 5cm F2- Took one Apart
I've seen this lens listed as 7 elements in 4 groups, like a Summitar AND I've seen this lens listed as 7 elements in 6 groups. The early version of the lens takes 40.5mm filters, the later takes 43mm filters. I have a perfect condition late one, no need to take apart. Found a very early one on...
www.rangefinderforum.com
Both versions of the lens are the same optical formula. The formula is a seven element in four group design, where the first two groups are air-spaced doublets in place of the Summitar cemented doublets. Kingslake "Lenses in Photography" mentions cemented groups, air-spaced groups, and oil-filled groups. The latter two allow a higher degree in freedom for the curvatures used to correct aberrations, compared to a cemented pair. MY WAG: Minolta took the design of the Summitar, originally an uncoated lens. Using coated optics, they could use air-spaced doublets in place of the cemented groups. These days- most people think of optical groups as always being cemented.
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wlewisiii
Just another hotel clerk
What I note, is that it acts like the Summitar - especially wide open - not like the Summitar. The Summitar is much more well behaved which is what most people want, admittedly, but that wide open behavior is so much more fun
Peter Jennings
Well-known
Mmmm. I lucked upon a like-new Konica Pearl IV on the Japan auction site for a bargain about 7 years ago. It was nice, but I sold it a couple years later. Sometimes, it's the hunt that drives the hunter, and not the kill. I think my hunting days are over. I haven't bought a camera body in about 4 years now.
wlewisiii
Just another hotel clerk
My wallet keeps trying to convince me that I should be the same but then I see something else that magpies me ...
Jason Schneider
the Camera Collector
Ah, the Leningrad! That great Russian spring motor drive hulk is indeed an unreliable beast, and I commend your pluck in trying to press one into service. If you want a vintage interchangeable lens 35mm rangefinder camera with a built-in mechanical motor, I suggest you "spring" for a Bell & Howell Foton or (my favorite) a Robot Royal 36S. Unfortunately, a clean working Foton or a Robot Royal 36S with the superb 50mm f/2 Sonnar lens, will set you back about $1,500-$2,000 these days.
ranger9
Well-known
And after springing for a Foton, I'd need to cough up about the same amount if I wanted a 4-inch/100mm lens to go with it. If I need to take film pictures in rapid succession, I guess I'll just keep squeezing the trigger on my Canon VI-T...