Old Photo Gear

Greetings,

And what do you do with your old photo gear?

By default I haven’t done anything with mine for soooo many years. Guess I’m reluctant to dump or give away gear I spent what seemed like a lot of money at the time.

Like some of us I’m sure … I was once an avid film photographer. I still have a Kodak Retina IIIc fold-up camera … a little gem … that I bought from a Chief Petty Officer in my Navy days … in the 1950s!

Later on I went the Minolta route and still have a matched pair of SR-T202 SLRs … followed by another matched pair of nifty black Minolta X700 SLRs. Why two if each you might ask? Simple … one for color film … the other for B&W. Ah yes ...

Along the way … one of my late Mom’s friends didn’t know what to do with a Minolta XG-something or other … plus a Leica M-something or other rangefinder that I was given. They’re put away in some closet. Oh … I’m guarding that Leica well … I know that’s worth something … or I may just keep it for it’s beauty and craftsmanship..

Why I even uncovered an Argus-Cosina 708 movie Super-8 (I think) camera with external movie light. Mein Gott ... that thing was bright!!

I have a mini chest-of-drawers … plus some of those see-thru hard plastic file boxes … chock full of photo accessories of all kinds … remember Spiratone? A lot of it is probably junk I’ll never use but there may be some gems in there.

Some may even consider some of my stuff as collector’s items. I’ve just never gotten around to going through it. This may change very soon since my wife and I are planning to move from Flushing, Queens to the Bay Ridge section of Brooklyn within a year. Ah ... the ship-spotting that awaits me there!

As for getting rid some of my vintage photo gear … I’m not good at that … so I haven’t even considered E-Bay or something such. I don’t know the first thing about selling such stuff … it’s probable worth … how to get the best deal ... etc, etc.

What about your old photo gear?

Mike (shamrock838)

i still own my father's old zenit 35mm film slr and the two lenses i have for it. the little point and shoot film is at the bottom of the pacific while my digital fell out of the car somewhere along the BQE a year or so ago.


from now on though, i will not be getting rid of nikon. i spent too much money investing in my kit and may eventually replace the body.

I've got some old 35mm stuff from my dad, which I have sitting around in a bag in my closet. I actually used the AE-1 a few times (I originally used it alongside my P&S, which made it clear I really needed a DSLR) but the camera's ISO ring is broken (always flings itself back to ISO 3200) which means the camera's metering is basically useless. I've since picked up a used film EOS SLR, so I don't have much use for that one anymore. I should bring it along with me sometime when I'm shooting something fairly static, and just use the DSLR to do the metering.