How many cameras is too many.

Devil#20

My approach to photography is that good glass is good glass. Cameras ger better over time and you upgrade. Well that's what I've done. The only flaw in that approach was when I upgraded my camera I ended up not selling the old one and keeping it as a spare or waiting until I was up to speed on the new one. In a case of rinse and repeat I've now ended up with 9 Nikons (6 Compact DSLRs, 2 Full Frame DSLR's and 1 Full Frame mirrorless) which is just ridiculous.

However, if I decide to sell the older ones and just keep the best 3 I'll end up selling them for, in some cases, 20% of their value new. They all work and all are more flexible and take better photographs than any mobile phone. The hassle of selling them and what I'd get for them balanced against what they are capable of as a fully functional and capable tool tells me I should keep them. The cheapest one (D40x) cost £400 new and I'd be lucky to get £50 for it now, sits in the boot of the car along with a tripod in case I come across something to shoot when out and about so if it got damaged it's not great loss. The others are all much better cameras. 

Anybody else on here can relate to that and has ended up in the same boat with their cameras or have you just thought sod it and sold them on for peanuts? I know some of us have been through this loop with guitars but at least that's easier insofar as guitars depreciation is a hell of a lot lower so you don't take so much of a financial hit with them. 

Keep or get rid?

octatonic

945

mo6020

I don't keep them if I'm not using them.

RaymondLin

I have....in no particular order

Canon EOS 30 film camera (it was my first camera, paid new)
Nikon FM2 (used)
Olympus OM2 (used and broken)
Sony A73 (new)
Sony A73 (new)
Sony A7R3 (used)
Fuji X100 (used)
Fuji X100VI (new)
Fuji X-T1 (used)
Fuji X-Pro1 (used)
Fuji X-S10 (used)
Olympus XZ-1 * (new)


*randomly, I just checked, why on earth does this decade old compact almost as much as I paid for it 10 years ago?! LOL damn hipsters !
 
I have no plans selling the ones I bought new, yet, got them at bottom of the market and they are not losing any money.  The A73 are work cameras are will be replaced when the time comes.  I see those as tools, the others I see them as "toys".

Devil#20

octatonic said:

945

You have 945 cameras!? 

Devil#20

RaymondLin said:

I have....in no particular order

Canon EOS 30 film camera (it was my first camera, paid new)
Nikon FM2 (used)
Olympus OM2 (used)
Sony A73 (new)
Sony A73 (new)
Sony A7R3 (used)
Fuji X100 (used)
Fuji X100VI (new)
Fuji X-T1 (used)
Fuji X-Pro1 (used)
Fuji X-S10 (used
Olympus XZ-1 * (new)


*randomly, I just checked, why on earth does this decade old compact almost as much as I paid for it 10 years ago?! LOL damn hipsters !
 
I have no plans selling the ones I bought new, yet, got them at bottom of the market and they are not losing any money.  The A73 are work cameras are will be replaced when the time comes.  I see those as tools, the others I see them as "toys".

I forgot about my film cameras. In that case I also have an Olympus OM1 and a Canon A1. 

dazzajl

If those were my old bodies, I’d get buy in quotes from WEX and MPB. If they add up to the cost of a lens you’d like, trade them in for something you’d use. Try not to think about the individual values compared to the new price. 

octatonic

Devil#20 said:

octatonic said:

945

You have 945 cameras!? 

No.
But that would definitely be too many.

Strumit

I bought a full Nikon D5000 setup with three lenses (two zooms) after years of film stuff, only to find that I hated all the menus, sub-menus, digital processing and computer mumbo jumbo.  Yes, you can edit, print etc., to you hearts content but I used to quite like sorting the wheat from the chaff in the old days.  Now, I use my phone!  Anyone want to buy another camera setup?

guyinlyon

Devil#20 said:

Keep or get rid?

If you're not going to see much money from them, how about giving the unwanted cameras away?

You could try finding a student or five that would like a decent camera but cannot afford one.

I've done that with a number of old cameras, the analog film ones and the digital ones.

The young 'artists' like the analog film cameras, but the person that really seemed to appreciate it the most was the ten year old that got a pretty decent Canon compact digital camera. He loves it and always has it with him, taking pictures, some of which are excellent.

S56035

About 1 less than whatever the number of guitars is too many.

Funkfingers

octatonic said:

945

As distinct from 645 or 6x6?

Devil#20

guyinlyon said:

Devil#20 said:

Keep or get rid?

If you're not going to see much money from them, how about giving the unwanted cameras away?

You could try finding a student or five that would like a decent camera but cannot afford one.

I've done that with a number of old cameras, the analog film ones and the digital ones.

The young 'artists' like the analog film cameras, but the person that really seemed to appreciate it the most was the ten year old that got a pretty decent Canon compact digital camera. He loves it and always has it with him, taking pictures, some of which are excellent.

Yes. I've thought about doing that. I'm planning to give one to my nephew who seems to have shown aptitude to photo taking on his phone, another on permanent loan to one mate and I can probably convince another mate to junk his bridge camera and have another one. Some, in fairness, I will get a few hundred each for so might trade those in with MPB and get another z lens for the mirrorless. 

Brio

Keep lenses. Dump cameras.

Haych

My dad is a very keen camera collector and all round is very interested in photography.

I remember growing up, he would collect cameras sure that they were a solid investment - he had all sorts, Mamiya 645 systems, Mamiya 67 systems, some really nice and really old TLRs which were a work of art, and the usual everyday Canon SLRs, A1s AE1s, FT QL and a whole host of other bodies, lenses, and associated kit.  He even had a plethora of darkroom equipment, which was fab as a teenage me, I used to love developing my own B&W negatives and prints - they were all awful, but the process was good fun.

Then digital photography was born and the value fell out of all of it overnight.  He still has more cameras than Jessops and is still acquiring stuff even well into his 80s, but all the classic stuff he sold at a massive loss a few years back.  My heart broke for him.

Modern camera gear comes and goes faster than the changing of seasons.  It's largely unnecessary, I don't think IQ is getting better at exponential rates any more, even if manufacturers pack more and more MPs into their latest body.

I have a photo taken on a Fuji S2 at 6.3 megapixels which prints to 10 X 8 without any issue at all.  I have another favourite taken on a Canon D30 - a whopping 3 megapixels, shot at ISO1600, which can just about make it to A4 dimensions without looking terrible - yes it's grainy/noisy and lacks a bit of definition, but it's still a wonderful portrait and unless you were looking at it with a view to scrutinising you'd probably never notice.

I suppose low light performance and dynamic range has got a lot better in recent years, and lens technology and focusing systems have come on leaps and bounds, but I do still wonder how far camera makers can push things before things plateau.

richman6100

I've often given older cameras away as technological advancements inevitably make them obsolete eventually. As @guyinlyon suggests, students often really appreciate them and I've found that to be the case.

I still own my Nikon F3HP film SLR and my first digital camera (an Olympus E-1) for nostalgic reasons, but I haven't used either in many years. Back in the day, I mainly shot large and medium format film, but I haven't missed those cameras at all.

I'm still shooting a DSLR. I may well be dragged into the 'modern era' at some point and buy a high end mirrorless, but my Nikon D810 is pretty good and I'm used to how it feels and operates. Haptics are important to me and the D810 is spot on for me. 

I've still got most of the better glass I've owned because it continues to serve me well and I really can't afford or justify replacing it with newer versions which offer minimal improvements.

I guess I see camera gear primarily as tools. If it still delivers, keep it. If it doesn't and someone else would benefit from it, move it on, either for the small amount of cash it'll bring, or gratis to the next generation.

Devil#20

Haych said:

My dad is a very keen camera collector and all round is very interested in photography.

I remember growing up, he would collect cameras sure that they were a solid investment - he had all sorts, Mamiya 645 systems, Mamiya 67 systems, some really nice and really old TLRs which were a work of art, and the usual everyday Canon SLRs, A1s AE1s, FT QL and a whole host of other bodies, lenses, and associated kit.  He even had a plethora of darkroom equipment, which was fab as a teenage me, I used to love developing my own B&W negatives and prints - they were all awful, but the process was good fun.

Then digital photography was born and the value fell out of all of it overnight.  He still has more cameras than Jessops and is still acquiring stuff even well into his 80s, but all the classic stuff he sold at a massive loss a few years back.  My heart broke for him.

Modern camera gear comes and goes faster than the changing of seasons.  It's largely unnecessary, I don't think IQ is getting better at exponential rates any more, even if manufacturers pack more and more MPs into their latest body.

I have a photo taken on a Fuji S2 at 6.3 megapixels which prints to 10 X 8 without any issue at all.  I have another favourite taken on a Canon D30 - a whopping 3 megapixels, shot at ISO1600, which can just about make it to A4 dimensions without looking terrible - yes it's grainy/noisy and lacks a bit of definition, but it's still a wonderful portrait and unless you were looking at it with a view to scrutinising you'd probably never notice.

I suppose low light performance and dynamic range has got a lot better in recent years, and lens technology and focusing systems have come on leaps and bounds, but I do still wonder how far camera makers can push things before things plateau.

Yes the bottom did drop out of the film camera market overnight. However, in the race for more pixels then the older DSLRs have similarly become relatively worthless despite, as you say, they can still take bloody good photos. There are the odd cult cameras that seem to have bucked the trend like the Fuji X100v 'n' that for some reason but generally second hand they aren't worth 'owt after a few years. Even the Sheldon Cooper "mint in box" ones. 

RaymondLin

I forgot I have these two !!!

AK99

richman6100 said:

I still own my Nikon F3HP film SLR and my first digital camera (an Olympus E-1) for nostalgic reasons, but I haven't used either in many years. Back in the day, I mainly shot large and medium format film, but I haven't missed those cameras at all.

Funny - I still have my old Nikon F3P too. Bought it used off a photographer who used it to shoot pictures for home-shopping catalogues back in the day when he moved to digital. Fortunately/unfortunately it was before the days of shutter counts - I suspect the thing would run into the hundreds of thousands

Lovely old thing. Batterred and brassed all over, but still feels like it was put together in a Swiss watch factory. Pretty sure I'll never shoot anything else with it - but couldn't ever throw it out.

richman6100

I had a surprisingly good Mamiya C330 many, many years ago. Parallax issues aside, it actually gave some of the Hasselblad gear I used a run for its money optically. As did a fine Bronica SQA. Sold them just before the bottom fell out of the market and I got enough money for them to buy a second hand car at the time. Had I waited a year or so, they'd probably have been nearly worthless.

I have fond memories of my first camera, an Ilford Sportsman (http://camera-wiki.org/wiki/Ilford_Sportsman), even though it was a piece of crap. 

richman6100

AK99 said:

richman6100 said:

I still own my Nikon F3HP film SLR and my first digital camera (an Olympus E-1) for nostalgic reasons, but I haven't used either in many years. Back in the day, I mainly shot large and medium format film, but I haven't missed those cameras at all.

Funny - I still have my old Nikon F3P too. Bought it used off a photographer who used it to shoot pictures for home-shopping catalogues back in the day when he moved to digital. Fortunately/unfortunately it was before the days of shutter counts - I suspect the thing would run into the hundreds of thousands

Lovely old thing. Batterred and brassed all over, but still feels like it was put together in a Swiss watch factory. Pretty sure I'll never shoot anything else with it - but couldn't ever throw it out.

 My F3HP is in pretty much mint condition because I mainly used larger formats. I kid myself that it'll be worth something one day, but that's probably wishful thinking. As you say, impeccably built though.