Pristine used field cameras... are they hangar queens?

[Turner Reich]

So am I just naturally careless or are some of these folks not ever actually using these cameras after spending all that money on them?

Yes it looks like you are naturally careless. That said I use all of my equipment with care, from the old and used to the mint new. It's a method of working and an attitude. Take care of your equipment and it will take care of you.

[Carioca]

It all ends up to one question:
Do you shoot, or do you collect.

What I haven't used in the past 12 months, I sell.

[Gem Singer]

Walter 23,

I go out shooting here in northern Texas almost every Sat. morning, along with two or three of my buddies. Twelve months out of the year, regardless of the weather conditions. They shoot with 4X5 Linhof Techs, and I shoot with a Canham 5X7 Traditional and/or a Canham 8X10 Traditional.

I use one, or more of my cameras, depending in the subject matter, lighting conditions, etc. Sometimes I even shoot medium format, or digital. One of my buddies was using his Nikon 35mm camera last weekend.

However, I always do my best not to abuse my valuable camera equipment. I have been photographing for sixty-three years and I have never dropped a lens or seriously damaged a camera.

[Brian Ellis]

You didn't say that your gear was damaged in any way, just dusty. Dust it off and you'd have a pristine, like new, camera just like you see occasionally on ebay (assuming there was no previous damage to it). You can use a camera without turning it into a beater.

[Lachlan 717]

Only thing that I do when I get a new camera is put Gaffer Tape around the tripod hole before I mount the quick release tripod plate. This generally stops the circular scratching that tends to come from (even minimal) movement of the camera around the tripod head...

Whilst I mostly think that people's fascination with pristine tripod plates is misplaced, I do believe that a mint 'dorf plate is a thing of beauty!

[Renato Tonelli]

I would say that if a 10+ year-old camera is in mint condition, it hasn't been used much.
I am very careful with my equipment and always clean it up after a day of shooting but things happen. The Wisner 4x5 I purchased when it first came out was pristine until this past Summer when the tripod mounting plate scratched the bottom by being less than my methodical self. This annoyed me to no end. It still annoys me. I had loaned the tripod to a friend and needed to use another tripod with a different plate. Most of my cameras have some signs of use, but not abuse (except the Wisner which I use less than the others).
The tripod is another matter altogether. It is used and abused on a regular basis: river/stream beds, mud, hard rock, cow and sheep dung. Because a tripod has gotta-go where it has gotta-go to get that shot!

[picker77]

You didn't say that your gear was damaged in any way, just dusty. Dust it off and you'd have a pristine, like new, camera just like you see occasionally on ebay (assuming there was no previous damage to it). You can use a camera without turning it into a beater.

Nope, it's not damaged at all. OTOH this old camera is as near bulletproof as 4x5's get (Super Speed Graphic). Can't say the same for my skin. The barbed wire fence was new, and sharp as razor blades. I probably could have gotten the shots from outside the fence but somehow that seemed like cheating. Like most people I take good care of my stuff, partly because I like to take good care of my stuff, and partly because I can't always afford to replace it.