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Eric Woodbury
22-Jan-2017, 16:33
Hi all. I'm a camera junkie. I admit it. Mostly I shoot 4x5 and 5x7. Lately I have been warming up the 8x10. And I shoot a far amount of 6x7 cm or 6x9 cm. I shoot very little 35mm and have a hard time finishing a roll, but when I checked my stock in the file cabinet, I have 10ea 35mm cameras of all types, from Nikonos to Contax to Hexar to Rollei 35. I even call it "dirty-five". There are two junk 35s in that collection that I'm going to sell or give, cameras that friends bought at garage sales and in their wisdom gave to me.

How many is too many? Should I join cameras anonymous?

Happy shooting friends, EW

Luis-F-S
22-Jan-2017, 17:23
Ok so how many enlarging timers do you have?

Two23
22-Jan-2017, 17:24
My rule of thumb is if I haven't used it in two years, I should sell it. (Unless, like my 1928 Voigtlander Bergheil with Heliar, it's much too cool to sell.)


Kent in SD

jp
22-Jan-2017, 17:39
I've gotten rid of most of my 35mm film cameras. Except for the f4s I bought as a teenager and spent a whole summers earnings on and is now worthless on the market but has good memories for me. I've sold most of my 35mm film except for a few rolls for doing fixer tests with little pieces and in case I want to use the Nikon. Digital cameras I sell or give away when I upgrade. MF and LF is more than enough to keep cameras for. I'm thinking of cutting back on MF to just a couple rolleiflexes and a brownie and holga.

Eric Woodbury
22-Jan-2017, 17:55
Luis, too many. My excuse there is I invented Metrolux. So all I have are the same, but 3 different models.

Luis-F-S
22-Jan-2017, 18:02
Luis, too many. My excuse there is I invented Metrolux. So all I have are the same, but 3 different models.

Yup, I know, I only have 4 Metrolux, 2 1's and 2 2's. I'd love to use one with my DeVere 5108, but I haven't figured out how to insert a probe without driling a hole which I don't want to do. Also don't think it would handle the 1250 watt load.

My rule of thumb is if I haven't used something in 20 years, I keep it just in case I might need it in the next 20! You can't be too careful with this stuff! L

Leszek Vogt
22-Jan-2017, 18:22
Not sure I'd follow this advise :>), but sell everything (maybe with with exception of a lens/camera that have most meaning)....then get what you REALLY need.

Les

Fr. Mark
22-Jan-2017, 20:54
I may be on your trail: 2 1950's 35mm cameras that real should go, my beloved OM-1 that I got as a teen but which is not 100% reliable anymore, two thrift store finds: Olympus XA & Nikon FM, another Nikon I bought at a fundraiser and kind of wish I hadn't, it's not a bad camera but it isn't great either. A Busch Pressman D which I might use more with a longer lens and a reliable shutter. , A Sinar P (keeper) 4x5 & 5x7 (and plans to build an 8x10 kit for or buy one), a half plate camera, a field 8x10 being restored, a home built studio 8x10, and close to a dozen pinhole cameras. Plus a couple digital cameras and phone. And, I still think I want a go hiking whole plate camera, a panoramic camera, (?8x20?, 7x14?), and a 14x17. Oh and for when family is along, a Rollei. Since I like contact prints, increasingly I think 8x10 or whole plate might be where I settle. I'd rather not scan or enlarge but the Rollei is just such an amazing piece of gear.

John Kasaian
22-Jan-2017, 21:19
Last count: 1 digi, 1 35mm, 1 MF, 1 4x5, 5(!) 5x7, 2 8x10, 1 9x9, 1 12x20.

It's an illness.
I have a very understanding bride.

Alan Gales
22-Jan-2017, 23:14
Last count: 1 digi, 1 35mm, 1 MF, 1 4x5, 5(!) 5x7, 2 8x10, 1 9x9, 1 12x20.

It's an illness.
I have a very understanding bride.

John, you forgot to mention the turkey, block of cheese, watermelon, and who knows what else! :cool:

Pamelageewhizz
23-Jan-2017, 01:19
Ah, ya'll make me feel so normal! Currently one 8x10 Kodak 2d, a Mamyia 330, a Mamyia 33, and a new to me Pentax K1000 which is a replacement for the one I'd bought in 1978 but was stolen by a gopher while using it as a light meter (broke a meter the day before) with the LF. Had set the Pentax down to move the tripod and camera up the hill, came back and it was gone. And a dead Kodak Brownie. Oh, and a second pentax k 1000 I'd gotten off craigslist to replace the first one but it doesn't work at all so I've turned it into a pin hole camera. Oops, there is also a mamiya 6. A couple home made pinhole cameras.
As far as timers, a grablite for the darkroom/bedroom and a kitchen timer for developing film.
And of course two enlargers, a Durst M600 and an Omega C11.

don mishler
23-Jan-2017, 03:27
I may be coming to the end of my camera buying days as I have more than I can use but the need for different lenses to try never ends


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

don mishler
23-Jan-2017, 03:31
BTW: I have four enlargers in my darkroom, two more in storage and eight or nine timers around somewhere


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Christopher Barrett
23-Jan-2017, 05:32
Oh man... I've got it bad...

Arca 8x10 F-Metric, Arca 4x5 F-Line, Arca Mf2, Arca Universalis, Chamonix 4x10, 'Blad 501 CM, 'Blad XPan II, Leica CL, Sony A7r2, Fuji XT1

I also really kinda want the Rollei Hy6... ooh and a Rolleiflex too!!!

Lately I'm finding myself really addicted to glass. For the LF stuff, I have about 10 lenses.

jnantz
23-Jan-2017, 05:33
i bought another camera a few months ago, it was a parts camera for something i got 15-16 years before
( and had been looking for ever since ). the original one came in a box i bought on ebay the auction title was " 19th century darkroom"
had brayes with no rubber, ferrotyping plates, ceramic trays and other do-dads that i paid more to ship than the closing price,
the parts-camera i found on etsy ... it probably won't be the last camera related-thing i buy ..
thankfully most of the things i purchase are junk-cameras or things i can donate or break even selling when the time comes..

Michael Graves
23-Jan-2017, 06:56
Ten 35mm cameras? That's all? I have more Nikons than that! My excuse is that that I'm a collector. Until I get my hands back collecting is about all I'll do unless it's a tiny little digital. I've been able to manage that somewhat.

Randy
23-Jan-2017, 07:36
Last count was a tad over 50 cameras, from 8X10, 4X5, 6X9, 6X6, 35mm. I often tell myself to get rid of 90% of them because after more than 40 years of photography being both my (former) profession and life long obsession, I really don't consider myself to be truly proficient with any camera / format. I confess that, for me, gear is a major distraction. Often I'll process a roll of 35mm or 120 and as I hang the strip up I'll exclaim "There's those pictures I shot 2-3 years ago".

I really wish I had the nerve to get rid of all but 3-4 cameras and keep only 1-2 lenses for each. Perhaps that will be my new years resolution for 2018...?

John Kasaian
23-Jan-2017, 07:45
John, you forgot to mention the turkey, block of cheese, watermelon, and who knows what else! :cool:

LOL! I'm still working out the glitches on the ULF wine barrel pin hole. The turkey is long gone, excepting infrequent, reoccurring nightmares.

barnacle
23-Jan-2017, 12:37
Well I thought I was moderately sane... then I thought of a few in the attic...

Three or four 35mm - OM1, OM10, and a couple of oddball Wella(?) which wind the film by twisting a ring around the lens, oh, and an ancient Zenit
A Reflex Korelle 6*6, Houghton Butcher Watch Pocket Carbine 6*9, a (stolen years ago) Mamiya 645
A Sanderson Junior quarter plate, a Micro Precision Press 4x5, and a couple of home-made 4x5s... and another on the stocks.

Not too bad, I suppose...

Er, and an Olympus E4 electric thingie...

Neil

asf
23-Jan-2017, 13:20
Way too many

3 4x5
4 5x7
4 8x10

And I don't even shoot 4x5 anymore for years
And I want another 8x10 (actually 2 more and another 5x7)

Alan Gales
23-Jan-2017, 15:33
8X10 Wehman with 8x10 and 4x5 backs

Mamiya C220f TLR 2 1/4 medium format

Stereo Realist 35mm

Fujifilm X100s digital

Those are the ones I use. I have a few more around here that I'm going to sell.

Alan Gales
23-Jan-2017, 15:37
LOL! I'm still working out the glitches on the ULF wine barrel pin hole. The turkey is long gone, excepting infrequent, reoccurring nightmares.

ULF wine barrel pin hole? Sounds cool! I hope you post pics when you finish it.

Armin Seeholzer
23-Jan-2017, 15:51
It is a very sick idea to have to much cameras! For special ideas of a picture you need the right tool! Sometimes its a 4x5 and sometimes I need a 8x10 very seldom I need an MF and of course sometimes for fast pictures I need a 35mm and for commercials I need some Digitals!

Cheers Armin

Tin Can
23-Jan-2017, 16:04
I agree Armin!

I imagine it would be a very short list of one camera members on this forum.

I do know I have no idea how normal I am...:)

Pali K
23-Jan-2017, 17:13
Haha I feel so normal thanks to this thread!

2 - 35mm
3 - MF
1 - 4x5
1 - 8x10 (w 5x7 back)
1 - 11x14

I use them all frequently too :)

Pali

Keith Pitman
23-Jan-2017, 17:52
This thread is making me feel better, but I still don't have the nerve to take inventory.

Alan Gales
23-Jan-2017, 18:58
I agree Armin!

I imagine it would be a very short list of one camera members on this forum.

I do know I have no idea how normal I am...:)

Don't worry about it, Randy. Normal is so overrated!

Mark Sampson
23-Jan-2017, 19:22
One camera? Even Paul Strand had two cameras- but he used the same lens on both. No, that's not quite right, later in life he used a Rolleiflex so that's three.

Pamelageewhizz
23-Jan-2017, 22:42
Ok, gotta ask.... A turkey? As in a pinhole turkey?????
And I thought I was twisted!

Bruce Barlow
24-Jan-2017, 06:40
Ok so how many enlarging timers do you have?

Three...

Bill_1856
24-Jan-2017, 07:47
One camera? Even Paul Strand had two cameras- but he used the same lens on both. No, that's not quite right, later in life he used a Rolleiflex so that's three.

Mamiya flex c-3 in old age. Most of his great pictures from the early 1900s were with a 6x9 roll film camera, as well as the Graflex with false lens.

DrTang
24-Jan-2017, 08:12
I don't understand the question

how many cameras do I own..or do I use??

I own a ton..most are in my glass display case.. a good portion of them do not work..but look great (kinda like my first wife)

then there are those I shoot with

I regularly use on a shoot:

Century studio 8x10 with about 3 or 4 lenses
linhof tech 5x7 with a couple heliars
Cambo TWR twin lens 4x5 with two lens sets
Empire 11x14 with one lens (so far)
Rollei SLX with three lenses
RB67 with a couple custom deluxe lenses and a couple regular lenses
and two digital cameras - a Nikon DSLR an a Fuji mirrorless with a bunch of adapters


I also have a 35mm Revere stereo camera and a Sputnik 120 stereo camera sitting around the studio

also I have a B&J Commercial 8x10 with three backs and 3 or 4 lenses in case I wanna take LF on the road

Alan Gales
24-Jan-2017, 10:53
I own a ton..most are in my glass display case.. a good portion of them do not work..but look great (kinda like my first wife)


;)

I hope your first wife isn't preserved in one of your glass display cases.

Tin Can
24-Jan-2017, 11:16
;)

I hope your first wife isn't preserved in one of your glass display cases.

LOL, The first thing my first wife showed me was her deceased husband's Urn in a Mausoleum!

Michael Graves
24-Jan-2017, 11:41
And you married her anyway? Didn't that tell you something?

Tin Can
24-Jan-2017, 11:59
And you married her anyway? Didn't that tell you something?

That's Page 2. The Rest of the Story.

barnacle
24-Jan-2017, 12:46
Werra, not Wella. A Ziess designed camera.

Neil

Alan Gales
24-Jan-2017, 17:26
LOL, The first thing my first wife showed me was her deceased husband's Urn in a Mausoleum!

Randy, I guess she wanted to prove to you that she was available and no longer married. :)

goamules
24-Jan-2017, 17:56
I've got so many it's daunting to think about counting them.

DG 3313
24-Jan-2017, 20:41
This week:

Toyo 45A 4x5
Sinar F2 4x5
Bush Pressman 4x5
Kodak 2D 5x7
ROC Improved Empire State 8x10
Hasselblad 500cm
Rollei TLR
Canon DSLR
Canon G-10 w/UW housing)
Go-Pro

Lenses, lighting, tripods and darkroom equipment not listed.......

I don't have a boat, motorcycle (any more) or girlfriend......I can have a few cameras as far as my wife is concerned.

Jim Galli
24-Jan-2017, 21:03
My bad habit is the glass, of course. Yes, I have a ton of cameras too, but the lenses . . oy. About half of them are in a 4 drawer safe with a 1700 degree / 2hour rating. One of these days there'll be nothing left but smoking cinders and my wife . . . I can just hear it now. "let me get this right, the only thing left on earth that we have is . . camera lenses???"

Luis-F-S
24-Jan-2017, 21:57
My bad habit is the glass, of course. Yes, I have a ton of cameras too, but the lenses . . oy. About half of them are in a 4 drawer safe with a 1700 degree / 2hour rating. One of these days there'll be nothing left but smoking cinders and my wife . . . I can just hear it now. "let me get this right, the only thing left on earth that we have is . . camera lenses???"
Funny thing, I also keep my glass in a 27 cubic foot safe, along with other "valuables". L

Jody_S
25-Jan-2017, 07:56
Eh. Too many.

@100 35mms of various styles and vintages
Maybe 20 MFs, mostly older styles
Another 20 or so LF cameras, all antiques, with @100 lenses

With the enlargers and tripods and lighting gear and related books and stuff, this takes most of the 2nd floor of the house. My wife now refuses to climb the stairs. I am actively selling to try to pare this down, but somehow I'm still replacing these (with 'deals'!) at least as fast as they sell.