Collecting funky old cameras, half frames or otherwise, is a very peculiar thing. My wife, for example, thinks I am crazy. Now, I don't blame my camera collecting entirely, but it does contribute to the perception, I am sure. Let's be realistic, Olympus Pen cameras don't really produce better images than a modern Olympus Stylus, for example, so what is it that makes us horde, er, collect them anyway?

For me, it is both the joy of obtaining (the thrill of the hunt?) and the pleasure in shooting with them. Forget the former, I cannot explain that - it must be the animal in me :-)  On the second count, I will say that I love to load an old Pen or Oly 35 SP and take it out shooting - it makes me feel in touch with my father's generation ;-) In fact, I have very very few cameras that I will not take out and shoot. If they are broken I usually try to fix them, and failing that, find them a new shelf to sit on in somebody else's house. If it is too valuable, then I take it out in very controlled environments. But, that is rare - none of these cameras are that valuable! For example, if I had a $10,000 Nikon RF kit, I'd probably only shoot it on my Birthday each year, early in the morning before any of the kids or dogs woke up, avoiding puddles and coffee. But a $1000 camera, like my beloved Leica Safari, I can take out to the zoo (it is a Safari after all) or the park, not the beach, probably not hiking. If I had a Pen W I'd take it hiking, and pretty much anywhere else - because it is a tank, and it is just not that valuable!

My motto as a collector and user: Shooting is more important than having - it is the experience and the pictures that count!

 if it is broken and cannot be fixed, I will not keep it.
 if it is so valuable that I cannot risk shooting it, I will sell it and buy more cameras that I am not afraid of.

Take it or leave it - like I said, this collecting business is funky, and we each funk a little differently.

Cheers,
- marc

ps. most cameras last better if used anyway... just don't drop them ;)

delebill wrote:

The E-Bay auction that closed yesterday in which an Olympus Pen W,
with original inner & outer box and sales receipt, sold for $980 was
quite an eye-opener.  I saw about it last night and promptly took my
old Pen W (of course, without any boxes or receipts) from its group
storage with other old HF cameras in a box on a shelf and moved it to
the safety of a dresser drawer.  After thinking about it today, I
decided to put it back on a shelf and use it in rotation as always. I
have found that having more than one camera can be a cause of
frustration because of having to choose which one to take out; if
half-frames get to be collector's items (is that happening for run-of-
the mill HF cameras?), there'll be another dilemma-- use or hoard.
My guess is that using it as always (I'm pretty careful with any
camera) is probably as good a way of keeping it in good shape as
stowing it away:  any opinions?

Bill Delehanty
St. Paul, MN




To access the photo galleries, files areas and message
archives, click here: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/halfframe35
......
Half Frame Camera Club here -->
http://www.halffg.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/halffg/refinfo.html


Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.

-- 
*** Marc Attinasi ***
* mailto: marc@... *
* http://www.attinasi.org *