The necessity of offloading a lot of stuff I have accumulated over the years means the time has come to say goodbye to my Weston Master II Lightmeter. It has surprised me how attached I had become to what is, after all, an inanimate object which leads me to my question:
What piece of photographic equipment that you no longer use would you feel regrets at saying goodbye to?
I had a terrible time giving away my first camera, a Pentex K-1000. I loved that camera. I had several lenses for it. I used it for years (photography course, 4 years in Germany, my first newspaper job) until I got a digital camera. I gave it to my friend's daughter who was taking a photography course in college and needed a film camera. Sometimes I wish I still had it. If we still lived near them, I might be tempted to ask if she still had it and used it - if I could have it back. But, we don't, so....
Instead of saying goodbye to camera, I have either purchase at yard sales or inherited cameras. I started with the family Argus 3C, and now somehow have two of them, two Pentax Spotmatic II, one the European model and the other the US model and several others, along with projectors, movie and slide. Don't think I want to get rid of any of them.
I have a hard time getting rid of any camera. I still have my Kodak Swingline Instamatic that I used in high school and college! But I found an "Americana" museum recently that gets its acquisitions mostly from donations and I'm seriously thinking that most of my unused cameras should go there. I know they will be honored somewhere in a display so it seems like a good home for them. Now it's just up to me to detach the sentimental stories connected to them. That first one was a gift from my dad.
I'd start with my Nikon FM2 35mm (film) camera. My first really good camera, and one of my first big purchases I made after starting my (engineering) career. That was 37 years ago. After that, my grandfather's Argus C3/ Because it was my grandfather's. I can't see parting with either.
I would have said my Pentax Zone V1 Spot meter. I have owned this since 1987 when I first started using a 4x5 monorail. I just found out that this type of meter is being sold on eBay for over $300. Youza! I still do work with my 8x10 field camera now and then (mostly - then) so the meter will continue to be part of my kit, for now. I am finding that keeping my older analog and film equipment has its advantages.
My Pentax film camera, even though I don't use it or shoot film anymore. It was with me through so many good times, trips abroad, etc. I was a very late convert to digital (I held out until the need to switch became inevitable) because I loved that camera so much.
My Pentax K1000 with the broken light meter. I now have a Pentax film camera with a working light meter, thanks to Ann LeFevre, but I can't part with the K1000. Too many memories attached to it.
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What piece of photographic equipment that you no longer use would you feel regrets at saying goodbye to?