Here's a couple shots to show a small portion of my hoard. My father was a collector, so I still have dozens to move along but these will probably remain with me.

Ok, down the rabbit hole......
Two Contax II, one Contax III and a Rolleiflex Automat II, all pre-war US/UK market import items. 35,50,90,and 135mm lenses with appropriate hoods and finders. Zeiss Ikon film cassettes and a period lightweight gas mask bag to haul the kit.

Top

I shot Instamatic 126 for years until I tried my Mom's folding Balda 35mm. Oooh. Night and day. The hook was set.

Next up was a then top-o'-the-line Minolta XK, backed up by a Minolta SR-T 202. That XK was a beast that went belly-up when the electronics died while I was hitchhiking through Spain. I mailed it home and replaced it with an Olympus Trip 35 I bought duty-free (whatever that means) in Ceuta.

When I started working as a photojournalist I bought a Nikon FM2, backed up by a Nikkormat FT. Despite having been scared off from battery-dependent cameras, I very reluctantly sold my Yamaha XS650 to help pay for a new Nikon F3. Never had a moment's problem with that one.

Over the years I've sold a Minolta CLE that came with a Leitz Summicron 35mm f2 lens, a Rolleiflex 2.8E with Planar lens and an Arca Swiss 4X5. I've kept my German-made Rollei 35T, Minox GT and Olympus XA, despite the batteries for those last two no longer being available.

I never went digital, and my basic smart phone takes good enough pix for me now. I haven't used my darkroom in at least 12 years, but can't bring myself to sell (give away, more likely) all my stuff - even though I can't afford to pay for film, paper and chemistry anymore. At least it takes up less space than my bicycles.

Late '50s Rolleiflex with 80mm Planar f2 lens

I have my grandfather's Minolta HiMatic rangefinder, My Nikon FM, Canon AE-1, Kodak 120 camera. Sold the Crown Graphic 4x5 years ago. Now I want a Canon Canonet. Best rangefinder ever, poor man's Leica.

I've also got this old beast floating around somewhere. Picked up a spectacular Mamiya 200/2.8 APO lens for it also.



This shot of me from my Army days is the only thing from this camera I can find at my website.






That lens is also converted to use with my EOS DSLR's and has given me some of my best images. The detail and the way it renders contrast can really be top notch.

This was a test of the lens on my Canon 5D


And who remembers those "disc" camera's. OMG, such bad pictures. That went in the trash decades ago but I do still have the shots of my old Bimmer I took with it.

ShannonM I am glad you started this thread and hope it will have some legs for years to come.

I have been collecting cameras for years and really started in earnest when digital was beginning to come into its own. During this period you could buy all of the high end, pro level camera for a song....and I did. I concentrated on the top of the line cameras from all of the Japanese manufacturers.....Canon, Nikon, Minolta, Topcon etc.
Going to the camera shows here in the Los Angeles, I was able to find many new or really mint bodies a lot of them still in their boxes...my plan was to buy one of every make....... Soon it was one to display and one to shoot with, it got out of hand much like the purchase of bicycles.....The only difference between the two, was they did not take up much space, which was a bonus in my mind.
Not being satisfied with bodies only, started to look for rare lenses and fast glass...again it could be found for a song because autofocus was the new thing.
My main concentration revolved around Canon cameras......Canon F-1's both old and new along with the odd/rare accessories for them....Booster T's, Servo EE's, Speed finder's, Motors and so on.
I am ashamed to say that I have amassed quite a collection of them along the way.
In order to expand the collection, I opted for some of the older "Landmark" cameras from Canon...Canonflex's and so on.
In my collection, I also branched out into the EOS line...but that's another story.
In any event when I am back in town, I will post some pictures.
Best, Ben

I got into photography early thanks to a family friend who was a professional. I learned how to develop film and print at about 10 and a half in her darkroom, and she gave me some used darkroom gear as a gift at 13. I grew up shooting medium format. In 1973 I worked in a textile mill in central New York for a summer and spent my earnings on a Zeus Professional and a Hasselblad 1000F from our friend, she didn't like it. I outgrew the Zeus, and the Hasselblad was stolen a couple of years later in college. I bought a replacement at ALden Camera in 1978 or so which I still have, along with a Minolta Autocord TLR from the same friend.





It's mot just me, my wife has a Hasselblad 500C, a 4x5 view camera and assorted Nikons. TBH they all collect dust, as magnificent as they are. I miss darkrooms, but digital is so much easier. I've been using Photoshop since it first came out. SHe teaches photography at a private high school in Brooklyn.

These photos are from late 1973 or 1974, I was 16 or 17. The top one was probably taken by my best friend using his dad's Rolleiflex.

One of my favs. Have a lot of lenses and accesories for it too.

My uncle was a free lance photographer who traveled the world taking unusual pictures (B&W) of eccentric findings.
When he passed I inherit one of his Leica M3.

Leica M3 camera w/summicron f 5cm lens

Here's another one my father left me. Stereo Realist package. This camera takes 3-D slides like Viewmaster, only a lot better. This particular one he was selling at a camera show near Chicago in the early 80s. I remember sitting at the table keeping an eye on all his cameras when a tall man with a lot of curly black hair and a big guitar belt buckle was looking at this stereo camera set up. He started asking about the camera with an English accent. He looked familiar to me, then it dawned on me it was Brian May from Queen. Turns out he was and still is a big stereo camera collector. We talked for a few minutes while he looked over what we had for sale but he didn't buy anything. You can find a lot of info on his stereo photography on line.

I have 3 or 4 Canonets left from my father's collection. They're nice cameras. Here's one in my display.

The QL (quick load) model with the fast lens was unbeatable!

Maaaan, I first learned photography in high school on an old Pentax. Wish I could say I still had the same C&V love for film photography as I do for bikes, but I've been bit by the modern convenience bug.

It still has me really wanting to get the Olympus mirrorless Pen-F, but that only appears vintage. I guess you could say the same for a number of "keepers of the flame" modern steel bicycles.

I have some of my stuff in a hallway so I can see them everyday.

A few NIkons........

A few more

Some Minoltas...XK mot and XK's with 1.2's

Some Minoltas

XK MOT
Other stuff to come.
Best, Ben

I always wondered why Minolta didn't do what Canon, Nikon, Pentax, Olympus had been doing and build the XK so it would take a motordrive, rather than making an entirely different fixed-unit camera.

I think that once I get this Minolta and me dialed in, I'll then get my x700 body and my other lenses back from San Diego. (My photo-kid has it, but doesn't use it.)

I'm planning to start developing, too, but that should wait for permanent housing, neh?

​​​​​​But for now, it's one camera, one lens, and one roll of three films. (Tri-X, HP5+, FP4+.) Then we'll see where we go next.
​​​​​​
Developing kit looks to be about $250 up front, plus a wasted roll or two when I screw up by the numbers. Which will happen.

Of course, Photo-Kid will help his Dad, which is cool.

--Shannon

I’ve amassed quite a collection of Nikons since the pandemic but they’re scattered all around the house. This is the most recent.



It needs a CLA.

I agree, it' was unfortunate that they waited for a few years to bring out the XK Mot, during that time they lost a lot of their cache to Canon and Nikon. The XK's were extremely advanced for their time and in reality still offer incredible specs to those that use them.

Previous to the XK, Minolta did make another motor driven camera it its "S" series but it was also a special body....the SRM..


One of the drawbacks to all of the older "flagships" that had motor drives, with the exception of Olympus, was their weight...they were all bricks.
I think we take for granted how far cameras have come since those days, 3.5 fps were considered fast for a pro camera and both Canon and Nikon offered special built models capable of up to 14 FPS, now newer mirrorless cameras boost frame rates approaching that of video speed and sometimes faster in burst rate.

for Nikon shooters

Best, Ben
BTW, Original Pentax called Spotmatic also had to have a special body that was made for a motor

Been collecting cameras 20 years longer than bikes! Just a few photos that I could find.

Dual-Range Summicron for the win!
Phil

Nice clock collection too..........maybe that's the next CV thread, "Show us your CV clocks".
Best, Ben

I'll be there in case a "show us your typewriter" thread pops up. Yes, I'm also on a typewriter forum, and a camera nerd forum. This is the one in which I participate the most.
Phil

No self-deprecating nerd would ever limit his nerdery to only one nerd-dom.

--Shannon

Dbl post

Don't get me started on typewriters, so let's not derail this thread.......

Now back to our regular programming.....


Old work horses...... F-1 New and the rare "near mint" Canonflex RM in "Black".
The Canonflex RM was a camera 2nd in line to the Canonflex R 2000, which had a removable prism and a top shutter speed of 2000 a second...it's rare to find it in black....both the R 2000 and the RM wind shutters from the bottom which gave them a slow death compared to the venerable Nikon F of the 60's.
Best, Ben