Mary Ellen Marks Nikon FM2 for sale

[david_smith110]

<p>Thought I would post this over here in case anyone in the CMC crew might be interested. Own a piece of photographic history as well as helping the Red Cross.</p>

<p>http://petapixel.com/2015/11/08/mary-ellen-marks-nikon-fm2-is-for-sale-on-ebay/</p>

[tony_lockerbie]

<p>That 28mm lens looks to have done many more miles than the camera. I know I can't afford it, just have to stick to the FM2 that was owned by that lesser know photog....Tony Lockerbie :)<br>

Hope the Red Cross make some money.</p>

[dave_s]

<p>Being a pompous horse's butt, my initial impression was to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talisman"> scoff at this sale</a>, but I guess it's no different from sports fans paying hundreds for a 'game-worn' jersey. And it's for a good cause.</p>

<p>I'd rather have one of her prints than one of her cameras, but I guess that's stating the obvious.</p>

[dhbebb]

<p>As it's for the Red Cross, the higher the price the better. Intrinsic value no more than $200 if working, much lower if not.</p>

[chuck_foreman1]

My brush with greatness... I sometimes do translation work for an online photo magazine. They did an

interview with here a few years back and I was assigned to follow-up to get some samples to accompany

the on-line video. So I traded a few emails with her! I was not especially successful! But hey I could sense

her heart was great. I think this a great idea and I hope somebody gladly makes a generous offer for a good

cause.

[Wouter Willemse]

<p>Hopefully for the red cross, it'll catch the attention of a wealthy fan - they deserve it. In a sense I can understand the fun of owning a camera that was used by a great photographer, in a museum-sense... but for now, I'll stick to my own FM2 until it falls apart.</p>

[astral]

<p>I am wondering why the estate did not just donate the camera to the Red Cross for them to auction. It just seems to me that they are 'milking' the situation and sweetening it with a 50% donation. It feels decidedly ungenerous on the part of the estate - <em>even disingenuous</em> - since the camera has litle real worth and the "donation" will be actually made by the <em>buyer,</em> although the estate (and Mary Ellen Mark's reputation) will probably get the headline credit for it . . . </p>

[dave_s]

<p>Well, in their defense, I did the same thing after the Indian Ocean tsunami eleven years ago. I had a really good Thorens belt-drive turntable from about 1979, unused for years, so I hung it up on the hated auction site. I specified the proceeds (grossed up by my marginal tax rate) would go to the Red Cross, which I think drove the bids up higher. </p>

<p>There's no way the Red Cross would have wanted to sell that piece of hardware, but I bet they were happy to get the money, and I was happy to get rid of it. Actually, wasn't a bad idea, and I should do it again sometime to trim the photo equipment junkpile.</p>

[ray .]

There was some controversy regarding the Red Cross recently, but I don't recall the details.