Show your Collection of Photographic Historica

[Niels - NHSN]

I would think many Photo.net members accumulate photographic historica that would qualify as a collection.

 

I hope you will share what you have collected in this thread, regardless if it is Alpa Reflex cameras, used film boxes, Topcon lens caps or old Nikon price lists....

Let’s see, and not least, hear about what you have accumulated - and why 🙂

[Niels - NHSN]

I will start with my humble collection of black paint Nikon cameras.

Black paint cameras tend to more easily show the history of a camera. I like that past owners have put their mark on the camera through wear and scratches - and that I add to the accumulated history through the visual brassing that comes from my useage.

Edited March 17, 2023 by Niels - NHSN

[rick_drawbridge]

Some lovely old odds and ends from the good old days...

[Niels - NHSN]

10 hours ago, rick_drawbridge said:

Some lovely old odds and ends from the good old days...

Those wooden tanks - are they intended for liquid?

[Niels - NHSN]

Are no one else's accumulating something that could be called a collection?

Another sub-collection of mine:

When you frequently buy cameras, like I do, they often come with a 50mm. In the beginning I thought they were boring, but since they are usually not worth a lot, I began keeping them - and continued to begin embracing them, enjoying the exploration of their small differences:

 

It should have been a perfect 4x4 matrix, but I couldn't find my Pentax S-M-C 50mm 1.4 M42 in time for the group picture.

From upper left corner and down:
Elmar 5cm 3.5 uncoated LTM  (1929)
Elmar 5cm 3.5 LTM Red Dial   (1954)
Elmar 50mm 2.8 LTM              (1958)
Elmar-M 50mm 2.8 M             (2003)
Top second row and down:
Summar 5cm 2.0 uncoated LTM     (1934)
Summitar 5cm 2.0 LTM                   (1950)
Summicron 50mm 2.0 M                 (1969)
Nikkor H-C Auto 50mm 2.0 Non-AI (1973)
Top third row and down:
Summicron 50mm 2.0 R-mount    (1974)
Nikkor 50mm 2.0 AI                      (1977)
SMC Pentax-M 50mm 2.0 K-mount (1982)
Nikkor 50mm 1.8 AI                         (1980)
Top fourth row and down:
Sonnar 50mm 1.5 Contax mount     (1954)
Voigtlander Nokton 50mm 1.5 LTM (2000)
Nikkor-S auto 50mm 1.4  Non-AI    (1964)
Missing: Super-Multicoated-Takumar Pentax 50mm 1.4 M42 mount (1971)
 

[Rick_van_Nooij]

uhm....

[orsetto]

During a moment of madness coinciding with a window of people dumping Hasselblad gear en masse some years ago, I temporarily accumulated this excessive collection of Zeiss lenses for Hassy. Took awhile to decide what I should keep. The original all-metal type C lenses looked the best and were beautifully built, but the CF lenses were much more intuitive and easy to operate (and have consistent filter sizes). Much as I hated to sell off the C glass (including scarce silver T* multicoated 50mm Distagon and 80mm Planar), in the end practicality won and I settled on a handful of newer CF lenses. CFe with their lighter focus helicoid would have been even better, but the price premium is too great (so far I've only managed to snag a CB 60mm and CFe 80mm affordably).

I'd dreamed of the huge 40mm C T* (shown on my ELM) since I was a kid: it was everything I imagined, plus the most impressive hunk of optical craft you could hang off any camera. Unfortunately a monster to use: ultra stiff focus, challenging weight distribution and impossibly large/rare/expensive filters. Eventually admitted 50mm was wider than I'd ever really need, and sold off my crown jewel.

 

Edited March 23, 2023 by orsetto

[orsetto]

In sympathy with NHSN's 50mm Nikkor stash, heres a twofer pic: all my Nikkormat FTn/FT3 bodies, doubling up with all my 35mm Nikkor lenses (AIS, OC-AI'd, and AI-K f/2.0, and AIS f/1.4).

 

[hunter_compton]

On 3/18/2023 at 6:06 AM, Niels - NHSN said:

Those wooden tanks - are they intended for liquid?

The wooden box is a loading tool that transfers a roll of film, with backing paper, onto a lightproof apron and spool. The film reel is then transferred into the silver tank with liquid where the actual developing occurs.

[rick_drawbridge]

From a deceased estate, a Mamiya 645 1000 collection. It's always a little poignant, acquiring a collection that someone has lovingly created and used.

[rodeo_joe1]

On 3/21/2023 at 4:10 PM, Niels - NHSN said:

Are no one else's accumulating something that could be called a collection?

Another sub-collection of mine:

When you frequently buy cameras, like I do, they often come with a 50mm. In the beginning I thought they were boring, but since they are usually not worth a lot, I began keeping them - and continued to begin embracing them, enjoying the exploration of their small differences:

 

It should have been a perfect 4x4 matrix, but I couldn't find my Pentax S-M-C 50mm 1.4 M42 in time for the group picture.

From upper left corner and down:
Elmar 5cm 3.5 uncoated LTM  (1929)
Elmar 5cm 3.5 LTM Red Dial   (1954)
Elmar 50mm 2.8 LTM              (1958)
Elmar-M 50mm 2.8 M             (2003)
Top second row and down:
Summar 5cm 2.0 uncoated LTM     (1934)
Summitar 5cm 2.0 LTM                   (1950)
Summicron 50mm 2.0 M                 (1969)
Nikkor H-C Auto 50mm 2.0 Non-AI (1973)
Top third row and down:
Summicron 50mm 2.0 R-mount    (1974)
Nikkor 50mm 2.0 AI                      (1977)
SMC Pentax-M 50mm 2.0 K-mount (1982)
Nikkor 50mm 1.8 AI                         (1980)
Top fourth row and down:
Sonnar 50mm 1.5 Contax mount     (1954)
Voigtlander Nokton 50mm 1.5 LTM (2000)
Nikkor-S auto 50mm 1.4  Non-AI    (1964)
Missing: Super-Multicoated-Takumar Pentax 50mm 1.4 M42 mount (1971)
 

Keep the 50mm f/2 Nikkors and chuck the rest of that junk away!😀 Or sell some of 'em and get a 55mm f/3.5 Micro-Nikkor - you won't regret it. 

Here's my bit of memorabilia (I didn't have the space to lay out all of my 50mm-ish lenses - must get a wider angle lens and a bigger sheet of background material.) 

It's a page from "Ilford Formulae & Packed Chemicals"; 16th edition, publication date 1960*. Some of the emulsions listed were a bit old-fashioned even then. 

I thought it might be useful to those addicted to using (very) outdated film.

*The book might be a bit rare. I've never seen another copy 'in the flesh', but I see a couple of copies offered online. You can also see a full PDF version here - an even earlier 1953 14th edition.

Edited March 30, 2023 by rodeo_joe1

[Niels - NHSN]

34 minutes ago, rodeo_joe1 said:

Or sell some of 'em and get a 55mm f/3.5 Micro-Nikkor - you won't regret it. 

 

I actually own two 55/3.5 and one 55/2.8 and love them dearly, but my OCD brain prohibited me from mixing 55mm lenses with 50mm lenses.

Anyway, you don't have to sell anything to get a 55/3.5, they are dirt cheap.

[Niels - NHSN]

On 3/23/2023 at 5:45 PM, orsetto said:

I'd dreamed of the huge 40mm C T* (shown on my ELM) since I was a kid: it was everything I imagined, plus the most impressive hunk of optical craft you could hang off any camera. Unfortunately a monster to use: ultra stiff focus, challenging weight distribution and impossibly large/rare/expensive filters. Eventually admitted 50mm was wider than I'd ever really need, and sold off my crown jewel.

I have made the mistake in the past to sell a lens I liked in order to buy of something else I thought I would like better.
That often proved to be a mistake, and since not all lenses are created equal - not even the same models from the same producer - I have learned to never sell any lens I like.

So although I do not wish to be a lens collector per se, lenses seems to accumulate when applying above rule and I just try to embrace it.

My attitude towards camera bodies is different. If I don't shoot at least one film a year, I will sell the camera - only exception is my Ricoh 500G, which was my first camera. It also means that I only own functional cameras or cameras for which I am willing to pay for a service. Everything else is passed along.

@orsetto Regarding your crown jewel - did you have the chance to compare it with the 38mm SWC, which is much more compact?

 

[Rick_van_Nooij]

Another grouping of cameras from the collection. Not current as I own a couple more Contax II, IIa and III cameras now.

[orsetto]

On 3/30/2023 at 10:24 AM, Niels - NHSN said:

I have made the mistake in the past to sell a lens I liked in order to buy of something else I thought I would like better.
That often proved to be a mistake, and since not all lenses are created equal - not even the same models from the same producer - I have learned to never sell any lens I like. (...)

@orsetto Regarding your crown jewel - did you have the chance to compare it with the 38mm SWC, which is much more compact?

 

Absolutely agree: esp in today's hyperventilating classic camera market, never sell any lens you remotely think you'll want to use again someday. Replacing it with another clean example at what you'd consider a reasonable price may not be possible. Look what happened when every pretentious wealthy amateur videographer with a Gold card decided they couldn't possibly make their tedious derivative creations without Leica R or Zeiss C/Y glass hanging off their Sony, Canon or Red camera. Prices of those overlooked gems skyrocketed overnight to ridiculous levels compared to where they'd been for 20 years prior. Most of them are now effectively removed from the market, many have been hacked at and "rehoused" for video, so good luck replacing one if you were foolish enough to sell it.

Re my 40mm Distagon-C, I don't regret selling it when I did: it was an impulse purchase I never expected to acquire in the first place (amazingly I was the only bidder when it was auctioned on eBay at a low starting price). It was perhaps the finest example of 40mm C T* anyone's seen in years, so I doubled my money when I resold it. I do sometimes miss the pleasure of simply owning such an exotic antique in such perfect condition (so utterly mint that it still reeked of "new German lens" smell), and it looked rad displayed on a 500cm or ELM.

But its a wildly impractical lens as a user: woefully clumsy, heavy and slow to operate (and a lethal threat to nearly any tripod you'd care to mount it on). I learned pretty quickly that I don't have the compositional instinct for 40mm AOV on 6x6, so it would never get the use it deserved. And it was much too valuable to just keep on a shelf as a prized collectible. So, off it went to a thrilled new owner, and the proceeds from the sale went to overhauling the Hassy lenses I do use often.

[orsetto]

Re the SWC vs 40m CT*: yes, I have indeed borrowed a SWC/M a few times over the years from a generous overly-trusting retired pro. I didn't own the 40mm CT* during that period, so couldn't make a direct comparison other than casually confirm the obvious lore everyone knows (the 38mm Biogon is the superior lens in that focal length range for film use). The 40mm C gets a bad rap vs the later CF-CLE and CFE-IF versions, but its actually quite good if used correctly (stopped down, not too close, not backlit by the orb of the sun).  It was a remarkable achievement for Zeiss in the 1960s: the humongous size and weight were required for reasonable distortion correction and f/4.0 aperture within the design constraints of the era. Today most 'blad shooters will find the CF-FLE much more manageable, with the digital-optimized CFE-IF the best (pricey!) choice for use with a digital back.

In use the SWC/M was fun but not my cup of tea: I'm very much a reflex-viewfinder addict. The SWC is a fantastically convenient size, and of course the lens is impeccable, but the simplistic non-focusing optical viewfinder always gives me pause. The only non-reflex system I've ever come close to bonding with is the Mamiya Press Universal with 65mm f/6.3 lens, and thats really only for the 6x9 real estate and non-jarring shutter release (the rangefinder patch is less usable than the one in a Ricoh 500G or Canonet).

[Rick_van_Nooij]

One of the rarer doorstops...euh.. cameras in my collection
Simmon Brothers' Combat Camera. Only some 250 units made.
Used in limited numbers by US military photographers during World War 2
From what I've read only one was issued for field testing per Signal Photographic Company.
Cast shell from Magnesium, with a speed graphic-like focal plane shutter, capped by an internal lens cover linked to the shutter release.
The verdict; it was generally considered to be too big and heavy for the 6x9cm images it produced (on film packs)

[john_cooper9]

Edited April 14, 2023 by john_cooper9
add text

[john_cooper9]

Above taken with iPhone 8. My working examples - have many in non-working state.

Edited April 14, 2023 by john_cooper9

[chuck_foreman1]

Wow RickvN What a collection!! Very envious!

 

[Rick_van_Nooij]

On 4/15/2023 at 2:18 PM, chuck_foreman1 said:

Wow RickvN What a collection!! Very envious!

 

I've not even started properly cataloguing my collection yet.... 😉

 

[Niels - NHSN]

@Rick_van_Nooij What are those cool looking movie cameras? Have you used them with film?

[Rick_van_Nooij]

They're Bell & Howell 35mm model 71 Eyemo cameras,
One on the left is a US Army Signal Corps "PH-330-G" camera with Spyder Turret
One on the right is a US Army Air Force "A-4 Bombspotting" camera.

I've got a Vietnam era one and another one with a compact turret.



And I would never be able to financially recover from shooting film through any of these 😁


 

Edited April 17, 2023 by Rick_van_Nooij

[Niels - NHSN]

2 hours ago, Rick_van_Nooij said:

And I would never be able to financially recover from shooting film through any of these 😁

 

They look fairly compact for a 35mm movie camera. How many minutes of film recording do they hold?

[Rick_van_Nooij]

At 16fps you burn through 30m worth of film in 90 seconds. 2 full winds of the spring motor, plus a bit. 

I have one large capacity magazine and electric motor drive for them.