Comments on: Camera of generations

By: ferdhart

ferdhart — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 13:26:12 +0000

Hi Barry,
I love your Camera of Generations post and the responses that have followed. My father was a surgeon and amateur photographer. Though I never had the determination to follow him in medicine, his Leica lead me through the door to the world of photography. He has been gone for years, but holding his beloved camera makes me feel close to him today. Thanks for the memory!

By: lee

lee — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 09:20:07 +0000

Hi—–Are you sure you dont want to sell the x600? Many thanks Lee.

By: Garry

Garry — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 02:03:19 +0000

I enjoyed reading this. Thank you.

By: Eneida Tagliolatto Pires

Eneida Tagliolatto Pires — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 02:12:03 +0000

Hélcio, só podia ser você com toda essa sensibilidade da qual eu tive o prazer de presenciar e conviver. Continue tirando fotos para que a posteridade possa admirar.
Foto, registro de algo que talvez um dia se acabe.
Gostaria de te enviar umas fotos que tirei no sítio de minha filha.
Eneida
Campinas – SP

By: John Cowie

John Cowie — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 23:41:25 +0000

Don’t put them away, use them. keep shooting.

By: dan

dan — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 07:21:43 +0000

hi dirk, the full RSS feed appears now. thank you very much!

By: Barry Kawa

Barry Kawa — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 01:44:40 +0000

Hello, Bill,
Thanks! Those are some nice cameras your father left to you and your brother.
I wish my wife’s grandfather would have also been a Leica collector and Nikon buff instead of a Minolta fan, but I can’t complain too much!
That is something I have thought about, though, perhaps the Nikon cost more than a Minolta in the 1980s, but over time, the Nikon would have actually been cheaper, considering the resale value it would have retained, and its continued usability into the future.
I used to think about that when I would go to a garage sale in the States and see a cheap camera SLR package with camera and third-party brand lenses for sale for $10 on the table.
If the original buyer would have sprung for a little bit more at that time and bought all Nikon gear, for example, those cameras and lenses on that table would still be worth hundreds of dollars.
Isn’t buying quality cheaper in the long run?

By: Bill Smith

Bill Smith — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 00:55:15 +0000

Hi Barry,

Loved the post, my brother and inherited my dad’s cameras, some choice ’50s vintage Leica and ’60s Nikon.

We had them overhauled and use them regularly (usually loaded with Tri-x the way it was meant to be). Like your colleagues, we would never think of selling dad’s cameras.

By: Hélcio J Tagliolatto

Hélcio J Tagliolatto — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 01:48:24 +0000

Dirk,
you got it: it’s a disapearing phenomenon. My 1922, 7×9,5″ Astoria still works, in pair with the 80 years younger Toyo:

http://infinitapaisagem.com/B&J.jpg

By: Dirk

Dirk — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 01:08:12 +0000

I also find this very significant and this inheritance phenomenon is clearly going to disappear, mostly because cameras won’t last that long anymore than the film cameras used to, and worse, they often cannot be repaired. My Canon G2 bought in 2001 is virtually dead (has been for a while), or unusable. My Leica from 1984 has had its problems but can easily repaired. The simpler the cameras, the better. Once electronics (even before digital) come into play the durability decreases as everything depends on it. The older and simpler, the less electronics, the better.