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[OM] Re: camera hoarding

Subject: [OM] Re: camera hoarding
From: Moose <olymoose@xxxxxxxxx>
Date: Mon, 21 Jul 2008 17:12:57 -0700
Brent wrote:
> Does anybody else get in trouble from their partner for collecting 
> semi-functional cameras off *Bay... and then never having the time to fix / 
> use them?
>   
Nope. but then, it's my money and time, not hers. She does some things 
with her time and money that I wouldn't, but I think that's her 
business, too. Since neither of us works at a regular, high hours, away 
from home job, we still have lots of time for those things we enjoy 
together.

I personally think that time on one's own, doing what one enjoys, makes 
one a better, more fully engaged partner when together.
> Got the comment last night "Another camera??? But none of the ones you bought 
> work anyway!"
>   
Quite a few of mine work, maybe even a majority. :-)
> I guess I might be a bit odd, but when I get time I actually like pulling the 
> old vintage cameras apart and trying to fix them... 
I'm enjoying digital photography. About the one drawback is that the 
incentive to do all the OM repair/rebuild projects is much weaker. I 
have a couple of unused OM-1 replacement tops, a few  ;-) bodies, some 
OM-10s for prisms, etc. I was going to assemble a couple of really nice, 
black OM-1 bodies...

Then there's 2-3 lens projects. And I've acquired a couple of Oly Sixes 
with complementary issues in hopes of combining them to make a nice one.
> then running a film through to see what I get, forcing myself to work with 
> all the weird old technology and learn it along with making all the mistakes. 
>  I don't often get good results from the really old gear  
> (except for from my OM gear which is finally getting into a fairly decent 
> state of repair), but they're improving and there's always the chance of a 
> rare shot which works perfectly.
>   
I keep saying I'm going to do that with an Oly Six. Since I recently 
acquired the ability to scan MF, I have less excuse not to...
> Composing / imagining the end photograph, getting out there with the sole 
> intention of capturing images, it's almost like meditation.
I agree. Going out with an OM-1 with single 50mm lens or a fixed focal 
length small film camera is like that. I wouldn't want to do it as my 
main photography, though.
> Same thing with fixing the cameras.  I'm not particularly good at it, but 
> trying to figure it out and learning as I go is a welcome relief from the 
> pressures of work and life.  
I find something very satisfying about working on mechanical devices, 
especially when they get better as a result. Fortunately, I have very 
little work and life pressure to recover from.
> In a way the actual resulting photographs are secondary... 
Yup.
> a bit like fishing - the ritual of preparation, being out on the water etc is 
> to me more important than  
> actually catching fish (not that I've done any fishing in recent history).
>   
That one doesn't work for me. I'm perfectly capable of doing nothing 
effectively around water without all the equipment and preparation. 
Cheaper and more effective meditation for me.
> The frustrating thing is that because work and family take up so much time, I 
> tend to collect the various camera bodies and never get the time to spend 
> fixing them, and extremely rarely get the time to dedicate purely to using 
> them.  So I end up with a rather mournful hoard of semi-functioning camera 
> gear.
>   
Mournful? No, hopeful.
> Anyway, my wife doesn't get it... she doesn't get fishing either for that 
> matter.
>   
Does she have to? If so, Why? She should have things to do that you 
don't get. Maybe you should hint about how you need to find room for a 
big model railroad set-up? ;-)
> Wondering if there's anyone out to commiserate, or am I just odd? 
>   
Odd is good, in my book. but if it helps, I'll bet there are even more 
camera boneyards owned by people on this list than have been admitted to.

A. Commiserate Moose

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