What determines collectability?

[Stan Disbrow]

Hi,

This is new to me, even though I have been on this board from the very beginning. Collecting, that is. I have always been into the technical side of it all, not the collecting side.

But, that seems to be changing.

As I went looking for a DSLR for my wife, and not wanting to spend a lot until I see how she takes to this new hobby, I find a lot of useful 'what was once high, now low' out there. Stuff for under $200 all over that was once $5000. I bought her a $60 D1H and the thing works just fine. OK, too large and heavy for her. I use the old Kodak 7xx series still, so I think of a D1H as small and light.

OK, I got her a D80 with two lenses for just a bit over $200. So, she is off and running and getting used to that. Then, too, my one Kodak battery charger crapped a cap(acitor) a year ago and I have been charging my one battery via my lab bench power supply method. That works, but leads to only about 2/3 of a charge so I don't detonate the battery. Now, she wants to take 'photo trips'. Now I need at least one more battery and another proper charger.

I went looking, and picked up a cheap Kodak 520. Yeah, 2 MP, and Canon based, and this is a Nikon site. But, the battery charger was there and a spare studio supply, and two batteries. Which show half capacity each on the first cycle. Useable, and might improve with repeated cycles. But, now I have another DSLR I seem to have collected. Oh, well, maybe I'll use it for eBay shots. It does mount my Nikkor AI lenses with the adapter I have. Plus, I also have a microscope mount for my lab scope that fits Canon.

So, now I am up to four (Kodak 720x, 760C, 520 and D1H). See, for me, I may as well keep the two recent ones as they are not worth selling vs a possible useage.

Does this make me a budding collector? Maybe.....

But, wait. There's more.

I see where the D2 series seem to go for around $300. And there are some posts here pointing to the D2X as the most useful of the collectables. Then, I see where the D3S goes in the $700 range and it is full frame. I keep eyeballing the Df, as that is what I wanted in the first danged place back in the mid 90's. But, the D3 and newer aren't on the collectible list from what I can see.

Is it just time that determines collectibility? I had thought it was turns of the development crank. But, then for me, those turns have always been a factor. I am a developer of such things, and after two turns of the crank I call things 'vintage'. But, that doesn't seem to work in this case or you'd all be on about the D3 series.

I will probably get a Df sooner rather than later. There is a tie between it and my old film cameras and the set of lenses I have kept all these years. Yes, they work on the 'F5D' and would work on a D2 and a D3. But, they will only look right on a Df.

But, I sit here now thinking I ought to add a D2X and a D3S to the 'collection'. And, dang! I let all my E-series units go long ago. Well, not that I would ever use an E-series again. But, for a Nikon DSLR collection I should have kept at least the one where the power switch / shutter button fell out of.

The bottom line is: what do y'all think when it comes to Collectible?

Stan

[NikonD1X]

Hi Stan

Every Nikon is collectable

I think you have named the important Nikons. Out of my line of Kodak/Nikon DSLRs I still use the heavy and great DCS760c and the High (ISO-) Speed DCS620x from time to time. My Kodak/Canon DCS520 rests most of her time in the box… But there is one Kodak/„Canon“ favorite! The FullFrame 13,5 MP Kodak DCS ProSLR/c based on the Sigma SD9/10 equipped with Canon EOS mount. I use the DCS ProSLR/c from time to time. So the Fuji/Nikon (F80) S3 Pro.

Coming to true Nikon

The D1 lays in the box for most of her lifetime. I prefer the D1X producing excellent 10 MP files, saving in NEF. Using Adobe Lightroom 5.7.1, Nikon Capture NX or the freeware Raw Therapee you get automatically generated high quality 4016 x 2616 Pixel = 10 MP files from the „strange“ 4024 x 1324 Pixel = 5,3 MP 3:1 proportion D1x-sensor. Usually the D1X firmware generates (interpolates) 3008 x 1960 Pixel = 6 MP out of these 4024 x 1324 pixels. Nikon D1 collectable? YES!

Nikon D2Hs and D2X: Collectable AND high practical value! Hard for me to decide. So I use both alternately.

Nikon Entry level
D50, D70(s), D3000. I dont’ think collectable, but fun. Got the D3000 for 10 Euro/Dollar…

Nikon Semi Pro
D90, D100, D200, D7000

Collectable? I love the D100 – the „Little D1/D1 Light“ but my favorite is the inconspicuous and versatile D90. The D7000 has to work out for respect… The D100 is collectable!

More Nikon? I skipped the D3 and use a D4 and D800. Df? I don’t own, but it will be collectible – in 10 years…

Maybe I could help you a little bit

Ralf

[Stan Disbrow]

Hi,

Yeah. Every one is collectible! Of course they are.

I was just sitting here trying to figure out just when a unit went from 'old' to 'vintage' to 'collectible'.

As I thought about it, I thought about it from an electronics point of view and came up with three generations. These things are more electronics than cameras these days.

But, thinking some more, the concept of three probably applies to the film cameras as well. When the F3 came out, it was probably the right time to collect up an F(1). I didn't pay attention at that point, but I bet the prices of the F took a nose dive right about then. That is a good time to snap some up. I know I added an F2 to my FE because I was offered the F2 on the cheap from a guy shooting an F3. Same when I added an FA when someone went auto focus.

I never did get a Kodak full frame. There were issues with the thing which they eventually fixed, I think. But, by then, I had simply settled down content with the 760c. And the F5 is happy with my small collection of AI prime lenses left over from those film cameras. Might have to think about an SLR/n. By the time they called it that, things had been corrected.

Anyway, I was just wondering why no one was chatting about the D3 series era units and seemingly to have stopped at the D2. Personally, I might just add a D2X and a D3s and start calling it a collection.

And if a Df shows up early, that'd be ok too.

Stan

[Webmaster]

Anything can be collected, but not everything is collectible. For me, that is, but to each his own. One could argue that everything is collectible once it becomes obsolete, but I think the most interesting models are the ones that are simply rare and/or changed the industry. The game changers, like the D1 series. The D3 was the first full frame Nikon and could indeed be considered a collectible camera, even though it’s still in active use by many photographers. Personally, I would never bother to collect the mass produced, dull and generic amateur bodies, for example. But most importantly: have fun!

Jarle

[Stan Disbrow]

Hi,

Oh, yes. I am having fun. That has to be the most important aspect (pun intended).

I went to a really cool local photo shop in Raleigh yesterday. The entire place looks like a collection of everything from the most current to the most vintage. My focus (yeah, two puns) was for one zoom lens for that Kodak 520. Canon based, and this is a Nikon forum. But, I don't want to use it only with Nikon glass and an adapter. Picked up the Canon equivalent of my only Nikon zoom. A 28-105 f3.5-4.5 macro for about the same as I see decent ones go for on eBay.

That brings up another question for collectors. Does anyone regularly make use of items out of the collections? I plan on dedicating the 520 for taking eBay photos. Hence, wanting a zoom lens for it. But, that got me to wondering. I have one film camera left, a well used F4. And, I don't use it nor plan to any longer. I suppose that will be everyone's answer. Some stuff gets used regularly some stuff occasionally, and some stuff is never used.

I see a couple issues with electronics in cameras, though. Capacitors and batteries. I just had a serious cap issue take one out. Fortunately, not a camera but a charger. That led to buying a camera I didn't need nor want. I did open the charger and check caps, though. But did the designers of the cameras use standard grade or high grade caps? In most of these, won't easily fix such an issue. Regular use will help extend the life of caps. So, there is an argument for use rather than sit....

But, the batteries. To use, you have to replace batts every so often. There will come a time for each model when one can't buy new batts. Re-celling will have to be done in that case. But, many Li-Ion packs aren't rebuildable as the battery itself inside the case was custom made. This might become a real issue in the future. One which will relegate things to the shelf permanently.

So, maybe the question is moot. Personally, I will keep things going as long as I can.

Stan

[NikonD1X]

What shall I take/use today?

More than 500 digital cameras... Completely impossible to use all even from time to time.

And I don't want to use most of them!

But I have my "kanon" of favorite cameras, containing ca. 30 models. 20 are of course DSLRs an DSLMs. Yes, not only Nikon. My kanon looks like this. In alphabetical order:

First choice

Canon EOS 1D
Kodak DCS ProSLR/c, FullFrame with Canon EOS mount
Kodak/Nikon F5 DCS760
Nikon D1X
Nikon D2Hs
Nikon D2X
Nikon D90
Olympus PEN E-P2
Olympus OM-D E-M1

Second Choice

FUJIFILM (Nikon F80) FinePix S3Pro
Kodak/Nikon F5 DCS620x
Nikon D100
Nikon D7000
Olympus E-330
Panasonic Lumix DMC-L1
Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH1
Pentax *istD L2
Olympus OM-D E-M10
Samsung NX11
Sony Alpha 200

Three high-grade Prosumer/Bridge-Cameras Nikon Coolpix 8400, Olympus E-20P and Olympus Camedia C-8080 Wide Zoom and eight Consumer-/Bridge-Cameras

That's some job

[Stan Disbrow]

Hi,

Quite a list! Mine is a lot shorter.

I have the Ansco box camera which was my Mom's and an Argus 35mm rangefinder an aunt gave me as a teenager. And, the F4 which is the only film SLR I kept after going digital. I have had more DSLRs than I currently have. There was a merry-go-round there where I seemingly bought every new thing that came out, both Nikon and Canon.

So, I have the D1H and three Kodaks now. I guess I need to find another E2 since that is what started it all for me. Then I think a D2X to represent the D2 series. I had a D2H but not a D2X as I wound up with a Canon 1D and a 1Ds about the time the D2X came out. Well, D2X prices are also quite low these days, so that will be easy. I will probably add a D3 at some point because it was Nikon's first full-frame unit, but the prices on those are high enough still it will have to wait. I have been researching the Df and have decided to get one of those first.

I might have to pick up an FE or an FA as well as a show and tell comparison to go with the Df. I used to carry both around, the FE loaded with Tri-X and the FA with color film.

I might have to add a D1X even if only because it has the odd variant of that Sony CCD with paired up photosites to make rectangular (everything else has square) pixels. That is more of an engineering thing than a photography thing with me.

Stan

[Stan Disbrow]

Hi,

Ok. I have joined you all as a Junior member. A Cub Collector, as it were. I have a bookcase in the living room with glass paneled doors. In it right now are my old F4, a D1H and the Nikon F5/Kodak 760c. Now I need another old E2, and a couple other old units to go with (FE, FA, D2H). Maybe some busted but good looking units off of eBay.....

My Canon D2000/Kodak 520c is upstairs over my workshop as my dedicated eBay 'photo studio' camera, along with my old Mac G5 photo processor system. Since my electronics shop is downstairs in the same building, I can run up and grab the 520 if I need to shoot what my microscope sees.

Being a Nikon guy who dabbled with Canon, I can't really stick one Canon in amongst Nikons! Besides, it still works and I have all of one Canon lens (28-105 zoom) to make it useful besides on a microscope.

Now that my Df came with an AFS version of the 50/1.8, I find I rather like it. Might get a couple more, like 20mm and 28mm. Then the well-used AI versions could go on display as well.

Is this collecting stuff a bug? I think it might be and y'all are contagious....

Stan

[Stan Disbrow]

Hi,

OK. Found the FE and FA. FE still works, FA doesn't as it crinkled the shutter long ago. A quick trip to eBay and the FA has a defunct MD-15 motor drive and MF-12 data back. So, it is back to looking like what I carried all the time to document fire / rescue calls.

I put the AI 50mm f1.8 lens on the FE since it will fire without batteries in M90. Someone can look thru it and focus the lens and fire it and use the film advance lever and get a feel for what all that was like. No need for the lens to be on the FA as the mirror is permanently locked up due to the busted shutter. Hence getting non functional accessories for it.

I put batteries into the F4, and it does still work. Of course, it will sit on the bookshelf with the batteries out just like the FE. Can't have them corroding inside still operational units. The D1H and F5 based 760c still work and have their batteries. I just change them out and charge them every week or two. But, they still get occasional use as well. The D1H is still useful for shots destined for the web as the file size is small. Just make Jpeg in camera in sRGB color space and it is done.

So, now I need an E2 for the display shelf. I haven't given much thought to displaying anything else yet.

Stan