Ok, choices, choices, choices! Olympus, Nikkormat, or Leica?

pepper

pepper

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My Father passed away recently and left me with a rather large amount of cameras to sort out (125 Bodies alone)

Now I want to keep one of the classic SLR's for myself and the rest to sell, which one of the following cameras would be your choices and why please?

Olympus first, probably my Fathers favourite brand,

Om-1 Needs a new conversion piece to use modern batteries
OM -10, Om-10 was the camera my father gave me to replace my Zenith EM,
Battery and light meter are still fine after all these years.

Nikkormat FT2 all working complete with 1:3.5 55mm, 1:2.8 24mm 1:2.8 135mm land a Sigma Zoom of 1:5.6 120-300mm.

Or Leica Flex SL with Summicron 1:2/50, elmarit 1:2.8/35 and a Sigma zoom of 1:4.5 70-210mm.

So you see I have a few choices!

Other SLR's are Olympus OM701, Pen F, Nikon F401, F5, EM M 90, Canon, EOS 600, EOS 1000F. But in my minds eye those Four are the stand out SLR bodies for me.

Please do not get me started on which Range Finder I'm going to keep today please!
 
Sorry to hear about your loss.

But welcome to the forum

Only keep one? :eek:

If it was me I would keep the lot then try them out and sell the ones you don't get on with.

But

Olympus OM1 fantastic manual camera, small light and with Zuiko lens a great camera. I would keep that.

OM-10 Nice but never really liked it so would sell

Nikkormat, these are meant to be nice cameras but I know nothing about them, again a manual camera with a nice set of lens, would sell the sigma one and get a nikon one instead (lens snob :lol:)

Leica SL of yes I would deffo keep this and again sell the Sigma and replace with a Leica one.

As for the other, the Olympus OM707 was rubbish when new, horrible plastic thing (but I am sure some would love em).

Pen F half frame camera not sure ow much it is worth really depends on condition

Nikons F401 not bad but built as an entry level camera to their AF range
F5 that is a great camera a really nice Pro machine. Most of the modern day D1, D2 and D3 share the same body.
EM often underrated works well with the E-Series lens.
M90????? Do you mean the F90? nice but now sell very cheap.

EOS 600 and 1000F I used to sell them new :lol: were ok the 600 was better then the 1000F.
 
Thanks Knikki, you can see the problem I have, personally I'd rather have my Father.

Even I and his best friend didn't know how many cameras he had! We had estimated it at around 50 and were totally shocked when we counted them out and found over 125 of them.

There are 9 Leicas in the collection altogether, and I've found bills for the CLA of them from Malcolm Taylor nr Leominster for hundreds of pounds.

I went over to digital nearly 10 years ago and am now really regretting it, sitting here with so much history in little pieces of glass and metal, really makes you think of how the world has progressed but actually hasn't got any better!
 
I would keep the Olympus OM-1 as it's a mechanical camera. The OM-10 is fine as a second body as it's aperture priority and manual, if you have the manual adapter that connects onto it. I certainly never liked the OM707, one of the reasons was there was no manual control on it (if I remember correctly). Basically a point and shoot SLR, but very easy to use however.

The Nikkormats are certainly decent cameras and I would certainly hang onto this along with your lenses for it. The only Nikon I didn't like was the EM for the simple reason it was auto only (aperture priority). I've always prefered a camera with full manual exposure settings on it.

The Nikon F5 was a pro-spec camera, again very nice and a top quality SLR. I don't know much about the Canon EOS models you have, so can't comment on those. But you certainly have quite a collection there, and I'm sorry to hear about your father.
 
I'm leaning towards keeping the Olympus range, its what I know and have the lenses for, (the OM-10 does have the manual adaptor), and I think keeping an Olympus theme will suit me.

The OM-10 has done me proud over the years and my Father always liked Olympus design philosophy, I have just given my daughter my E-500 as I'm keeping his Panasonic DMC-L1, but there's still an Olympus theme with the four thirds lens technology.
 
Zeniths and Zorkis hey?????

Well I could look after a couple of them :D

I'll look after the Olympus Pen as well if it is going spare :lol:

Aye up a fellow Oly user.

But back on topic your dad certainly had a fine collection of stuff.
 
LOL he has one early Pen F, one late Pen F and a Pen D,

Its massive there are TLR,s Rangefinders, polaroid, compact and sub compact, SLR, Digital SLR its all there, including huge Mamiya Press cameras.
 
pepper said:
its funny, but people aren't so keen to offer to look after the Feds and Zeniths.
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Had a Zorki until recently, OM1, C220, Contraflex... list goes on.

The Zenith SLRs look interesting but you have to admit owning a Leica must be at the top of a few peoples lists! :D
 
Yes but for some reason the Leica doesn't excite me the way the Olympus do, I suppose it was part of growing up in the seventies when these were new, it was what was in the shops at the time, when I used to help out in the shop on a saturday morning, it was always the new and latest cameras that we drooled over.
 
pepper said:
Yes but for some reason the Leica doesn't excite me the way the Olympus do, I suppose it was part of growing up in the seventies when these were new, it was what was in the shops at the time, when I used to help out in the shop on a saturday morning, it was always the new and latest cameras that we drooled over.
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What are the Leicas out of interest?
 
pepper said:
Yes but for some reason the Leica doesn't excite me the way the Olympus do, I suppose it was part of growing up in the seventies when these were new, it was what was in the shops at the time, when I used to help out in the shop on a saturday morning, it was always the new and latest cameras that we drooled over.
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I know what you mean, my used to have an OM10 back in the day, I must admit the OM1 I had was my fav camera so far.

Any chance of seeing some pics of all this wonderful kit?
 
This is one hell of a selection!

Are you going to do portraits off it all (like products) before you part with anything? Some flickr groups would love it!
 
It was actually your comment last night thats got me thinking about it, because once they've gone they've gone! So yes, I reckon a Flickr set of all my Father cameras, little and large seems to be in the offing.

I'm already having arguments with the other half about how many I want to keep though! SLR's Next!
 
pepper said:
It was actually your comment last night thats got me thinking about it, because once they've gone they've gone! So yes, I reckon a Flickr set of all my Father cameras, little and large seems to be in the offing.

I'm already having arguments with the other half about how many I want to keep though! SLR's Next!
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Maybe you could keep one of each type? ...or just hide them!
 
Sorry to hear of your loss pepper. Your dads collection sounds fantastic. I'd choose the stuff that captured his love (although that may be all of it!!!), and know that with them you'll always have some of his affection around.
When my dad popped off we were a bit shocked by what he had. Someone from his camera club came round and took and ebayed all the good stuff, like L lenses, Canon digi bodies, a couple of Hassys and some Bronicas, plus loads of Minoltas. He gave my mum a cheque for about fifteen grand I think in the end. I sold a few bits for her through ebay too, all immaculate and boxed. I bet a fair bit of it went to people on here now!
I've still got some old stuff that I still don't know what it is, but hanging onto it until I do as I really regret selling some of the gear that I did. And then of course my mum cleared out the garage (which had been set up as his studio) by getting a skip round and filling it with all the 'crap' as she called it - backdrops; stands; some big tripods; I don't actually know what else. I was gutted, but couldn't say anything! Some lucky bleeder at a skip company in Rayleigh must have had a big smile when that lot turned up...
 
I lost my father earlier this year. He left me his collection of about thirty, all of which I am going to keep. If I had 125 though, I think I would trim it down a bit.

Given the selection you have mentioned, I would keep the OM-1, the Nikkormat, the Leicaflex and the F5 and as has already been suggested, try to get some matching original manufacturers' lenses where appropriate.

pepper said:
Please do not get me started on which Range Finder I'm going to keep today please!
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Better start another thread for that!


Steve.
 
Thirty would be a good number manageable at that sort of size, but knowing me I will end up selling most of them as I'd never use them, I'm just going to keep a few of the items which we spent time together using, hence why the Olympus are special to me.
 
pepper said:
Thirty would be a good number manageable at that sort of size, but knowing me I will end up selling most of them as I'd never use them, I'm just going to keep a few of the items which we spent time together using, hence why the Olympus are special to me.
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Sounds like a good place to start
 
pepper said:
Thirty would be a good number manageable at that sort of size, but knowing me I will end up selling most of them as I'd never use them, I'm just going to keep a few of the items which we spent time together using, hence why the Olympus are special to me.
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That's perfectly understandable. The Olympus obviously has sentimental value, and in any case both the OM-1 and OM-10 are excellent cameras. I'm assuming you have a selection of lenses to fit so you'll have yourself a very nice film outfit. I must admit, if I were in your shoes I'd be tearing my hair out (what little I have left) trying to decide what to sell.
 
Its horrid sitting here fettling with all these cameras, checking all the shutter speeds are ok, light meters, replacing batteries, knowing that I can't keep them all.

I've just spent an hour or so getting a little Pentax Program A working again, (someone had put the battery case back on Skew whiff) its now sorted and is sitting there with all of of its lenses in its own case looking mightily pretty.
 
If you get to a 100 posts on here you could sell them in the forum, at least they would go to a good home if you did decide to sell some.
 
****(125 Bodies alone)****

Huh is that a typo, he would have to be continually interested in photography and buying about three cameras every year.
 
excalibur2 said:
****(125 Bodies alone)****

Huh is that a typo, he would have to be continually interested in photography and buying about three cameras every year.
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I would think he was a collector as well as a photographer. I know there's someone on TP who has a large number of film cameras of all ages.
 
excalibur2 said:
Huh is that a typo, he would have to be continually interested in photography and buying about three cameras every year.
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I have bought three in the same week. Between myself and my late father, we assembled a collection of half that amount in a couple of years so 125 isn't too outrageous.


Steve.
 
pepper said:
Ebays being my friend at the moment, I've got four on there at the moment, including a Boxed Rollei QT35 T sorry that should read QZ35T DOH,
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Can you post a link so I can keep an eye on what you are selling? Or let me know your ebay ID.


Steve.
 
Hi everyone being new around here, I'm not totally sure of the rules,

But my Ebay ID is cyclingpepper013

If its not allowed just edit my post please MODs, don't pull my thread XX
 
I wouldn't rush into selling anything, unless you really need the money now. Your Dad died recently, and I'd just take some time to get over that before making these decisions. The cameras and lenses have been around for a while, and aren't going to come to any harm, or lose any value in the meantime. Why don't you just handle/use some of them for a bit, and then decide what to keep for personal or practical reasons?

My old man died nearly 30 years ago - I'm 56 - and we'd only spent about two weeks together in the last six years of his life, because we were living in different countries, a long way apart. I don't have much that belonged to him, and I wish I did, but it was a long time ago now.
 
Thanks for the advice Martin, I'm not going to sell a lot of them (despite what my other half may think) I'm selling some of the more modern bits and am putting the money into a little collection and am going to buy the Grandkids a small digital camera each to remember him by.

If I gave them an SLR or a Rangefinder they'd never use it but having a small compact digital camera and being able to take pictures to show me what they've done will please me and I'll be able to see the results of what my Dads money has done.
 
Sorry to hear about your loss. I just wanted to say what an incredible collection your father had. Good luck in finding the right one to keep.
 
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