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Old Kit


raymac46

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It's not just PCs and laptops that get old and less useful - camera systems do as well.

About 15 years ago - when my eyes started failing - I put together a nice Nikon film system with autofocus capability. This replaced an even older Nikon manual system that I had used for 20 years before that.

In 2002 film was having a last hurrah and digital still could not compete with 35 mm on image quality. I got an enthusiast's film camera - not professional grade - and some nice (mostly used) lenses.

By 2008 I was almost entirely digital and the film system sat idle. I never got an actual DSLR system until 2015.

The old lenses are (sort of) compatible with my newer digital camera body although they will only focus manually. The new digital lens system is a lot nicer. So what to do with the old system?

  1. Sell it. The film camera body is essentially worthless but the lenses have held some of their value. However, it would be a hassle and I doubt I would get enough to justify the time and expense of eBay or KEH.
     
  2. Use the lenses. They will focus manually although they lack a lot of features I like on the newer lenses. I could get a heavier, more expensive digital body that would autofocus them but I doubt this would give me a lot of value for money. The newer lightweight system is just so much nicer, and it cost less than buying just the pro-grade digital body.
     
  3. Store it. It doesn't take up all that much space. Film shooting has never entirely gone away and maybe one of my grandchildren will get interested in photography and want to try old school analog film. I personally will stay digital. I've paid my dues with carrying film cartridges, loading, rewinding, processing.

A good thing about Nikon is that almost all the lenses are compatible with almost all the camera bodies going back to 1959. Now that I can see so much better I could use my newest DSLR with the nicer old film lenses and focus manually. They are really fast lenses compared to the zooms I have for digital.

So keeping them in the museum is no more of a waste than keeping an old laptop. That's how I see it anyway.

Edited by raymac46
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