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A few weeks ago, I had some bad and some good luck. My car blew a pipe and coolant poured all over the engine. It created lots of steam and worry. I thought it might mean the head gasket was blown and an expensive repair. Me, being me, I tried the easiest route first. I changed the coolant pipe and overflow cap, refilled it and kept my fingers crossed. To no avail, it happened again and I called in friends for advice….head gasket or if you are lucky, thermostat.
In my head, I was thinking of all the cameras I would have to part with to pay for the repairs. In the end, it turned out to be the cheaper fault of a broken thermostat. Not only that, I was able to fix it myself by watching youtube videos. Emergency avoided.
At the same time, a few blogger friends were chatting about which cameras would have to be pried out of their cold, dead hands. What would my choices be? I do have a top ten list of favourite camera, but this list would not be the same. Sentimental value and the ability to get another good copy would have to come into play…plus I would have to actualy own the camera in the first place to put my grubby hands on it.
So, in no particular order, here are my five dead hand cameras.
When I want to take nice portraits, this is the camera I reach for. I used it for my recent “Dad” project, and for an article I wrote for 35mmc. It is one of the few I have from my time in Japan and has the skin I put on while I was there. There are other C2s, but none like mine.
As I said in my top ten list, this is a purely personal choice. It was one of the first cameras I tried after returning to film. It was the camera I used to take photos of my mum when she was in the hospice. It was my comfort blanket. Someone did offer to buy it from me when I was selling cameras during lockdown, but I resisted.
This was the first film camera I bought when returning to film. I sold my original and regretted it. Then a good friend saw a battered, dirty, barely working one. She bought it for £10 and gave it to me. I managed to bring it back to life, but not get rid of the squeal…which I quite like. I love this camera because it shows me how far I have come on my journey and it is a reminder of how lucky I am to have such nice friends.
I have to put this on here as it was a present and the gifter said, “DO NOT SELL IT!!” So it has to stay in my posession 😉 The gifter was one of my first commentors on this blog and has turned out to be a good friend. He has given me many cameras and films over the years. Besides all that, it is an amazing 120 camera that fits in a big pocket.
I had one of these and sold it. I regretted it so much that I bought another, it didn’t work, so I bought another. This time I bought one directly from Ukraine at the start of the war. It didn’t work either, but due to the story and the painted body, I invested in it and got it professionally repaired. It is probably the prettiest camera I own and I really should use it more. I am just worried about scratching the painting.
So that is it, my 5 dead hand cameras. There are many more cameras I like or love. To be honest, I am not a possession person. If something breaks or I lose it, I don’t get too upset. It is just a thing after all and there are many more things in the world. I would just rather not lose these five.
Wait….SIX!!!
I have to put this down too. It was a gift from a very generous and kind reader. It is expensive to find a good one and if this broke, I would/could not replace it. It changes from full to half-frame mid-roll. It is so nice that when I lent it to a friend, he immediately set out to buy one of his own. I wish the meter worked, but it is fully mechanical so it’s not a big issue.
That’s it….I think…so top six….maybe…wait, I want to put the Nikonos…only 5 cameras is hard.
Here are some links to other blogger’s choices who are also posting today. Remember, go to their links and support their sites, this post and the ones below should be read on their site, not on a scraping one that posts a copy in full. Support independent creators.
If any of the links don’t work initially, I will fix them and will add more links when I get them. It is hard to coordinate something like this. Also it is so nice to be included with such amazing people and their work.
Well, *of course* you fixed the thermostat thingamabob yourself – your readeship would not have expected anything else. And seeing that gorgeous painted Zorki again, shouldn’t wonder if you’d not given it a little bling while you were fixing it, as is your wont.
Bullet dodged. Hallelujah.
I wasn’t going to do the thingy, but when I was researching what it was, I saw it was attached with 3 bolts, 3…surely anyone could do that?? Nothing to lose 😀
With auto mechanic’s shop labo(u)r rates here at about 110 USD/hour … well, kudos for the spirit of self-sufficiency that holds the hpermontized world at bay.
You know, this is a hugely *dangerous* post, what with the links and all to other photoblogger’s favorite devices; because your engaged reader will of course highlight and Google-search current market rates for each and every one listed and sigh in longing, mindful both of the dearth of funds AND the egregious overflow already extant of the shelfs and in the cabinets around him or her.
Eg; that passing paean to the Nikkormat FTN … if there *was* one somewhere, in good nick … black, with fetching glints of brassing at the edges …
Well, my selections are not too expensive…apart from the Konica. Sentimentality is priceless though.
Those skins are fabulous! You’ve added a couple to my “must check out list” too 😀
Thank you, I do like making my cameras unique.
Why stop at 5?😁
I know. I couldn’t…I have two hands.
Oh I loved that hand painted Zorki. Sometimes we get carried away treating cameras as precious objects when really we should all be having more fun making them pretty:)
True, but it is nice if they are pretty and work really well, though. Otherwise, they are just a pretty paperweight.
Love how much more confident & accomplished you’ve become at fixing cameras over the years
I am pretending 😉
Actually you are right, I should be proud of myself 😀
Have the planets aligned unbeknownst to me? The two best analog photography bloggers in this universe publish posts on the same subject on the same day, you and Mike Eckman: https://mikeeckman.com/2024/05/five-cameras-ill-take-with-me-to-the-grave/
There are a few more of us, we had a little chat. It seems to have gone over very well, so we might do more in the future.
As a matter of interest, the plants will align this year…
https://starwalk.space/en/news/what-is-planet-parade#:~:text=planetary%20alignment%E2%80%9D%20chapter.-,6%20planets%20in%20the%20planetary%20alignment%20on%20June%203%2C%202024,will%20align%20in%20the%20sky.
This was a fun exercise and I had 3 honourable mentions tagged on to my list too.
I am glad you had fun, it seems like we inspired a few people.