Vintage Cameras and Parts

[guest1999]

Hello-

I've joined this forum just to ask you guys a quick question. My wife's grandfather used to own/run one of the premiere camera repair/supply in Manhattan in the 40'-50's. He passed many years ago and we now have a 2-car garage full of all of his parts and supplies and some cameras too. Is this sutff junk or is this something people are interested in? If there is an interest we will catalog it and make it available to the public, but if not, it'll be thrown out soon.

Any input on how people feel about this sort of thing as well as any cool stuff to look for while sorting through it all would be appreciated.

thanks
William J

 

[nealjpage]

I'll take any camera that says "Hasselblad," "Leica," "Rollei," or "Nikon." :thumbup:

 

[Jonas C]

Most if not all of these parts and cameras are worth something. There are a lot of us who love to tinker and play around with old cameras. Check out eBay for people selling parts and old cameras to get some kind of idea what the market is for them. In addition to the cameras that nealjpage mentioned also look for Kodak Retinas or Zeiss.

 

[PaulBennett]

...we now have a 2-car garage full of all of his parts and supplies and some cameras too. Is this sutff junk or is this something people are interested in?

Quick appraisal at $10,000. Will take some time to sort and inventory but definately not junk. Ebay is the prime outlet. If you have paperwork such as manuals, catalogs, etc, they are worth as much as parts.

Meet your new moneymaking hobby.

 

[Mitica100]

Although it's very tempting to say these parts are worth thousands of dollars, and in part that is the truth, the question is who is going to buy all these parts. I mean there are plenty of camera repair shops that already have the parts, be those Leica, Zeiss, Retina and Hasselblad. And there are a few camera repairmen enthusiasts and also a few tinkerers that might be interested.

You can try the eBay but might end up paying more than making money IMHO. Try posting at APUG (Google it) and also there is a camera fix Forum on Yahoo.com. The IDCC (the Internet Directory of Camera Collectors) also holds internet based sales once a month, you might have some more success there.

Meanwhile let me know what you got, I can estimate its entire value.

 

[nealjpage]