Saying Hello.

Pixeldawg1 · Aug 14, 2020

Greetings to all of you lovers of old cameras. I am Mark Lent and am a collector. I teach photography at a university in China and so part of what I do is teach the historical aspects of the art. When I do this, I use a "period" camera from that time for the students to hold and see how it works. For example, during WW2 I show a Graphlex KA-2 aerial camera and for the intro class, I have the "camera timeline", where I have a camera on display from the 1850's to 2020 and one camera for each decade. Since old cameras are quite rare in China (mostly due to being destroyed during the Mao era and the Cultural Revolution) most of the cameras have never been seen before, so it's cool to watch the students reaction when they see them.

Anyway, just stopping in to say hi and hope to see some cool stuff here. Will also post some imaged of my cameras as time permits.

Cordially,

Mark

webestang64 · Aug 14, 2020

Hi Mark,
Welcome. I've been a collector of old cameras for decades. Most are freebies from the camera store/labs I have worked at since 1985. Look forward to seeing your collection.

If you have a bit of time you can check out my camera case photos...... Set Up A Camera Case in my Apartment

Pixeldawg1 · Aug 14, 2020

Will do! I currently have some 80 cameras, all in my office. Will do likewise as time permits. Very busy right now trying to prep for next semester.

Dany · Aug 15, 2020

Hi Mark
Be welcome.
I 'd love to see your cameras here.
China is a fascinating country. I worked for a French oil company in Beijing and Dalian before China opened up.
I only have a few Chinese cameras.

Pixeldawg1 · Aug 15, 2020

Dany said:
Hi Mark
Be welcome.
I 'd love to see your cameras here.
China is a fascinating country. I worked for a French oil company in Beijing and Dalian before China opened up.
I only have a few Chinese cameras.

Ah! Have a few nice ones there! And I can imagine that being here under Mao was quite different. I purchased a Seagull and it came with the original sales receipt and it was marked "80 RMB" and my wife, who is Chinese gasped. "Do you realize this was about 6 months pay for the average worker when they purchased this?" she told me. I am trying my best to find a "5 Goats", which was a TLR that was made in Guangzhou and is exceedingly rare- maybe 1,500 of them ever made. A very busy time for me planning the new semester, but I will get some images of my collection up soonest. Nice hearing from you Dany and thanks for showing the cameras!