Giving away used cameras and lenses

[Sandi]

I don't have any expensive photographic equipment but a variety of Nikon, Pentax, Olympus cameras and lenses I have kept and would now like a bit more room in the cupboard. It starts with a Nikon FG and lenses. I've given some stuff to charities but I'm not sure which would be interested here in Australia. I don't want to sell anything.

What do others do with old stuff, apart from keeping it out of nostalgia?

 

Sandi

[Michael Ventura]

I donate items to the high school where my daughter went.  The photography teacher there is excellent and loves donations.  And he gives me a receipt to write off the value on my taxes.

[Steve F]

FB marketplace for a small price or for free.

[Rebecca Ore]

If you have a local Free Cycle, that could get gear in the hands of a student.   I passed a Minolta Autocord  into new hands that way when I lived in the US.

[Roadrunner]

I gave my beloved Nikon F3 to my best friend's son for his wedding gift, who was getting into analog photography. It's the only camera I ever missed. 😢

[Sandi]

Thank you all. I like the idea of giving stuff to schools, so I'll have to try and find a reliable way to do it.

[Bryan]

On 16/11/2024 at 09:58, Sandi said:

I don't have any expensive photographic equipment but a variety of Nikon, Pentax, Olympus cameras and lenses I have kept and would now like a bit more room in the cupboard. It starts with a Nikon FG and lenses. I've given some stuff to charities but I'm not sure which would be interested here in Australia. I don't want to sell anything.

What do others do with old stuff, apart from keeping it out of nostalgia?

 

Sandi

 

Alternatively you could perhaps use some of your film camera lenses with your digital bodies. I use a collection of old Pentax and Olympus lenses on my Sony a6500 body, and they provide sharper results than any Sony lens that I have tried.  You do have to manually focus, set the aperture ring etc, so not suitable for many, but I don't find this a problem, in fact I quite enjoy it !  

[Marianne]

I agree with @Bryan  Before you donate, you might want to see which lenses you can use with your digital camera(s). I've used old Nikon lenses I bought cheap on ebay with my digital cameras since the beginning on my Nikon digital cameras. Since switching to mirrorless, I still use them on my Sony and Olympus cameras, as well as old Olympus lenses I had from my one and only analog Olympus camera (which my daughter used for her high school analog photography class) 

 

I like @Michael Ventura's idea of donating any old film cameras you don't use to your local high school, but I'd caution you about giving away or sell lenses - I sold one of my favorites, a super sharp Sigma 50-500mm for Nikon, thinking it would be too big to use for my Sony mirrorless - the only thing I regret since it was sharp right up to 500mm and so well balanced that it was easy to use hand held even at 500mm. 

 

I bought inexpensive adapters for my Sony to use with the analog lenses I kept (all manual anyway) and for my Olympus - you can beat the bokeh on analog lenses - it's so creamy and beautiful. A 50mm f/ 1.4 I picked up for $40 on ebay nearly 20 years ago now is still one of my faves. 

 

So I'd consider buying an adapter and trying them out to see which lenses you like before donating the lot and regretting the loss. I've sold old cameras & lenses to finance new purchases, but other than the Sigma, I haven't regretted it. I have a small house and don't need to store stuff I don't use. But the lenses may surprise you. 

 

 

[sooth]

33 minutes ago, Marianne said:

I agree with @Bryan  Before you donate, you might want to see which lenses you can use with your digital camera(s). I've used old Nikon lenses I bought cheap on ebay with my digital cameras since the beginning on my Nikon digital cameras. Since switching to mirrorless, I still use them on my Sony and Olympus cameras, as well as old Olympus lenses I had from my one and only analog Olympus camera (which my daughter used for her high school analog photography class) 

 

I still have an FM2, and lenses, and used the lenses on canon dslr, and mirrorless. nikon f lenses have the largest flange focus distance among most of the camera brands and adapters can be brought to mount them on other camera brand bodies.

[sb photos]

While having a sort out I dug out my old original Sony RX10 Mk1, never really used it, preferred images from an RX100. While charging batteries for a new Sony RX10 MK4  I put a battery into the old original RX10 and it was functioning well. I last used it for HD video. I will sound out my grandson who's 15 when he visits next weekend to see if he would use it.