In a tangible testament to a bygone era of technology, a Christchurch man is selling his late father's massive camera collection on Trade Me.
Up for grabs are 140 film cameras, with a whole lot of lenses and accessories. Bidding was at $2,760 on Friday morning and about 230 people have added the auction to their watchlist.
Trade Me seller Andrew says in the collection there are "adapters, filters, flash, camera bags, cases, slide viewers, slide projectors, hand grips, hoods, brushes, teleconverters and light meters".
He describes the condition of the gear as "wide-ranging".
"They have been sitting in the spare bedroom for a couple of years so most are dusty and disorganised, it will take some time to match everything up and clean," but he says he doesn't have the time.
"Please note this is pickup only, we are talking several hundred kilos of gear, filled an entire station wagon with the seats down.
"There is easily 2 pallets and probably in excess of 200 or 300kg of gear," he says.
It's too much for him to sell piece by piece, so he's looking for a collector to take the whole lot.
Whoever buys it is going to need a big source of 35mm film, which is now hard to find.
Digital cameras became widely available in the 1990s, and quickly replaced traditional 35mm film cameras.
With rapidly advancing camera technology in smartphones, and a plethora of free image-hosting websites, film cameras like these are generally now only popular for their vintage appeal.
Newshub.
