[rollei_list] Re: Rolleiflex 2.8GX Japan Edition
- From: Kirk Thompson <thompsonkirk@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: Rollei List <rollei_list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 9 Mar 2012 19:58:10 -0800
Thank you, Marc! Though I seem to have too many Rolleis now, I know nothing
about collecting and didn't know where collectors focus their attention.
I thought the gaudy models were in demand, but only on the basis of one
example: A colleague who kept Leicas in his study in glass cases showed me his
military models and especially his Luxus, which he had liberated (or is the
right word 'stolen'?) while serving in WWII. He seemed to think the Luxus was
his prize.
An old story about collecting: Does anyone remember Don Chatterton, one of the
first to export used German cameras from US to Asia, for collectors? He used
to write for Shutterbug and lived not far from me. In about 1980 I wanted a
view camera and offered him a RolleiWide and a Leica Model A to finance it.
I'd bought them in Switzerland and had them factory-CLA'd. I believe he gave
me $900 for each (or would it have been both?). He then wrote an article for
Shutterbug about the Model A, which in the '30s had been factory-upgraded with
a rangefinder, but with the original serial number re-engraved on the new top
plate. In the article he claimed that there were already too many old Leica
A's out there, and the next level of collecting should be those with factory
mods.
I don't think this idea went over very well in the collecting world?
Kirk
> Date: Fri, 9 Mar 2012 22:30:40 -0500
> To: rollei_list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> From: marcsmall@xxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: [rollei_list] Re: Rolleiflex 2.8GX Japan Edition
>
> At 10:12 PM 3/9/2012, Kirk Thompson wrote:
> >I'd be ashamed to walk around with a camera as tastelessly gaudy as that.
> >
> >I suppose was made to garner cash from
> >collectors who want to have 'one of each.'
> >
> >Kirk
>
> Trust me, such do exist, but not in large
> numbers. Few collectors have a lot of interest
> in commemorative models of any sort, so these
> often do not make their sales goals. Leica and
> Rolleiflex both fall victim to the mindset that
> 'if we make it, they will buy', while, in most
> cases, few collectors are interested in such
> exotica. Zeiss Ikon learned that sad truth as
> early as 1952 with their 'Jubilum' Contax IIa --
> they were so embarrassed that we no longer know
> what the jubilee was. (I own one of these but
> paid no premium for it, as Bob Pins missed the marking.)
>
> Now, a lot more common are the collectors who
> have to have every production variation of a
> given model. There are seven models of the
> Contax I and two versions of the Cyclops
> Contarex. I must not be a collector, as I only
> have one of each, and take pictures with them! A
> true collector can spot minutia such as a change
> in the knurling of a ring under the shutter
> release or the abbreviations used on the
> engraving -- this is sort of thing which keeps
> Leica IIIc collectors up at night with glee and
> joy. The 2.8GX is another one with a number of
> variations in its production as parts such as the
> Compur shutter became unavailable and had to be replaced with substitutes.
>
> Marc
>
>
>
> msmall@xxxxxxxxxxxx
> Cha robh bàs fir gun ghràs fir!
>
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