Does anyone still love their old gear?

[mb66energy]

I still love my EF-S 60 Macro which I bought in 2005 with the 20D. It delivers great IQ on the 200D which has three times the pixels or 1.7 times the linear resolution. 12 years is not really old but it was my first EF lens ever.

Another big one is the ancient FD 135 3.5 S.C. which I bought 25 years ago. I used it for some technical images with my EOS M and I was impressed with (1) IQ and (2) easy handling with aperture ring + nice focus ring. I have just fogotten how well these old mechanical beings felt.

 

[KeithBreazeal]

One of the things that I really miss is aperture ring. So many decades shooting film that the "muscle memory" thing was annoying. I have a couple manual lens and like the feeling of control. Depth of field preview is a bit awkward compared with the old film bodies, but it is what it is. Back in the late 60's I was thrilled to have a camera with a built in light meter!

 

[e5z8652]

I love my old gear. I still shoot my EOS 5. (The sans "D" kind.)

 

[RGF]

I still routinely use my 180 Macro, almost 20 years old

 

[cpsico]

Funny thing, I was chatting with a sony a7 user who telling about how much he loved canon colors, his camera that he picked up cheap? A 10.1 megapixel 1D III

 

[brad-man]

Speaking of old gear, I find it rather curious that Canon USA recently began selling refurbished 5D mklls. According to CPW, they have over 20 of them. Did they find a crate of them in a warehouse somewhere? I believe it's been several years since they have offered them.

https://shop.usa.canon.com/shop/en/catalog/214217?WT.mc_id=C126149

 

[mistaspeedy]

The only camera I own is the ancient 1D mark II.... 8 megapixels from 2004.
Canon 50mm F1.4
Tamron 28-75 F2.8
My only lenses... Hehe

Anyway... I'm happy with it until I uograde to full frame one day.... Something like a used 6D

 

[rjbradbury]

I still love my 5D Mark II bodies and will be adding a third to the kit this year. They do everything I need for my work.

 

[slclick]

I love my old gear. I still shoot my EOS 5. (The sans "D" kind.)

I had a 5 for a while, why did I get rid of it? EOS 3. One of the finest bodies Canon has ever made.

 

[RGF]

I trade in old bodies because the new ones advantages and I don't have room to store my old stuff (plus I want $ back to offset costs).

I still have my 1999 (or is 2000) 180 macro lens which I frequently use.

 

[StoicalEtcher]

Absolutely love the old gear - in my case, that extends back to my first canon slr: a Canon Pellix QL, 1968 vintage, so celebrating its 50th this year. And it is partnered with the original FL 28 f/3.5, FL 50 f/1.4 and FL 55-135 f/3.5 that were purchased with it!

I have to disclose that I inherited them from an uncle - who first introduced me to photography and the magic of developing your own black & white shots last century - although I wasn't actually born when they were purchased

For me, there is something very enjoyable about the mechanical side of the use, which does also slow down my process, compared to the greater rapidity available with digital. Probably also helps that I only use it for the odd personal outing rather than ever using it for work, hence the love.

The lenses are great too - not up the the current standards of sharpness, but so solidly built, and 50 years on all operate as smooth as silk.

I'd categorise the better older gear alongside older motors - the new ones get you from A to B much more efficiently, but on the odd sunny weekend, it's great to roll out the old gear for the simple pleasure of using it.

 

[RGF]

I love my old gear. I still shoot my EOS 5. (The sans "D" kind.)

I had a 5 for a while, why did I get rid of it? EOS 3. One of the finest bodies Canon has ever made.

My favorite canon film camera was 1V.

 

[NancyP]

I loved my 35mm film Mamiya-Sekor. It was full manual. I still miss aperture rings.

I still use some old-design lenses, most notably the EF 400 f/5.6 L no-IS (and accompanying TC 1.4x II), feather-light for its focal length, balances well on a consumer body, not a BFD to carry on a hike, excellent image quality in its class (that is, sub-$5,000.00 lenses). I am debating getting the moderately heavier EF100-400 f/variable L II IS plus the new TC 1.4x III) for a trip.

I also use the 180 f/3.5L macro on occasion, when I need the distance (shooting venomous snakes), though for general macro work I use the 125 mm Voigtlander, so much lighter, true apochromat.

Sometimes I take old film lenses out for a stroll - Nikon AI-S 50 f/1.2 and Nikon AI-S 105 f/2.5. The rendering is beautiful, even if they aren't as sharp as the sharpest contemporary lenses. Plus, they don't weigh much on a hike.

 

[timmy_650]

I think my wives favorite photos, came from my 40D, then 1D. But they have been my action cameras. And the photos have been taken within the last 5 years.

 

[cpsico]

Fresh off the press, taken with a 1DS III while looking for fossils. A fitting camera for the task!

 

[stochasticmotions]

I usually sell of one camera when I pick up a new one but I still have a canon 7NE and a canon s90 with the canon underwater case that both get used pretty regularly.

 

[sanj]

I update within months of launch of relevant cameras.

The only thing old in my life is me.

I do not upgrade my cars frequently though.

 

[yungfat]

I don't use it anymore because it's simply impractical for work (work demands a minimum of 20mp files), but the 1Dsmk2 is my favourite 35mm format camera in terms of the feel in the hand, the feel of the shutter button, and the sound of the shutter, and I sorely wish I could get that same 'shell' with a newer sensor & processor. (Er, and a newer screen, too.) It may be collecting dust due to not meeting modern requirements, but if Canon released all of their cameras in a limited edition which simply had the 1Ds2's outer case and shutter, I would gladly pay double for them. Love that thing.

The other Canon I'd give a nod to is the 5D2. It was the standard workhorse for years and other things being better now doesn't stop it from still being a really solid, workhorse camera today. It's not my main camera, but it's still my #3 backup body, and with current prices around the £550-600 mark—the same as a new SL2—I've started pushing new photographers toward buying a used 5D2 over any APS-C body, at least for stills.

Other than that, I still get a lot of enjoyment out of Canon FD gear, some of the early 90s EF lenses are still fantastic (the 100mm is the most underrated Canon lens), and my 'old' Mamiya RZ67 Pro II is still my main backup camera. (Adapted to a digital back, it takes the #2 spot behind the Phase.)

Hi aceflibber, need your advise here.

I’m currently owned a 6D. Was thinking to grab a used 5D Mark II since I will be travel to Japan in March. The reason is mainly because I found the current 6D AF point are all cramped on the Center, and limited my composition while using larger aperture when shooting. Let the AF point sensitivity one side, is 5D Mark II AF point spread further than 6D?

Also considering for 1D Mark IV, and just want to try out whether old Canon still practical for today.

I will mainly shoot street photography during vacation and maybe some landscape.

Don’t really like today’s camera as it’s too complicated to operate for my use.

Thank you.

 

[Michael Clark]

Speaking of old gear, I find it rather curious that Canon USA recently began selling refurbished 5D mklls. According to CPW, they have over 20 of them. Did they find a crate of them in a warehouse somewhere? I believe it's been several years since they have offered them.

https://shop.usa.canon.com/shop/en/catalog/214217?WT.mc_id=C126149

They still list them in stock at the Canon USA refurb store. At $1,759.20 they'll probably have them for a good while! A brand new 6D Mark II is less than that!

 

[Michael Clark]

I still have my first EOS camera, a Rebel II. I haven't shot a roll of film in it in years, though.

I don't love the first DSLR I owned, a Rebel XTi that is now on more-or-less permanent loan to my brother-in-law. I hated that fake film winder sound every time I took a picture!

The EF 50mm f/1.8 II I bought in the 1990s is still going strong on loan with the XTi. So is the EF-S 55-250 f/4-5.6 IS (no 'II' or 'STM') I picked up when I got the XTi.

My 50D is a different story from the XTi. It was the first camera I had that felt like a "real" camera. I still put a Tamron SP 17-50mm f/2.8 Di II on it and shoot a bit every once in a while.

I never got very attached to my 7D, either. Although it felt like a pro body when shooting with it (large, bright viewfinder, highly configurable AF system, fast handling), that feeling only lasted until it was time to review the images on a computer monitor. It was too noisy at moderately high ISO and the AF was way too inconsistent from one shot to next.

My primary bodies now are a 5D Mark III and a 7D Mark II. While far from perfect, both the AF systems and image quality of both are more than good enough for what I do. When I'm shooting three bodies I still use a 5D Mark II with a 17-40/4 or a 50/1.4. But the lack of a "real" AF system limits what I do with it.