2015 - why not start with something NEW

Your cameras are only visitors for the time they are your guest.

Do you remember when Jacques opened his Neuca for the first time. He hoped to find a note inside, something about the history of this special gem and it's heritage. Wouldn't it be great if he found a note from former owners. There should be space under the film-pressure-plate for a thin piece of paper or a microSD memory-card at another place inside. A microSD card would be so great because of it's endless capacity. Pictures could be saved from the auction and a diary of the maintenance and so much else. This would be the passport and a camera might be worth more with such kind of passport.

I'm not a computer freak so I don't know what kind of files can be read even after many years. There could be a system of protection that it's impossible to make notes for a time in the past, so not a chance to fake it. I think this would be a great thing. One day we could have a new passport.

Long time ago I found interest in memorize great aution items in a permanent way That was my basic purpose in creating the "Oddities" in my site. This year it will be reformulated and encreased.... I hope.

Other sites with the same profile should be spread world over.

A special suggestion to Photohistory.ru which is very well done and huge organized site is the inclusion of manuals together each of the cвmera and lens shown , by means of a link in each of respective page.



This idea I got just when I saw the birth of flashes and its various circuits together some of them.

Regards

Lenny, I've been entertaining this very idea (in different form) for some time now! My concept involves QR Codes. If you're not familiar with these, these are codes that you can scan with any mobile device with a bar code scanner app and it can contain either a text or a URL that it will automatically take you to. Basically my idea was to create a QR code on a tag that is somehow attached or stuck on a camera/case, whatever... if you scan it with your phone/tablet it will take you to a web page for this camera. For example try scanning this code below that I generated which points to a Moskva-1 Preseries page. You can scan right from the screen as well with your phone. (Get any Barcode scanner app from the app store)


http://www.ussrphoto.com/UserContent/112015_qrcode.png

I just never have time to implement it.. As long as the web page exists you can store as much information as possible about a particular camera. You can for example use a Collection Builder feature on USSRPhoto.com and point to a page for that particular camera.

Cheers,
Vlad.

I had thought of something like that too.
For me, it should be an obligation since the camera has been made, like for a car, for example. Perhaps not for all used cameras.

When they sell a camera, most of the sellers don't want to give the buyer informations about the precedent owners or about the history of the camera. Or they don't exactly know. Or they don't care. For the moment, there is no tracability for used cameras. If things change, less pleasure to look for. At least for me! Perhaps less lucky finds. Less questions put on USSRphoto! And transactions more easily watched by the authorities. In France, the Fisc (ministry of taxes) is very interested by on line sellers: they don't pay taxes contrarily to any other tradesman...

And... may I say that I prefer those of my cameras which hold a bit of mystery? It's such a pleasure to discuss about them after on this site!

But I totally share Luiz's opinion about collective researches concerning the most important auctions...

Amitiйs. Jacques.

Certainly, if such kind of passport existed, Jacques wouldn't have gotten his Neuca or at least not at that price. But now, after the world knows that it's a Neuca it's hard to imagine that this Neuca will be forgotten again and available on the cheap in the distant future. For this Neuca it's certainly worth to have a special passport, maybe a microSD card for now with all the photos Jacques has made and comparable photos of other Neucas. For this Neuca I would have asked about previous owners because this camera is such a gem.

For me it's special to know more about the history, like I found the name, town and zip-code inside on a leather-case of a Zorki-1. Sure, the case could be from another Zorki, but I like to believe both camera and case were always together. Cameras without this little part of history are not so special to me. And I think the next owner will be happy to know about two previous owners. I'm thinking about what I should do to tell that this Zorki was my guest.

OK, Lenny, I admit I have a bit exaggerated... And I agree with your main idea: the new cameras (in proportion to their price or rarity) should be listed. And it's not always the case, even for Leitz: impossible to know how many MP-s were made!

But you only take the example of this famous Neuca. I have twenty other examples... And really it's not a question of price or rarity! Only a matter of pleasure by looking for.
I can have exactly the same pleasure with a two pence camera. For example the last Leica copy I found was a Fed 1 with the original Fed number. And it worths not a penny more now.

It is my opinion, and only mine. Probably a bit romantic. I try too to know the past of every camera I buy. For that, I always ask the sellers who generally cannot answer for some reason. Perhaps I try to reconstruct the past? Everybody has his (good!)own reasons to be a collector...

Amitiйs. Jacques.

Yes Jacques, it's not a question of price or rarity, it's only a matter of pleasure and love for Leica copies. And when I say love I mean I don't share this camera I love with everybody, so I would not like if everybody could see the passport I made especially for my camera. This QR-code Vlad is talking about is a great general system for collecting serials and to make these data public. But I'm looking for something more private for the special Feds and Zorkis I love. It's like when Alex is selling a real passport on ebay. Alex doesn't show the pages inside with the dates, Alex shows only the cover. I would like to keep the passports I make in the same mind, only the owners can see it.

Imagine we were in the year 2115, 100 years further and there is a camera auction which says "previous owners in a verified passport made from Alain Berry in 2008, Jacques Morin in 2011 and Luiz Paracampo in 2014". Maybe such special passport would be worth more than the whole camera. We are making history.

quote:

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Originally posted by Lenny



Imagine we were in the year 2115, 100 years further and there is a camera auction which says "previous owners in a verified passport made from Alain Berry in 2008, Jacques Morin in 2011 and Luiz Paracampo in 2014". Maybe such special passport would be worth more than the whole camera. We are making history.

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Ha Ha!
Yes, I know you are right. This system will avoid (at least reduce) the fakes of interesting cameras. And it is in the general mood: always more security and less risk. With all that, no doubt I won't collect any more in 2115!

Amitiйs. Jacques.

I was really surprised when I noticed that Jacques was searching for fakes to find gems. He was ahead of most others and successful. But I don't think that gems will be used to make Leica fakes now. The Neuca was faked maybe many years ago and came to the market most obviously because the previous owner past away and the one who got this gem didn't know better. In 2115 the knowledge about Leica copies will me much greater. Every camera will be on the market at least twice till that time. Many questions about the production will be solved, for example that much more Zorki-2 were produced than only 10310 pieces. There won't be unknown cameras at that time and with the better knowledge and more experts fakes will be recognized easier. We have so many fakes now because Feds and Zorkis are so cheap in Ukraine and Russia, this will change by time. Some days ago I saw the first Zorki-2 offered for $500 including shipping from asterliks, a russian dealer. Zorki-2 are already much more expensive on the russian market than in the west. Salaries in Ukraine will be much higher and the effort to fake won't be worth it.

The soul of collecting is something as a researcher is searching for a formula, a Chemist goes back to a new reaction; Historians study facts towards conclusions; Musicians form a good sound and Astronomers search for a new life at distant planets.
The introduction of a QR code will be an excelent way towards a vast literature over a given model of cвmera but the reverse of the coin will be the access to everyone to knoledge.
As I am from the party "devide-to- multiply" I am favourable to the Knowledge to everyone. So, I hope we will have a larger universe of camera reserchers and collectors.
Regards
LP

Well, to be more serious (no more joke about collecting in 2115!)

As a former teacher, I abolutely agree with the idea "divide to multiply": a very clear and beautiful motto for USSRphoto. That said, I think too that there are different entangled times in the life of a collector. Searching, finding (if possible!), sharing. Of course, we must share what we know... We should: USSRphoto exists for that reason! Each time with a different pleasure: for me, searching is probably more important.

I don't know exactly what the QR code is. But if it allows to have a more universal knowledge of cameras, of course, it is a necessity. There is a long way even for actual cameras (I think of Leica, but not only).

If I had a wish: for the moment, we could make an effort in the wiki about the s/n numbers. And we could too add (where and how?) the important auctions concerning rare FSU cameras, what Luiz has done more generally in his "oddities".

Jacques.