Back in the 1970s (and before I was born) my mother worked in the library at Douglas College. There was this intern, a young woman named Sheila, who was asking about the library’s cameras and if she could borrow one. She was going on a trip far away (South Africa, maybe, or somewhere similarly distant) and didn’t own her own camera.
They weren’t allowed to loan out the library cameras, but Mom had a camera she wasn’t using, so she lent hers to the woman to use. And then never heard from her again.
Until now.
(Drama!)
The camera had supposedly been in storage at the woman’s house in Canterbury, UK for decades, and was just recently found. This Sheila was in town, so she contacted my dad (he was at Douglas back then too, plus Mom’s changed her name twice in the meantime) and arranged with me to drop off the long-forgotten camera at my apartment on Tuesday morning.
I was quite curious what this camera was, since it was already old in the 70s, and Mom couldn’t remember much about it. So here it is: the 35mm rangefinder Ansco Super Memar.
If I could get the focus ring fixed (the grease dried out, so it’s stuck) I could probably use it, as everything else on it seems fine and it’s been unused since before I was born. One friend suggested it wasn’t worth spending $60+ to get it repaired, since it’s only worth $25 on eBay, but I feel a sentimental attachment to the thing. I kind of like the idea of using Mom’s old camera. It’s like using my stepdad’s old camera (Pentax ME Super) except that his was in perfect condition because he never used it, so it’s not quite as sappy an experience.
For what it’s worth, Sheila seemed rather guilt-ridden about forgetting the camera, and she sent Mom a rather large Amazon gift certificate in penance, so all in all I think this turned out rather well, especially since I got the camera.
That’s really cool. I similarly have an acoustic guitar that my father bought in 1971. It’s the first thing I’d take out of the house in the event of a fire.
I just got my camera fixed at a place on 8th street Vancouver, called VanCam. An old guy runs the shop and could probably give you a quote on getting it fixed. My battery door on my digital camera was broken and I wasn’t able to get a replacement piece for it so he drilled a little hole and inserted a tiny screw; so now I open & close it using a small screwdriver… since it only took him a second to do and only the small screw he didn’t charge me for the repair.
Anyways old cameras are cool. Have fun using it.
The first camera that I learned how to do SLR photography was my mom’s old Nikon FE2. It was an awesome camera to learn on.
Using old cameras like that is pretty fun, plus it can help you learn a bit more about photography. I know that learning with an old camera like that certainly helped me a bit when I was starting out.
Get it fixed, absolutely. I still have my Dad’s old Minolta XD-11 from around the time I was born. It was my first SLR, and I still enjoy using it. Knowing that you will end up paying around $1 for each shot really puts you in a different mindset.
Your biggest problem might be finding interesting film. I think Kodak is shutting down its film business, which will kill off all sorts of options.
Oops sorry! I meant Camtex (camera repair shop) which is on Burrard Street. It’s a small shop, and the guy that runs it has been doing so since 1979.