Warning

 

Close

Confirm Action

Are you sure you wish to do this?

Confirm Cancel
BCM
User Panel

Posted: 4/23/2023 4:49:42 PM EDT
Mother recently passed. Now clearing out house. Father was into photography for a long time. Has several older cameras, lenses and a couple of telephoto lenses unused for many years. Also had his own darkroom. Equipment  and chemicals still there (maybe 20 year give or take). Several projectors and reels. Something that looks like it was for film splicing. Two unmounted projector screens. Not sure what to do with it all. Could maybe set up a darkroom in my basement and take a stab at learning how to develop film but not sure how big a task that might be. Don't know if the chemicals would even still be good. If there is a market for that kinda thing I guess selling is an option. Suggestion?
Link Posted: 4/23/2023 5:19:01 PM EDT
[Last Edit: Daggertt] [#1]
Not sure what the market is for that stuff these days.

My grandpa had all that type of stuff and his own darkroom, etc after a lifetime of being heavily into photography. But even ~10 years ago by the time he passed, he had moved exclusively to digital.

Edit to add: I ended up with a couple of his old school cameras, which my wife has on display on shelves in the living room as antique looking decorations.
Link Posted: 4/23/2023 7:03:22 PM EDT
[Last Edit: SS65] [#2]
That's about where I am on this. My dad also made the move to digital a while back. I have found several rolls of exposed undeveloped film which are probably more than 40 years old. Would be interesting to see what is on them but I doubt that is even possible.
Link Posted: 4/24/2023 10:51:37 PM EDT
[#3]
Originally Posted By SS65:
Mother recently passed. Now clearing out house. Father was into photography for a long time. Has several older cameras, lenses and a couple of telephoto lenses unused for many years. Also had his own darkroom. Equipment  and chemicals still there (maybe 20 year give or take). Several projectors and reels. Something that looks like it was for film splicing. Two unmounted projector screens. Not sure what to do with it all. Could maybe set up a darkroom in my basement and take a stab at learning how to develop film but not sure how big a task that might be. Don't know if the chemicals would even still be good. If there is a market for that kinda thing I guess selling is an option. Suggestion?
View Quote


Chemicals won't be any good but the equipment is in demand.  Film is making an interesting nostalgic come back in a big way.  If you want to get into developing your own film, it's not that big of a deal.  I currently develop using D76 for black and white, C41 process for color negative film, and E6 for color reversal/slide film.  The techniques for developing film have advanced quite a bit.  Now, you mention the projector screens, that is for doing your own dark room prints.  That is a cool process.  I have a projector and some of the stuff to do prints but I haven't done any yet.  I may do it in a year or three.  

My vote would be for you to keep it and learn how to use it.  Film photography is a blast.
Link Posted: 4/24/2023 11:41:11 PM EDT
[#4]
Chemicals will have an expiration date and might be useless if you don’t have the right buyer in case they are still good.
Camera bodies might have some value with the little resurgence of analog film but also here the right buyer needs to be found.
The money is in the glass. Check out eBay for closed auctions for each lens by manufacturer, focal length and aperture. For the right glass they are worth a lot.
Close Join Our Mail List to Stay Up To Date! Win a FREE Membership!

Sign up for the ARFCOM weekly newsletter and be entered to win a free ARFCOM membership. One new winner* is announced every week!

You will receive an email every Friday morning featuring the latest chatter from the hottest topics, breaking news surrounding legislation, as well as exclusive deals only available to ARFCOM email subscribers.


By signing up you agree to our User Agreement. *Must have a registered ARFCOM account to win.
Top Top