Oldest Piece Of Gear?

What's the oldest piece of equipment you have, that you still use on a regular basis.

For me, it's my Canon 85mm f/1.8.

It was my first good lens (my Rebel came with a Quantary lens from Ritz).

Since that Rebel, I've had two 20D's, a 40D, a 5D, two 6D's, a 6D MKII and a 5D MKIV. For me, the 85mm is just about the perfect portrait lens, and mine has spent time on every body I've owned. I probably bought that lens around 2005 or so.

So, what's your oldest piece of regularly used gear?

I‘m not sure, I use Jupiter-3 from earlier fifties. And Canon 50 1.8 …. LTM

About 110 years old...

IMAGE LINK: https://app.photobucke​t.com …f8-46e5-bb7f-eeb99fac0fe4

The oldest that I regularly use is my Canon EF 600mm f/4 IS (Mk 1). It was made in 1988.

For stuff that I haven't used recently (but did at one point), I have a roll of Kodak C126-20 color print film still in its original wrapper and says "Develop before Jan 1977". And I have the X-15 Instamatic camera that uses that film, and I have a flash cube with 1 side shot (and 3 remaining)!

For stuff that I own (but haven't personally used), I have an Agfa Ansco No. 2 box camera that I think is from 1903.

But shhhhh! Don't tell my 600 that it's obsolete now that RF is out. It just keeps on working in the meantime!

I just bought an EF 24mm f/2.8 on ebay. Came last week. Date code is UD1202. December, 1989. Looks great. Mechanics are tight. Haven't had it out yet.

My wife.
..... ducking now : /

These are all great.

But I should've been clearer. What's the oldest piece of gear that you purchased new, and are still using?

Hmm, that opens another topic (new vs. used). I have been purchasing most of my lenses on the used market. For my comment about my 600mm lens (for example), I "have" it and "use" it regularly (per the first description).

More examples from me are my 135/2 (purchased used, use regularly) and my 85/1.8 (again, used/use).

For stuff that I bought new and still use, that would be my 70-300/4-5.6. But it's also one of my less interesting lenses... (and that purchase was maybe 13 years back?)

Road Dog wrote in post #19369480
These are all great.

But I should've been clearer. What's the oldest piece of gear that you purchased new, and are still using?

That takes me out of the game. Other than batteries, there is nothing in my kit that was purchased new. Even the Minolta Flash Meter IV that I sold last year (and replaced with a new-to-me, used Sekonic) was purchased used -- in 1990.

I do still use a bounce card that I built from gaffer tape, photo-paper box, photo paper, and a piece of steel strapping used to bundle newspapers at the time. I built that in the '80s. Does that count? (Full disclosure: I have replaced the photo-paper bounce surface several times.)

dasmith232 wrote in post #19368965
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The oldest that I regularly use is my Canon EF 600mm f/4 IS (Mk 1). It was made in 1988.

For stuff that I haven't used recently (but did at one point), I have a roll of Kodak C126-20 color print film still in its original wrapper and says "Develop before Jan 1977". And I have the X-15 Instamatic camera that uses that film, and I have a flash cube with 1 side shot (and 3 remaining)!

For stuff that I own (but haven't personally used), I have an Agfa Ansco No. 2 box camera that I think is from 1903.

But shhhhh! Don't tell my 600 that it's obsolete now that RF is out. It just keeps on working in the meantime!
.

.
That's great that you are still using that big 600!

But I think you may have your dates mixed up.

I don't think Canon even had IS until the late 1990s, and your model of lens - the 600mm f4 IS version 1 - wasn't released until 1999, and was made from 1999 until 2011. So your copy of that lens could be as old as 1999 and as new as 2011. You can check the date code to see how old it is.


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Tom Reichner wrote in post #19370853
.That's great that you are still using that big 600!
But I think you may have your dates mixed up.
I don't think Canon even had IS until the late 1990s, and your model of lens - the 600mm f4 IS version 1 - wasn't released until 1999, and was made from 1999 until 2011. So your copy of that lens could be as old as 1999 and as new as 2011. You can check the date code to see how old it is.
.

Good catch, and thank you Tom! I grabbed the date from a spreadsheet of my lenses and looked at the wrong line. If only I had paused to acknowledge that inner sanity-check voice... And I can't even use the excuse that the lens is tucked away in its case, because it's not. It's in plain view on a shelf no more than 10 feet away from me. In the childhood cartoon "The Flintstones" their cars were made out of rock. And would obviously be very heavy. Well, this lens feels like it's made out of rock because it's that heavy. Maybe that's what keeps me thinking that it's really, really old.

But getting things right, the serial number is UT0915. The "U" refers to the factory and the "T" refers to the year. In this case, that's 2005. The rest of the serial number is "September" and the 15th lens of that month.

The old stuff is up top. And there's even another 600 in the mix...

pretty sure i own the world's oldest, and heaviest, Manfrotto tripod. i only use it in the house now when i need to do some camera maintainance. can't believe i've lugged it around for over 10 years.

Original Canon F-1. It’s taken a licking and keeps on ticking. I tried to part with it a few times but couldn’t because of sentimental value. I’ve taken it all over the world and it’s never let me down. Still use it.

eddieb1 wrote in post #19372769
Original Canon F-1. It’s taken a licking and keeps on ticking. I tried to part with it a few times but couldn’t because of sentimental value. I’ve taken it all over the world and it’s never let me down. Still use it.

My brother has had his since 1976, and it works perfectly...

Pentax 6x7 and my 90mm f2.5 Bokina Macro lens.