Will you keep a camera just because you have good memories with it?

I took this "family picture" before I put my 7D for sale.
A thought came to me...what if I have too sell off all my gear? I'd probably cry for a year...
To me, the one thing that is always besides me when I went to travel, went to celebrations is not my GF or family, it's my XTi.
What do you guys think?

The only camera I am kind of sentimentally attached to is my old Fuji-film S5200. That has been one reliable camera. Even getting splashed by SeaWorld's largest orca it still worked and still does all these years later. It was my first camera I bought with money I saved.

Although, my 50D has seen the biggest event of my life, namely our daughter as a newborn and will likely photograph children I have in the future so I will probably be kind of attached to it, too after years of working with it and the memories I photographed with it.

If it serves its purpose then it'll stay. If I don't need it anymore I'll sell it to fun the next one. Which is strange for me because I tend to be a sentimental type of guy, but when it comes to camera stuff it really doesn't bother me.

Yashica T1 super. Best film P&S I ever owned. I'll never get rid of it.

Only camera which I'll keep is the Olympus XA. I bought it from my girlfriend (my recent wife) decades ago. The camera and us have a long successful history.
When I'll by my last camera on the forthcoming spring (EOS 6D or EOS 5DIII), I'll try to keep it and live with it rest my life, I cannot imagine now a situation to change it anymore (if it is not broken).

NB! I'll might keep my recent 60D, it has some ugly scratches on the bottom plate, so the resale price doesn't match the usability. It could be my backup.

I tend to keep the previous generation camera as backup if my current camera is away for repair. Older than that, I give it away to anyone who wants it. I gave an EOS film camera and a faulty 300D to my local kindergarten. Get those kids used to optical viewfinders early!

My previous camera that I sold was my first DSLR. I would have kept it for sentimental reasons, but it didn't seem economically feasible. I actually plan to buy it "back" in maybe 10 or so years after the price astronomically depreciates, like history has shown.

Wonders...did Picasso. Rembrandt, DaVinci, et.el... keep their old brushes?

I don't usually hang onto cameras, although I still have four Nikon film bodies, three of which are in the hands of my niece who still shoots film.

One of those, a battered and bruised 1969 vintage Nikon F which I bought second hand in 1975. It was in great condition when I bought it, but, many years of hard use is showing. It once fell off a crane track onto a roll of conveyor belting then slid onto a concrete floor when I was shooting industrial stuff.

This Nikon began my long love affair with Nikon. Me now shooting Canon is a long tiresome story.

One camera I do regret selling is a Sinar P2 with Schneider glass. I'll get back into 4x5 B/W one day.

Nice family photo there, OP.

I am in similar shoes, minus all your cameras except the XTi! I plan to order the 6D when it's out, if not even preorder one. I have considered selling my XTi, 2 EF-S lenses, and my Sigma 30, all of which would fund maybe one good L lens for the 6D.

I have 2 old EF lenses from my film days, a 20-35 f/3.5-4.5 (a good lens, not the best, but good), and the EF 28-80 kit lens (pretty much a piece of crap, but it takes pics better than no lens at all).

I've kept all that kit (Film Rebel and old EF lenses) on display in my office next to some other cool camera stuff for 6 years since I got my XTi and EF-S lenses. I love having it on display. And now, 6 years later, I am contemplating using the old stuff again, a thought that never even occurred to me before.

So my conundrum is whether one L lens is worth letting go of my whole APS-C kit, or do I hold off, keep the kit for my display, as a backup, and maybe even pass on to my son or daughter for their first DSLR when they are ready. If I hold off, I would be using the 20-35 and 28-80 with the 6D, and borrowing an L lens from my buddy who has kindly offered until I would have the budget for my own L lens, likely within a few months after 6D purchase.

To be honest, I don't want to let go of my kit. Just can't bring myself to see the XTi, or my 10-22, 17-85, or Sigma 30, go anywhere.

I don't have GAS as bad as some folks here so it takes me longer to upgrade. When i made the jump from 20D to 7D the 20D was only going for about $250. No thanks, for that I'll give it to my dad. Funny thing is I ended up selling it for a good price and then turned around and bought another one for $100 less.

I keep my cameras because they often have no resale value.

I have an old film body that I can hardly give away. I doubt I'll ever use it again but it is still in my closet.

Most of my digital bodies end up with dings or scratched to the point that nobody would buy them anyways (oh, no, there is a scratch on the LCD screen... THE HORROR).

Same for lenses in general.

Yep, I keep the Kodak Retina III "large C" that was given to me by the owner of a camera store I worked in. When I graduated high school (1961) and he knew I would be doing extensive traveling he gave me the last IIIC he had in stock with a full complement of lenses. It was the last great "folder" that Kodak made. Still works and takes great images thansk to the Schneider Kruzchnek (sp?) lenses.

My XTi has 70K on it. Replaced at 18K. It's well over it's shutter life now, but still going strong. When it does eventually decide to give in, It's going on a shelf for display, or fixing it.

My parents bought me my first SLR - an Eos 300 which i still have, along with my 350D (the first camera i bought)
my Mk2n isnt worth fixing (blown shutter), and i love that camera, everything just worked perfectly, so it is in the display case with the other two.

to be honest, they arent worth anything, so im not going to sell them because of the memories

I dont have any issues handing back my work issued cameras, but the sadness of getting rid of them is normally offset by the fun of getting a nice new shiny 1D (i really didnt want to hand back my Mk2N for Mk3 bodies though, i still hate the Mk3 with a passion)