I’ve owned a lot of tools and toys over the decades. This page carries a heavy dose of nostalgia—and maybe even a little envy toward those who’ve held onto their brassed Nikon F2 or 1984 Mac 128—though, for what it’s worth, I do have a Nikon FE2 and a physical lineage of Apple mice.
Whenever possible, I try to pass along the things I no longer use—whether to finance the next exciting piece of kit, support some adventure, or in the sincere hope that they’ll find a more passionate owner. Selling equipment is sometimes painful, but I don’t get enough satisfaction from the occasional fondling of rarely‑used, closeted gear to overcome the associated guilt of keeping things I don't use. I just have too much stuff in my life—from firewire and network cables to hundreds of printed design samples, to thousands of photo transparencies. I’ll stick to collecting destination patches (finally sewn on backpacks and duffle bags), refrigerator magnets and Starbucks City mugs.
I started this list in 2017 as a memory exercise—just for fun—but I now update it contemporaneously, because trying to remember everything posthumously only gets harder as life, and tools, can become a blur. Today, if I ever return to Hong Kong, I can walk around SimCity and remember, “Oh, I had one of those!”
Addendum to Current
The COLOPHON covers the important stuff. This addendum picks up the minor and ancillary.
HASSELBLAD 503 C/M, A12 back; ZEISS-CF 50mm ƒ4 Distagon T* and 80mm ƒ2.8 Planar (thanks Robbie-baby, but I might just trade out for an SWC).
LEICA M5 3-lug (black chrome, 10502)
NIKON FE2 with N2 winder, NIKKOR 28mm ƒ2.8 AI-s CRC
KODAK Retina Reflex IV (1964, German, leaf-shutter), SCHNEIDER-KREUZNACH Retina-Xenar 50mm ƒ2.8 (it was my fathers, and my first photo class camera—thanks Dad).
LEICA M10 diopters x2; LEICA Visoflex 020 EVF (24028) viewfinder, CHINOTECHS Sight 28mm LUX waist level finder for M10.
LEITZ WETZLAR 10mm EXTENSION RINGS (16469Y) x2
ANGELO SMALDORE SL2-S half-case.
Every lens has a B+W 010 MRC UV NANO, LEICA UVa II or HELIOPAN SH-PMC (Schott glass) UV filter.
There are 19 B+W, LEICA, HELIOPAN and HOYA Wratten filters in yellow, orange, red and green in E39, E46, E49 and E55 for use with the Monochrom body.
All ZEISS ZE have metal screw-on caps and cheap Chinese metal hoods. ZEISS ZE conversion to RF mount is accomplished by CANON EF-RF adapters (2- one with control ring).
CANON Extender RF 1.4X Teleconverter
RRS L-plate on R5, and CANON E2 wrist strap.
RRS base plate for SL and SMALL RIG wrist strap.
WORKSTATIONS, STORAGE & OUTPUT
APPLE MacBook Pro M4 16" 2Tb, 48Gb; APPLE 30in Cinema Display; APPLE iPad Pro M4 11" 1Tb; APPLE iPhone 15 Pro 1Tb; APPLE 2017 Mini 2Tb SSD, 24GB with APPLE 23" Display (for running CS6!); XANTE Accel-A-Writer 3G 1200DPI 12x18 laser printer; BROTHER 2460 DW duplex laser printer; CANON Pixma Pro 12x18 color ink jet printer; XEROX Phaser 6125n color laser printer; EPSON 4990 flatbed scanner; X-RITE i1 XTreme Pro color management & calibration system; NEWER TECH Voyager-Q eSATA/FW800/400/USB Drive Bay with WD & SEAGATE SATA 1.5-2tb drives x7; WD & SEAGATE thunderbolt 2-5tb desktop hard drives x6; OWC thunderbolt 5 hub; OWC thunderbolt 2 hub; WD & SEAGATE 4-5tb bus-powered thunderbolt drives x10; moving to SANDISK Extreme Portable SSD, 2tb, and 4tb x2.
TRANSPORT
MANFROTTO Advanced Messenger 16L MIII; THINK TANK Airport Advantage roll-aboard; SADDLEBACK LEATHER small and large messenger bags; PEAK DESIGN 6L and 10L Everyday Sling bags; DOMKE PRO F1X Little Bit Bigger bag; THINK TANK Retrospective 7 bag; PROFOTO Compact-series fitted cases x2; PELICAN 1535 wheeled case, PELCAN 1450 cases x2; CALUMET Stand sling bag; PORTA BRACE lightstand carry case with wheels; FLUKE C550 Rugged Canvas Tool Bag; APPLE 128K Macintosh Carry Bag, lol.
TRIPODS & SUPPORT
MANFROTTO 055XProB with MANFROTTO 468 Hydrostatic Ball Head and RRS B2-Pro II clamp; MANFROTTO 055MF4 (magnesium) with MANFROTTO 496 Compact Ballhead and MARKINS QR-48S clamp; GITZO Mono Reporter with MANFROTTO 234 Tilthead and ARCA SWISS clamp; SIRUI T-025X with SIRUI 10S ball head.
LIGHTING & MODIFIERS
GOSSEN Luna Pro SBC (repurchased); GOSSEN Ultra Pro (never left me!); PAUL C BLUFF White Lightning trigger and wireless receiver.
PROFOTO 7B 1200ws; PROFOTO Compact 600s x4; PROFOTO Compact 300, US, UK, & Asia power cords; PROFOTO x5 Standard Reflectors, PROFOTO Collars x5, CALUMET Profoto Speed Rings x5; METZ Mecablitz 26 AF-2 Flash for Canon; LEICA SF–26 Blitzgerät TTL Flash (14622).
CALUMET 13.5' air-cushioned light stands x2; CALUMET 13.5' air-cushioned light stands w/roller casters x2; CALUMET 11' air-cushioned light stands x4; CALUMET 6.5' boom arms x2; CALUMET Nova 32 (24x32x16) Softbox; CALUMET Illuma Medium (30x40x14) Softbox; CALUMET Nova S36 Strip (9x36x16) Softbox; CALUMET Nova S56 Strip (14x56x22) Softbox; PHOTOFLEX 3ft and 5ft Octodome Softboxes; LIGHTFORM (and homemade CPVC) 48x96 frames x6, reflective gold, silver, white, translucent white, opaque black; BOGAN AutoPoles w/extensions (pair); BOGAN SuperClamps x10.
KINDERMAN Super 66 2-¼ slide projector (repurchased), KODAK Ektagraphic 4400 35mm slide projector (also repurchased), AGFASCOPE 200 and 135B viewers.
Previous Digital
CAMERAS & LENSES
LEICA M246 monochrom; LEICA Q (28 ƒ1.4 Summilux-Q); LEICA CL digital, LEICA D-LUX 3, LEICA D-Lux 5 and LEICA D-Lux 7.
LEICA Visoflex 2 (not much better than the Visoflex 020 on a M10).
LEICA-M LENSES: 40mm ƒ2 Summicron-C (11542), 50mm ƒ1.4 Summilux (11891); LEICA 28 ƒ2.8 Elmarit IV pre-ASPH; LEICA 28mm ƒ2 Summicron v1 ASPH; LEICA 28mm ƒ2 Summicron v2 ASPH; LEICA 90mm ƒ2.5 Summaron; LEICA 24mm ƒ2.8 Elmarit.
LEICA-TL 18mm (for the CL body, sold before the SL).
ZEISS-ZM 25mm ƒ2 Biogon.
MIYAZAKI SADAYASU (MS) OPTICS 28mm ƒ2 APOqualia III ASPH (507S). A non-telecentric design.
VOIGHTLÄNDER 50mm ƒ2; VOIGHTLÄNDER 90mm ƒ2 APO (both with rangefinder focus shifts), 15mm ƒ4.5 Super Wide Heliar Version III ASPH (6-bit coded, BA279B)
JUPITER 50 ƒ2 LTM, L39 M-mount, 6-bit encoded M adapter (Russian Sonnar)
INDUSTAR 55mm LTM, L39 M-mount, 6-bit encoded M adapter—not a fan of Sonnar designs apparently.
CANON RF LENSES: 70-200 ƒ2.8 L IS, 70-200 ƒ4 L IS; CANON RF STM LENSES: 16mm ƒ2.8 and 50mm ƒ1.8.
FUJIFILM XT2, XT-20; FUJIFILM X100 w/Fujinon 23mm ƒ2.0; FUJIFILM LENSES: ZEISS Touit 12mm ƒ2.8 and 32mm ƒ1.8; FUJFILM XF16mm ƒF1.4 R WR; FUJINON XF 18mm ƒ2; FUJIFILM XF 56mm ƒ1.2; FUJIFILM XF 50-140mm ƒ2.8 R LM OIS; FUJINON XF 16-55mm ƒ2.8 R LM WR II; RRS XT2 plate.
CANON R (2018-2026; sob) with RRS plate, 1Ds, 1DsII (with RRS plate and and wrist strap), 1DsIII (with RRS plate); CANON 5D x2 (one gripped); CANON 5DII x2 with Eg-S focusing screens (one with RRS L-bracket and grip); CANON 5DIII x2 (one with custom-made precision matte focus screen, one gripped); CANON 5DIV (2016, with RRS L-bracket and wrist strap (2016-2022; sob).
CANON EF ZOOM LENSES 28-70mm ƒ2.8L, 24-70mm ƒ2.8L, 35-70mm ƒ3.5-4.5 II (with heart marking on mount, supposedly better), 70-200mm ƒ4.0LIS II (a gem of a lens), 70-200mm ƒ2.8LII IS (everything looks good at ƒ2.8), 16-35mm LII ƒ2.8; 16-35mm ƒ4LIS, CANON EF PRIME 24mm ƒ1.4L, 28mm ƒ2.8IS, 35mm ƒ2IS, 35mm ƒ1.4L, 35mm ƒ1.4LII, 2x 50mm ƒ1.2L (UV date codes, supposedly better), 2x 50mm ƒ1.4, 85mm ƒ1.8, 85mm ƒ1.2L, 135mm ƒ2 L, 200mm LII ƒ2.8 (twice), 300mm ƒ4.0LIS, CANON Tele-extender 1.4x I and II.
ZEISS ZE 50mm ƒ1.4 Distagon T*, 35mm ƒ1.4 Distagon T*, 35mm ƒ2 Distagon T* (twice before realizing I just hated 35mm); VOIGTLÄNDER 20mm ƒ3.5, 28mm ƒ2.8, 40mm ƒ2.0; TAMRON SP DI VC 45mm ƒ1.8 and SP DI VC 85mm ƒ1.8; TAMRON Tap-in dock; ROKINON 14mm ƒ2.8; SIGMA 50mm ƒ1.4 DG HSM Art and 35mm ƒ1.4 DG HSM Art (still hated 35mm).
ADAPTED LENSES: ZEISS/CONURUS-modified Vario-Tessar T* 24-85mm ƒ3.4-4.5 (thanks Doug, for sending it off to Vancouver for me while I was in Beijing); ZEISS Olympic Sonnar 180mm ƒ2.8 with FOTODIOX Pro EF adapter; OLYMPUS ZUIKO 300mm ƒ2.8 with FOTODIOX EF adapter; MINOLTA ROKKOR MC 58mm ƒ1.2 (BUCHANAN parts conversion, Dremel® required).
RICOH GR and GRII; RICOH GX200 VF with electronic viewfinder.
OLYMPUS E-20 (5MP, 35-140mm—PC sync and shot RAW).
APPLE QuickTake 100 digital camera (1.3Mb, 480x640).
DIGITAL WORKSTATIONS, STORAGE & OUTPUT
APPLE DESKTOP MACINTOSH'S since 1984: 128K, 512K, MONSTER MAC 68020 upgrades,, multiple internal and external APPLE, RODINE and SUPERMAC 20, 40 and 100Mb hard drives; APPLE MacII, IIx, IIcx, IIci (all with double-stacked RAM and 100Mb internal hard drives); SUPERMAC & POWER COMPUTING 601e clones; 21in SUPERMAC monitors (x2); SUPERMAC Thunder/24 video cards; RADIUS Tunder IV NuBus graphic accelerators (x2); DAYSTAR Turbo 040 NuBus accelerators (x2); MACINTOSH QUADRA, G3 and G4; APPLE 20" Display; APPLE MACPRO 2008 Dual Quad-Core Intel Xeon 2.8 GHz, 8Gb RAM, Dual APPLE SuperDrives, SONNET 4-port USB PCIe card, FW400/800 PCIe card, NEWERTECH eSATA 6G PCIe card, 2Tb Internal HDs x4; HAYES 1200, 2400, 9600 modems, HAYES Speed Doubler running RED RYDER bulletin board software. (I'm sure I forgot a lot.)
APPLE Macintosh Portable; APPLE 1998 G3 PowerBook; APPLE 2003 MacBook Pro; APPLE 2006 13" MacBook Pro; APPLE 2009 13" MacBook Pro; APPLE 2012 13" MacBook; APPLE 2017 15" i7 MacBook Pro (2tb, 16gb).
IBM 360 and 720Mb floppy disk drives with serial connection and driver for Macintosh; IOMEGA 100 and 250mb Zip drives; SYQUEST 44 and 88mb removable Winchester drives and media; HP DAT DDS3 tape backups (1992); APPLE, IBM & PLEXSTOR CD-RW/ROM external burners.
APPLE ImageWriter I and II; APPLE LaserWriters I and II (Original was the first delivered east of Mississippi River in 1985); APPLE LaserWriter Select 360; NEWGEN tabloid postscript laser printer; APPLE One, AGFA DuoScan and AGFA Arcus, and EPSON flatbed scanners; TEKTRONICS 480 12x18 Dye Sub CMYK separation proof printer; VARITYPER 4990 2400dpi imagesetter; X-RITE 341 transmission and 400 reflection densitometers, LogE 24" deep tank processor (film and paper).
Previous Analog
CAMERAS & LENSES
LEICA R R4 (x2, both failed on different jobs), R6, R8 (I just ran across the 1996 receipt—sold in 1999 for spousal support); LEICA R LENSES 19mm ƒ2.8 Elmarit (failed on a job), 24mm ƒ1.4 Summilux-R, 35mm ƒ2.0 Summicron, 60mm ƒ2.8 Macro-Elmarit-R, 90mm ƒ2.0 Summicron-R, 135mm ƒ2.8 Elmarit-R (first to go—just not a 135 guy), 180mm ƒ2.8 APO-R, 35-70mm ƒ4.0 (3.5?) Vario-Sonnnar-R; POLAROID back for Leica R (such a treat when using strobes!).
LEICA M M3 (my ex's apparently), M6; LEITZ-M LENSES 35mm ƒ1.4 Summilux, 50mm ƒ2 APO Summicron, 75mm ƒ1.4 Summilux, 90mm ƒ2.8 Elmarit.
NIKON F-series Bodies: F2 Photomic AS x2, F3, FM, FE; NIKKOR AI LENSES: 20mm ƒ3.5, 24mm ƒ2, 28mm ƒ2, 35mm ƒ1.4, 50mm ƒ1.4, 55 ƒ3.5 micro, 85mm ƒ1.4, 105mm ƒ2.5, 135mm ƒ2, 180mm ƒ2.8, 300mm ƒ3.5 IF ED, 400mm ƒ3.5 IF ED, 500mm ƒ8 Reflex, 800mm ƒ8 IF ED (missing one; I remember having 15...).
HASSELBLAD 501 C/M and 500 EL with waist level and prism finder, SWC (with fixed 38mm Biogon lens), POLAROID and multiple 120 backs; HASSELBLAD/ZEISS LENSES: 50mm ƒ4.0 Distagon T*, 60mm Distagon T*, 80mm ƒ2.8 Planar T*, 120mm T*, bellows-style hood.
CONTAX RTS, ZEISS Planar 50mm ƒ1.4, YASHICA ML 24mm ƒ2.8.
CANON F-1, CANON FD LENSES: 35mm ƒ2, 85mm ƒ1.8; CANON EOS 1N (last analog taking EF lenses, sold in 2021).
MAMIYA 645 (1975, thanks dad) with waist level and pentaprism finders, grip; MAMIYA-SEKOR 645 LENSES 45mm ƒ2.8, 80mm ƒ2.8, 210mm ƒ4.0; MAMIYA RB67 Pro-S; MAMIYA-SEKOR RB LENSES 65mm ƒ4.5, 90mm ƒ3.8, 127mm ƒ3.8, 180mm ƒ4.5.
BRONICA ETR (1978) with waist level and AE-2 prism finder, 120 backs (x2); BRONICA-ZENZANON LENSES: 50mm ƒ2.8, 75mm ƒ2.8, 150mm ƒ3.5. BRONICA bellows-style adjustable hood and Wratten gel filter holder with various diameters of threaded lens adapters.
POLAROID 600 SLR 680 Sonar
GOSSEN Luna Pro SBCs (x2), copy attachment, dual spot attachment, flash attachment; GOSSEN LunaPro, Luna F; SOLIGOR II 1° Spotmeter.
SINAR 4x5 F standards (x2), 4x5 P and 8x10 P standards (1 ea.), extension rails, bag bellows; POLAROID 545 back, 18- 4x5 holders, 8- 8x10 holders; SCHNEIDER-KREUZNACH Lenses 75mm Super-Angulon, 90mm, 120mm, 180mm (each with COPAL 0 or 1 shutters on boards).
GRAFLEX Speed Graphic 4x5 (some 150mm lens).; CALUMET CC400 monorail 4x5; TOYO 45CF Ultralight 4x5.
LIGHTING & MODIFIERS
PROFOTO Pro2 2400 packs (x4), Heads x6, Focusing Spot light, Ringlight, Stick lights x2, PROFOTO 2x4 softboxes x2, PROFOTO Umbrellas x2, CANON 580 flash; GARY FONG lightsphere; VIVITAR 283 (x2) & 285, QUANTUM QB-1 external battery pack (with 12-volt car charger), snap-on bounce cards, various diffusers; BOGEN SuperBooms on caster stands x3; BOGEN cushioned 11' light stands x6.
TRIPODS & SUPPORT
GITZO 326 Tele Studex with Rationale 2B Head; GITZO Tele Studex with MAJESTIC Gear Head; LEITZ Tilt-All tripod; STAR-D tripod; GITZO cable releases.
DARKROOM (B&W film, Cibachrome® and archival black and white fiber printing):
OMEGA D5XL enlarger; ARISTO cold head; OMEGA turret with 50mm, 80mm and 150mm SCHNEIDER-KREUZNACH lenses; THOMAS duplex safelight; SCOPONET focusing scope; GRALAB 300 timers (x4); TIME-O-LITE M-72 Master enlarger timer; GRALAB 900 digital enlarger timer, ARKAY film drying cabinet;, LEEDAL Econo-Mix water temperature control; DARKROOM AIDES 7' stainless sink with HOME-MADE polyurethaned wood (4x4 lag bolt) stand; NIKKOR stainless steel film reels (dozens of 35mm and 120) and dozens of stainless steel NIKKOR tanks of various sizes; KODAK 4- 4x5 hard rubber developing tanks with lids, 8-hangers; JOBO CPP2 drum processor; lots of CESCOLITE 8x10, 11x14, 16x20, 20x24 trays; SAUNDERS-OMEGA 11x14, 16x20, 20x24 4-bladed easels; KODAK tray siphons; LIGHT IMPRESSIONS archival vertical plexiglass print washer; HOME-MADE framed fiberglass screens for print drying and tilted-glass, polyurethaned wood (4x4 lag bolt) paper squeegee stand with wallpaper tray catch-pan.
LIGHT IMPRESSIONS 24" slide sorting table with sorting rack; SEARY 35mm slide mounter; SEAL 16x20 dry mount press; SEALECTOR tacking Iron. LEITZ/LEICA 35mm slide projector, KINDERMAN 2-¼ slide projector; KODAK Ektagraphic 35mm slide projector.
DESIGN STUDIO
AGFA Repromaster 20x24 stat camera; KODAK PMT processor (diffusion transfer); ALVIN drafting tables x2 with BORCO covers; PARAL-LINER Deluxe Mobile Parallel Straightedges x2; HAMILTON wooden drafting table with 24" table mount VARD Bruning #2699 Drafting Machine Arm; LETRASET transfer lettering (in 6-drawer case); KROY lettering system; multiple sets of ROTRING Rapidograph, STAEDTLER and FABER CASTELL technical pens and KOH-I-NOOR metal technical precision 6" compass set (still complete from 1970!).