Man in Da Lat has been collecting antique cameras for over 10 years, ready to give them to those who like them

Camera collection of Mr. Nguyen Dinh Quan Quy in Da Lat City. Photo: Xuan Ngoc

In the cool weather, in the green space of Ward 3, Da Lat City ( Lam Dong ), Mr. Nguyen Dinh Quan Quy (37 years old) is meticulously cleaning, sanitizing, and oiling the cameras he has collected over the past 10 years. When someone visits, he will introduce the year of manufacture and how to use each one.

Mr. Quy was born and raised in Da Lat City. Since he was a child, he loved seeing photographers taking pictures of the “city of thousands of flowers”.

In 2008, Quy went to Ho Chi Minh City to study at Van Hien University. Here, he had the opportunity to travel to many places. He wanted to capture beautiful images at each place but lacked a camera. “Therefore, in addition to studying, I worked part-time at coffee shops. With the money I saved, I bought a digital camera,” he said.

Film cameras are displayed for everyone to admire. Photo: Xuan Ngoc

In a soft voice, Mr. Quy shared that after graduating, fate brought him to work at a number of financial companies. After a while, he longed to return to his homeland.

He decided to move to Da Lat to live, started to open a camera shop and a coffee shop. With the money he saved and support from his family , he opened a camera shop near Hoa Binh market, Da Lat city. The shop was less than 20 square meters wide, initially only had a few digital cameras and accessories.

Some cameras are still usable. Photo: Xuan Ngoc

When his job was stable, he started collecting cameras. The cameras he brought to the store to display were mainly old film cameras from many brands, such as: Nikon, Canon, Pentax, Mamiya, Elmoflex... Most of them were several decades old, some were nearly 100 years old. Currently, some of them are still in good working condition.

After many years of collecting cameras, Mr. Quy could not remember where he went to find them. Every time someone told a story or introduced an old camera, he tried to ask for the address to find the camera he liked.

He said that some people had antique cameras but did not want to sell them. At that time, he had to convince the owners that he had a passion and desire to collect them, then they agreed to sell them.

“These cameras have deep color images. The color images have their own unique, classic quality, and each one holds memories and stories of the owner, so I really appreciate it,” he shared.

In the green space, cameras are arranged on shelves. Photo: Xuan Ngoc

Recently, the camera shop no longer had enough space for that collection, so he brought it to his workplace, which is also a coffee shop on Robinson Hill, for everyone to admire.

Mr. Vo Trang has an endless passion for photography. Occasionally, he still comes here to use a film camera to reminisce about the time when he "held the camera". "Nowadays, technology has advanced, cameras are produced in large quantities. However, Mr. Quy's collection is quite diverse, I really like it", Mr. Trang expressed.

Mr. Quy is willing to give the camera back to anyone who loves photography as a souvenir. Photo: Xuan Ngoc

To date, after more than 10 years, Mr. Quy has collected more than 200 antique cameras. However, Mr. Quy said that he “only buys, not sells” and is willing to give them away to those who love photography as souvenirs.

Each machine has a different value, but is associated with a memory and is where he keeps a part of his passion.