[BrianL]

Sit back and take a long breath. Decide what you want to collect, i.e. format, brand, country, etc. Years ago I had a thing for 1/2 frame cameras as I bought one and loved it. I ended up with a near complete collection of every Olympus model and variant including the F series with all its lenses and accessories. I also got the hots for Exacta and had an amazing number of bodies and lenses from many makers and accessories. During this period there were many oppotunities to collect others but I kept the cash close and kept focused. I was lucky as at the time both 1/2 frame cameras, mostly Olympus but also some Konicas including the Autoreflex that I loved to shoot, and Exacta were not on anyones' list as keepers including owners and they'd trade them in to a local dealer who'd give next to nothing and I paid as low as $5 to him as he wanted to turn this junk over for the good stuff like Konica, Minolta, etc.

There is nothing wrong being a collector. There are those who collect audio equipment, those who collect fountain pens, those who collect ex-spouses, and automobile collectors. Some also use them or a portion of the collection. I've moved my collection motivation of hobbies to a user staus but, understand the collector in each of us. Today I have a few cameras mostly found at flea markets, etc. Down to maybe 6 from hundreds and have 2 systems. I also went from over a hundred fountain pens to 6 and sold off much of my audio equipment collection.