With more than 4,500 cameras Dilish Parekh holds the Guinness World Record for ‘Largest Collection of Cameras’.
In the video below, Parakh explains he started collecting cameras in 1970 when he received his first cameras from his grandfather as a gift.
At first he never spent more than INR$1000 (Indian Rupees) roughly US$15 on any one camera, but he said that without internet he, and a lot of other people, weren’t sure what many of his cameras were worth when he purchased them.
The camera collection features cameras from 1890 to 1960, including one Leica 250 GG from 1942, worth roughly US$80,000. “You name the camera and I have it” he said and he’s not kidding around. Other cameras include old spy cameras designed for espionage during the 30s and 40s, Canon rangefinders including a Canon 7 with 0.95 lenses, Zeiss, Rolliflexes and the list goes on.
“Camera collectors from all over the world approach me with offers. But these cameras are my life, I am not going to sell them as long as I am alive, I have also instructed my two sons the same.”
If you wanted to take the record away from him, he’s not too worried. “If you buy a camera every day it will take you 12 years, by that time I will be way ahead,” he laughs. Catch him if you can.