8mm Forum: Irv HIgdon of IJM passed on

This is topic Irv HIgdon of IJM passed on in forum 8mm Forum at 8mm Forum.

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Posted by Alan Rik (Member # 73) on April 07, 2013, 08:25 AM:

Just found out that Irv of IJM passed away on 1/1/13.
I remember when I use to call him and talk to him about Elmo's and such when I was starting to get back into the hobby. He was a great resource at the time. Later on we had a falling out over an Elmo GS1200 repair but I do have fond memories of him repairing my Beaulieu 6008. Rest in peace sir.

Posted by Jim Schrader (Member # 9) on April 07, 2013, 12:38 PM:

and he repaired my 1200HD many years ago too that is to bad RIP irv.

Posted by Douglas Meltzer (Member # 28) on April 07, 2013, 02:33 PM:

What sad news. I got my Elmo 1.0 lens from him years ago and had a nice talk with him then. My condolences to his family.

Doug

Posted by Larry Arpin (Member # 744) on April 07, 2013, 09:43 PM:

I had wondered what happened to him. I knew him from the mid 90's and he wasn't dong well then. Sorry to hear. How old was he?

Posted by Bill Brandenstein (Member # 892) on April 08, 2013, 03:51 AM:

I met him a few years ago when he was unable to repair an Elmo Super 8 camera. Clearly had encyclopedic knowledge and full of stories too - you didn't want to go there in a hurry.

He must've been well into his 80s, yes?

Posted by Joe Caruso (Member # 11) on April 08, 2013, 11:02 AM:

Nice man, remember him from Cherry Hill Film days

Posted by Greg Marshall (Member # 1268) on April 10, 2013, 11:08 PM:

I know that name.... did he live in CA?

Posted by Bill Brandenstein (Member # 892) on April 11, 2013, 10:36 AM:

Yes, Greg, near Northridge, CA in the San Fernando Valley. When I took him the Elmo camera it was to his residence in a mobile home park, he lived alone, and his place had all kinds of film-related stuff sitting around gathering dust, some valuable, some not. I wonder who got the job of clearing it out?

Posted by Greg Marshall (Member # 1268) on April 15, 2013, 09:12 PM:

Thanks, Bill... brings back the exchanges with him in the mid-late 1990's. I believe I bought my first ST1200HD from him, and some film titles. I visit LA every 2-3 years, and was invited to stop by, but never did. I always stay with friends in Reseda, right next to Northridge.

Posted by Monty Osterhus (Member # 1492) on May 18, 2017, 07:30 PM:

I knew and worked for & with Irv from 2003 to 2010. he mentored me into my super 8 business and I did many many deals with him. I was a top seller on ebay of super 8 gear and specialized in Beaulieu cameras as well as Nizo and Canon - the three best brands. Irv was a curmugen, but a horse trader from the day he was born ( father was a car salesman). I sold tons of vintage gear for him on ebay, which he hated because it undercut his business prices, and he was not really computer literate, he was strictly old school. He had been chief sales manager for both Beaulieu and Elmo back in the days. He taught me everything but would still scalp me on a deal if he could. I spent many hours in his trailer trading stories and listening to him pontificate. I left LA in Dec 2011, the economic crash killed my ebay business as well as my music video editing gigs.
Now thinking about getting back into it, but I'm in Houston, and there are few repair guys here. I had three in LA and that was crucial to my business. Irv could be very funny and graceful with jokes, made you forget he had a rather severely hunched back. I have wondered when he would pass on, I'm surprised it was only a couple years after I left LA. For a time he wanted to have me take over his business but he was an irascible character and I wanted to be independent. He told me innumerable stories about the old days and about the history of the cameras. I'm glad to have stumbled across this post and give my props to him. Rest in Peace Irv.

Monty Osterhus

Posted by Andrew Woodcock (Member # 3260) on May 18, 2017, 07:37 PM:

Nice to see old posts here spring to life again here, teaches you a lot about different people we have in our hobby. [Wink]

Irv sounds like the type of man I'd have loved to have met somewhere along the way.

curmudgeon [Wink]

Posted by Bill Brandenstein (Member # 892) on May 19, 2017, 03:50 PM:

Monty, thanks so much for your post and for memorializing Irv in this way. With his passing, and that of Pat Singh just a few months ago, the local camera/projector world is much the poorer.

Posted by John Hermes (Member # 1367) on May 19, 2017, 04:05 PM:

I never met Irv in person, but talked to him many times on the phone, and had him work on my Elmo film transfer projectors several times. I remember one time he called me just to talk and we yacked for quite some time. I will always remember him.

Posted by Alan Rik (Member # 73) on May 19, 2017, 09:17 PM:

Hi Monty,
Welcome to the forum!
I remember you sold me a Beaulieu 6008S Digital with the 1.2 90mm Schneider lens. Beautiful camera. I sent it to Bjorn in Beaulieu Sweden where he cleaned it up and made sure everything was tip top which it was. Thanks for that. [Smile]

Irv was a character thats for sure.

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