Got there around 9:30 and stayed till noon. There were a lot more sellers and buyers than I remember seeing in the last couple of years, much more equipment for sale, lots of young people who sounded knowledgeable. It was very encouraging. Denver ProPhoto had a table and the guy from Victory Camera was there. All his stuff looked pretty new, like he'd put some time into cleaning it up for presentation. Oh yeah, Mikes was there too, adding nothing.
I brought my Future Son In Law (FSIL) who I had infected with the film bug last fall. He processed his first roll of B&W the night before and was really pumped for the show. Giddy, almost. We did a lot of talking, even more listening and by the time we left he was pretty much in shock from all the shower of old-codger knowledge.
We bought a whole darkroom set with a nice, older Beseler 23c for $10. I'm not really sure which of us actually bought it. We were taking one last swing through before leaving and a guy we had talked to earlier caught our attention and said we could have it for $10. I thought he was joking. I have all the darkroom I need right now and told him my wife would shoot me if I brought more gear into the house. Then FSIL said, "We can tell her it's mine", and that sealed the deal. We each were down to our last $5. It's probably just as well he became the owner as we were driving home.
I got a power winder for my Minolta, something I've been wanting for a couple of years; a 5-reel Patterson tank from the freebie bin that should really help with my backlog of rolls awaiting processing; and an extended PC cable that wouldn't work when I tested it at home (the flash-end plug is different from what I have). I had spent the last 2 months writing down specific items to look for but couldn't find it before leaving the house. That probably saved me a bunch of money. Was sorely tempted by a beautiful old 5x7 view camera, looking very usable with a nice modern lens; and a Century Graphic in really great shape. In fact, it seemed like the old equipment was in better condition than in other years.
All in all, I was pretty happy with my self-restraint, really only succumbing to spontaneous GAS with the darkroom purchase, but that was almost free. It was great to see so many of the sellers being so free with advice for FSIL once they realized he was an enthusiastic beginner. He had a great time, too and was really surprised at how the time had flown when we had to leave.
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