Finding old cameras in the wild.

Alan Johnson · Jan 28, 2018

A Ricoh AF-5 for GBP 4 at a car boot sale.
https://hubpages.com/technology/Ricoh-AF-5-automatic-point-and-shoot-camera-Ricoh-RZ-1050
The first AF P&S was the original Canon Sureshot which had a 38mm f2.8 4 element lens. This Ricoh followed 4 years later with a similarly specified lens and was a contemporary of the more collectible Nikon L35 AF which had a 5 element lens.
IMO the main advantage of all 3 is that unlike some later P&S cameras, they take screw in filters.

David Brown · Jan 29, 2018

Everything's "bigger" in Texas, including people's expectations. Generally, a $20 camera will have a $100 price tag on it.

dutchsteammachine · Jan 31, 2018

In 2016 I was on a vacation at Berlin. I was walking through an electronics store, and on a shelf of games there was a Minolta 35mm slr, something like the XG-m. The shutter did not fire and it did not have a lens. I assume the battery was empty.

I am pretty sure it did not belong there as some sort of aesthetic stunt. I was thinking about taking it with me, but decided not to for various reasons.

I did see some people, a few young ones, with 35mm film camera's on my week at Berlin.

I had a Canonet 28 and Pentax MX-1 with me.

I had a waiter come to me about my Canonet 28, he loved the look and we chatted briefly about it. He told me there was a film camera store somewhere, and I should check it out.

I went there. While it was of course great to see a store wwith film camera' s and film, they were just selling lomography camera's, film and Polaroid camera's. I don't mean to talk them down, but those lomo things just do not intrest me.

darinwc · Jan 31, 2018

mdarnton said:
I know you don't want to hear about Ebay, but there IS an Ebay junk store, and that is the land of mis-spelled and undescribed items. I have set up some searches to turn up items that no one would ever intentionally find, and found some gems where I'm probably the only person who saw that, and am consequently the only bidder. My best find was a functiuonal 8x10 Ansco view camera for about $100, carefully and precisely described as something like "camera". Also a mint-condition 50/1.4 AI-S Nikkor with bad photos and no indication of brand, speed, or focal length: "lens"

I have found a number of deals that way too. However lately it is getting harder and harder to win those. Last year there was an original black Nikon s2 rangefinder in very used condition. I thought it was beautiful. It was sold in a "lot of cameras" . In the last minute of the auction it went up to over 2000$

These days auctions make up less than 1% of eBay sales.. it seems people are watching every single auction very closely. There are still deals.. but they are getting harder and harder to come by.

TheGreatGasMaskMan · Jan 31, 2018

Personal update... again:
A $12 Minolta Maxxum 50
and a $15 Ricoh xr-2s with flash.
I just got these, so I have no idea if they work.

wiltw · Jan 31, 2018

My $25 thrift store find

which, although I bought it assuming something probably didn't work, turned out to be fully functioning with working meter and accurate shutter speeds.

Theo Sulphate · Jan 31, 2018

wiltw said:
My $25 thrift store find
...

Wow. The Beseler Topcon Super D's are nice. Congratulations!

Helios 1984 · Jan 31, 2018

wiltw said:
My $25 thrift store find

which, although I bought it assuming something probably didn't work, turned out to be fully functioning with working meter and accurate shutter speeds.

Topcons are things of beauty.

Pentode · Jan 31, 2018

I've done pretty well at flea markets over the years.
Most recently I found a Nikon S3 w/ 50mm f/1.4 at a flea while visiting Chicago.
Last summer it was an almost mint Minolta XD-11 in black.
Prior finds were a Petri Color Corrected Super (my main shooter for a few years and quite a nice little RF for $10!), Yashica GSN, CiroFlex, Canonet 28, Konica C35, a Canon Serenar 35mm f/3.5....
All at good prices and all in good enough shape that they only needed minimal work to get up and running.
I've also had quite a number of people give me old film cameras because they don't shoot film any more and I'm always more than happy to help them out!
So, yes, I do pretty well in the wild.

Yes · Feb 14, 2018

One of my best was a Bolex Rex-5 with 3rd Party Motor for $25. Couldn't grab that one off the shelf fast enough.

Sirius Glass · Feb 14, 2018

Yes said:
One of my best was a Bolex Rex-5 with 3rd Party Motor for $25. Couldn't grab that one off the shelf fast enough.

Welcome to ~~APUG~~ Photrio. Hmmm ... Los Angeles and Belfast, so on the average you are somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean?

Yes · Feb 14, 2018

Sirius Glass said:
Welcome to ~~APUG~~ Photrio. Hmmm ... Los Angeles and Belfast, so on the average you are somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean?

When in a plane, definitely.

Sirius Glass · Feb 14, 2018

Oh, I was worried about you treading water with cameras hanging around your neck.

TheGreatGasMaskMan · Mar 7, 2018

David Brown said:
Everything's "bigger" in Texas, including people's expectations. Generally, a $20 camera will have a $100 price tag on it.

Must be a western United States thing. Yesterday, I saw a $50 Brownie Hawkeye with a flash unit at a one off Arizona thrift store, and today, I found myself buying a $100 canon eos rebel just because there was a roll of film in it, and there isn't even a battery charger in it.

Theo Sulphate · Mar 7, 2018

TheGreatGasMaskMan said:
... and today, I found myself buying a $100 canon eos rebel just because there was a roll of film in it, and there isn't even a battery charger in it.

Don't the film Rebels take non-rechargeable CR123A's?

TheGreatGasMaskMan · Mar 8, 2018

Theo Sulphate said:
Don't the film Rebels take non-rechargeable CR123A's?

Yea, looking at the battery closer this time, I can tell you it came with a non rechargeable 2crs battery, not cr 123As.

I can say I just gave the battery a quick glance this morning, and assumed it was rechargeable (I don't know that I've ever seen a 2crs battery before either).

macfred · Mar 8, 2018

TheGreatGasMaskMan said:
... I don't know that I've ever seen a 2crs battery before either ...

Neither do I - maybe it's a 2CR5 6V ?

bunip · Mar 8, 2018

Bought at an antiquarian fair from someone selling old books a mint rolleiflex 3,5 f (planar lens with a serial number 282... very late and 6 elements) for 280 euro. Lightmeter match my D610 and my Mamiya 6 so usable.
https://www.photrio.com/forum/threa...old-camera-part-2.124299/page-84#post-2022670

TheGreatGasMaskMan · Mar 8, 2018

macfred said:
Neither do I - maybe it's a 2CR5 6V ?

yes it is.

jim10219 · Mar 8, 2018

TheGreatGasMaskMan said:
Yea, looking at the battery closer this time, I can tell you it came with a non rechargeable 2crs battery, not cr 123As.

I can say I just gave the battery a quick glance this morning, and assumed it was rechargeable (I don't know that I've ever seen a 2crs battery before either).

I made the same assumption myself when I got a EOS 650. After failing to find a battery charger and discovering it uses nonrechargable batteries, I bought a replacement battery, but have yet to use it (other than testing to make sure everything works). I have the battery installed backwards to prevent it from draining because I can't find a power switch on this camera.

choiliefan · Mar 8, 2018

The power switch on the EOS 650 is immediately to the left of the eyepiece. Turn the switch to L and the camera shuts off.

jim10219 · Mar 8, 2018

choiliefan said:
The power switch on the EOS 650 is immediately to the left of the eyepiece. Turn the switch to L and the camera shuts off.

Yeah, I saw that. But it never shuts the LCD off (and probably some other low current draw parts of the circuit), so it's more of standby than power off switch. It wouldn't be an issue if the battery was cheap and easy to find replacements for, or if I used the camera more often. But I don't want to have to buy a new battery every time I pull it out.

choiliefan · Mar 9, 2018

That's odd. Mine shuts off completely when set to L. Dirty switch contacts perhaps?

michr · Mar 9, 2018

I've found a smattering of stuff over the years. I recall an Olympus XA4, and most recently an XA (but with non-working aperture) in a nice case for $5. Various stuff from estate sales, like most recently a Nikon F with 35, 50 f1.4, 50mm macro, 135 and 200mm lenses all for $100. I'd call that a bargain, but it's not a terribly valuable set. Probably the most value to me personally has been a large format (4x5) enlarger obtained from an antique store for $60. What these stories leave out, like all stories of treasure hunting, is the rafts of junk cameras that one runs across, point-and-shoot zooms, "focus-free" cameras, low end Polaroids, Kodak instant cameras, etc., and often for more than any knowledgeable person would pay, like $20. I look often enough that hunting camera gear has become a hobby in itself, which I waste too much time at. I might go an entire month without turning up anything good (and I've gotten pickier over time). I suppose it's a little like gambling, with the intermittent payoff.

jim10219 · Mar 9, 2018

choiliefan said:
That's odd. Mine shuts off completely when set to L. Dirty switch contacts perhaps?

Perhaps so! I hadn't considered that. I'll have to give it a look and find out.

Finding old cameras in the wild.

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