It's that time again!

[Whiteymorange]

The Spring PHSNE Photographica Show and Sale is coming around again. This season's extravaganza is in the same place it has been for a few years now, in Wakefield, MA on April 30 and May 1. The hours, directions, details and pictures of past gatherings are here.

The shows are not as amazing as they used to be (who is?) but it's still the best chance I know to get close to dealers and collectors from all over the place, and to take advantage of their desire not to pack all that stuff back in the car at the end of the show! I can't begin to list all the wonderful deals I have seen, bought or just missed at shows past. Whatever you are looking for, be it gear, advice or just conversation, you're likely to find it here.

Note: I am not a dealer, but I do help a friend at his table. I love to meet APUGgers who drop by. My avatar is as close as I can get to what I really look like, so say hi if you come to the show. In my humble opinion, the best deals are at each end of the show- early Saturday, when the stuff is still being unpacked (premium admission charge then) and late Sunday, when something like that old Folmer-Schwing Studio Master 8x10 is looking like it won't fit back in the dealer's car since he bought as much as he sold (thanks Eddie!) The dollar table goes early, but that's another story...

 

[megalime]

how much is admission?

 

[bdial]

Admission is $5.00 non-members, $3.00 for PHSNE members and students.
If you like cameras, it's well worth the money, even if you don't buy anything. (something I've never managed to do there ).

 

[megalime]

guess i'm gonna have to take a ride up to wakefield then.

 

[Whiteymorange]

This just in! The show this spring is the 75th in a string of PHSNE Photographica shows and they are celebrating. Not only will there be cake, but all students with a current ID get in free! So come on you art school folks (and history, English, engineering, whatever majors-) this is your chance.

 

[Whiteymorange]

Bump!

 

[Whiteymorange]

Another show down. I picked up some true junk, some stuff other people would call junk, and a few real finds. Best deal for me is probably the "Scientific Lens Co. Extreme W.A. Anastigmat #2" I found at a neighboring table. The dealer was asking $50, but it was late in the show, I showed him that the shutter was not working and the aperture didn't move with the lever. He gave it to me for $25. Later, after some fiddling, I got the problems solved, went back to him and offered to pay more of give it back, since it was working. He said, "No, keep it. It's the last of a set of lenses I got from one old woman who's husband had a lot of that junk. I might as well just get rid of it." In most cases, I would say that was an silly move. In this case, it's a dealer who knows what he can sell, where he sells and to the people who come to him. This wasn't in his comfort zone and he was simply being a nice guy and passing it on to another dealer. Even though I am not a dealer, being at the show with an exhibitor badge makes me "one of them." Actually, during the entire weekend I heard conversations like that all around me, and not just with dealers. The sellers seem to understand that the young people (and there were a lot of young people) are the future of this type of photography. There was a lot of passing the torch going on. Nice folks.

 

[jsouther]

I really wanted to go. When is the next show?

 

[bdial]

The next one will be in the fall, the date will be on PHNE's website; http://www.phsne.org/