So I went to this Estate sale....

[DBP]

I was driving home one afternoon about 3 years back when a neighbor's ex flagged me down and asked if I wanted to take a look at a box of photo stuff he had picked up with other things at a bankruptcy sale and wanted to get rid of. I pulled over and walked into the back of the shop to find a box of miscellaneous darkroom gear with a few disc cameras, synch cords, and similar odds and ends. He told me he was sure there was a another camera around somewhere. I'm expecting at best an old Polaroid folder when he comes back and hands me a Horseman 980! Ended selling me camera, 3 lenses, 3 backs, accessories and the box of odds and ends for $150. I told him I was robbing him blind at that price. And he still stops me in the street occasionally to make sure I am still happy with it! From there the transition to large format was just a matter of time.

 

[JBrunner]

Here's the thread on my lucky day!!

(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

 

[Thomassauerwein]

My whole darkroom is filled with that kind of stuff. Equipment people did not know what to do with. I love how simple it all is. minor fixes here and there and it does everything I need it to do. Cameras I've had less luck with. They seem to all have a reason for obsolesance. scratches light leaks, whatever they just don't measure up to anal scrutiny. Some of that stuff could be great for a more random or freedom of expression but just can't past the imperfections.

 

[vet173]

Leica M-4 / 35 sumicron $25.00. I had to agree with him that it wasn't an SLR and even though the camera was made in Germany the lens was only made in Canada. Serial number indicated it was one of the first 100 made and still had the wax L in front.

 

[mitica100]

Cool! Let's start posting our neat garage/yard/estate/antique store sale finds here.

Yesterday I went up to a local antique store and found one of my dream cameras: a Super Ikonta B in fantastic!!! condition. I've got a roll ready to load up now

Cool find! Mine was a Canon SII (rangefinder) with the Canon 50/1.8 lens, lens caps, side flash, filters, all original Canon for $20.00. Found at a local flea market. I asked why they were selling the kit and they said they wanted one of them d***ital cameras, they're much easier to operate!!!

 

[digiconvert]

Nice find!

Be warned, though. I have a similar WestonMaster and, whilst in good / fair light it's very accurate, in poor light it lies like a scouser in a suit!

I think that may need some translation for our overseas readers

BTW for anyone interested on the Weston use the next speed down from your ASA (whoops my age is showing again) film speed. e.g for ISO 125 you set the Weston at 100 etc. etc. , at least that works for my III.

 

[ricksplace]

Pentax espio 738 in perfect working order for $5 with a fresh battery. Going this morning to the usual parade of yard sales. I find I have to ask if they have any old cameras, to which they answer, "Oh yeah, I never put them out because I thought nobody would want them." Usually it's mostly junk, old brownies and such, but every once and a while a gem pops up.

 

[Kino]

Vivitar TW 35; Freak of Nature Found at Goodwill

Hey, look at THIS...

What a bizarre, but neat camera; a Vivitar TW35. Two lens rangefinder with 80mm telephoto on top and 35mm wide angle on bottom you can switch with the filp of a lever. Has motor advance, DX code sensing, IR autofocus, Viewfinder adjacent (in field of view looking through viewfinder, but not in viewfinder proper) LEDs for low light warning (red) and flash charged indication (green). Runs on two "AA" batteries and has a nice heft to it.

Not bad for $5 USD.

 

[rjphil]

Antique Store find ...

I'm always looking for photographic advertising pieces, so every time I see an antique shop, I go in and ask. The woman suggested I look in "Bill's bay" (apparently this was a co-op kind of shop). No ad stuff, but I see a really long lens on the floor, pushed to the back. It turned out ot be a Samigon 500mm f8.
Just needed a T-mount for my Nikon. The marked price was 25USD, so I offered 15USD. She asked if I would go 18USD on it. (!!) It's in my bag now, and actually quite sharp when stopped down. (My wife is a Nikonista, so as long as I buy stuff that she can use, it's ok).

 

[Donald Qualls]

(My wife is a Nikonista, so as long as I buy stuff that she can use, it's ok).

Even my wife, who has no use for photography at all, wouldn't object loudly to spending $18 on a lens like that. She has no idea what it is, but she's well aware I've spent more for less on numerous occasions...

 

[matt miller]

I went to an estate sale this past Saturday and got lucky. I found an 18"x12"x8" humidor with 80 cigars inside for $30. While not directly related to photography, I do like to have a cigar while reading a new issue of Lenswork or when I'm out shooting scenery.

 

[Donald Qualls]

Well, and when you finish the cigars, it looks as if you could mount a 210 mm WA lens on one end and an 11x17 back on the other to make a hand-holdable ULF camera (or, if your budget doesn't run to several hundred dollars for the WA lens, a pinhole and ULF back).

 

[matt miller]

That's an idea. I've got an old 210 angulon which would come close.

 

[DarkroomExperimente]

for $30 I got a Kodak Retina 3c with f/2 50mm Xenon, Minolta srt101, kodak vest pocket autographic, minox 35EL....and a few less interesting cameras and other misc. stuff ( binoculars, etc)

 

[tlsid]

got my whole dark room from the local newspaper that had not used it for a couple of years, they had gone d****L. got the whole lot for the price of getting it out of the building. omega d45 enlager, more film reels then what i kneed, digital timer, gralab timer, chemical-mostly film developers. and much more then i can mention.

 

[sun of sand]

Polaroid 180 mint like never used tossed in with cheapy lands $5
Polaroid 250 NOS $2
OLY OM1 + 5 1.8 $5
300? sheets Ektalure/Opal for less than $20
Diana along with a full box of etc for $15
Diana NOS $15
Bolex D8L NOS $20
Dual 8 projector $30 got to watch old home movies from 50's unseen for decades
Cooke 158mm $15 my first classic lens
stuff

Not estate/garage but craigslist
Tachihara 4x5 90 4.5 grandagon 150 5.6 polaroid 545i type 55 pelican $500
Not camera related but perhaps the coolest
1962 chrome Frejus 10 speed. $150