Someone had the stupidity to satisfy my lust.

David Lyga said:

Someone who thought he was doing me a good deed told me about shopgoodwill.com. Listings after listings of cameras for (sometimes) peanuts. I bought a prepaid debit card and was, suddenly, a kid in a candy store with a $10 bill.

Yes, there are hundreds and hundreds of cameras: some SRTs going for under $10 and some other fine makes priced likewise. I bid on about ten and won about five. Still waiting for the rest to arrive. Sort of happy with the first few.

I got a Minolta SRT 100 for $14 (picked up in Berwyn, PA) and got a SRT 102 for $6. Why am I disclosing this cache of extreme happiness for others to compete with me? Because there always is a catch.

The SRT 100 was, cosmetically, excellent and the shutter worked fine. Low 'mileage' camera but...good thing I know how to fix minor things because the shutter speed scale in the VF area is floating around. I have to take the top off and fix this. It's really a crapshoot because, although Goodwill is highly reputable, the people checking these things are not of the kind that have camera knowledge. Thus, they grade them like you would grade a pillowcase or a lamp. Inner knowledge does not attach to their well-meaning verbiage.

And there is another catch. The postage is formidible. A typical camera with lens costs about $13 plus the cost of the camera and then you really don't know what you are getting. Compared to used camera shows or Craigslist.org, the 'deal' is about equal, no better. My initial euphorial is over and I might, or might not, continue at another time with Goodwill. It's pretty good if you are used to paying retail but, especially in this care, and without pejorative implications, caveat emptor.

But...before I call it quits, are there any other web sites to explore? (Almost all the cameras offered on the shopgoodwill.com site are from the West Coast and I live in Philadelphia). - David Lyga

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vpwphoto said:

Dang, thought this would $75 bucks..
http://www.shopgoodwill.com/auctions/Nikon-S3-Rangefinder-wNikkor-S-114-5cm-Lens-8880507.html

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David Lyga said:

The problem with you, benjiboy, is that you are too 'normal and well balanced', You have no right to be on this forum because of that 'disqualification'.

But you are all too correct: the 'seeking' of that bargain gets into the blood when it clearly should not. Luckily, no matter how much I want a camera or lens, its appeal for me is reduced if not in the 'bargain' category. I wish I could be as rational as benjiboy's post but this is my private joy in life. There is something that is irresistable and captivating about having an instrument that is capable of 'capturing time'. And the whole 'era' unfolds in my hands: an era that I remember as more sane, predictible, and 'real'. That is also how I am with old classical music vinyl 33 rpm LPs. But, keep sanity flowing, benjiboy. - David Lyga

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David Lyga said:

Well said, benjiboy, and the truth is not sad. You lend perspective, needed perspective.

Thankfully, I do not 'throw money' (little money to throw!!!) at cameras because I buy ONLY when I can buy at a price that I could get back in a pinch. I live in the Philadelphia area and the northeast of the USA is where probably one third of all 'USA destination' cameras were sold. That gives me a good buyer's market and, conflated with the recession (depression?), that spells opportunity of sorts.

A few days ago I attended the Fort Washingrton, PA (twice yearly) used camera show and bought, from a junk box, an Agfa Silette LK, the cheap version of the other Silettes. I paid $5 for a dirty camera whose shutter and aperture dials were stiff and uncomfortable but whose glass was flawless (despite all the grime). Today I completed my work on the camera after having removed the glass elements, flushed the shutter/diaphragm with much lighter fluid to remove the decades of gunk, and let it dry overnight in my oven with the pilot light on (about 110 F). The glass I clean with straight ammonia from the supermarket. NOTHING gets glass cleaner and it leaves no static charge. Then I removed the top and thoroughly cleaned the RF area. (But WARNING: don't use ammonia on the colored piece of glass in the RF area or the silvered (?) coating will come off. Just use water with a tiny bit of dish liquid.) Then I tested ACTUAL focus, which was different from the DESIGNATED focus, and made the screw adjustment to align the two to mesh. My correct focus is now from 34 inches to infinity.

At wide open (F 2.8) the lens performs admirably, with only the far corners SLIGHTLY soft. From F4 to F16 it performs like a Leica, period, no qualifications. That, folks, is how I draw blood out of a five dollar bill. But no one died because of the 'assault'. I gain immense satisfaction out of doing this and cringe when I see the Leicas being sought after. - David Lyga

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jscott said:

SGW depends on free donations so it is the good (not much), the bad (a lot), and the ugly (mostly).

My experience is the same as others. High shipping costs (even in WA) and you are never quite sure what will show up. I bought a 90 year old Zeiss Jena plate camera, and the shipper had plastered 2" shipping tape across the original leather case, ruining the finish. That's about who we are dealing with here... and there is no feedback or recourse.

EBay is shopping paradise in comparison to SGW.

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