Your Great Garage Sale 35mm Find?

djohnfot · Jul 4, 2009

kivis said:
A mint Leica IIIa (Circa 1936) and matching 50mm/f2 lens for $15.

One of the greatest photographic instruments ever. I'm impressed. I should get you in touch with my friend Alec (see above message)

djohnfot · Jul 4, 2009

DAM1970 said:
I have found Olympus XA and XA2 at yard sales, one was $5 and one was $3 - both with cases and flash. That's the best I've been able to do.

Good find! They're both fine cameras, especially the XA, which is one of the greatest inexpensive cameras of all time!

Pompiere · Jul 4, 2009

Minolta Freedom Tele for $1. I cobbled a battery from a pair of CR123's, and everything seems to be working. Switches between 38mm/2.8 and 80mm/5.6. These were also sold as Leica AF-C1's, so it must have a pretty good lens.

C A Sugg · Jul 5, 2009

At a flea market: Chinon CM-4s (PK) with 50 1.9, 28 2.8 and 135 2.8 for $20. All super clean and working perfectly.
I was thinking of reselling it to a basic photo student come Fall, adding whatever a new set of batteries and assurance that it will get them through the semester is worth. Unfortunately it will need some cosmetic surgery first. A previous owner had engraved his name and SS# into the base. I'm not comfortable letting it back into the wild like that.

snegron · Jul 5, 2009

djohnfot said:
My fried Alec is a watch and vintage radio collector. A couple years ago he was visited a local thrift store and grabbed a camera bag out of a cart one of the employees was using to carry stock from the back room to the sales floor. Inside the bag was a Leica M2 with the collapsible 35mm lens. The camera and lens were in exceptionally fine condition. He bought it for $4.95!

He called me and told me about his find and I really thought he was trying to pull a joke on me. No one in their right mind would sell a Leica for $5 but they did. I saw the camera and the bag and his receipt for $4.95. Within a week he had sold the camera and lens to a dealer for $600 who, I'm sure, made a tidy profit reselling it.

I have gone into that same thrift probably a hundred times and have never found a single item worth buying. It's almost always just recycled clothing and old appliances. But Alec! He once bought a genuine Philip Patek (sp?) watch in that same store for $10! He made a tidy profit from that one, too.

Lucky guy, that Alec.

And some people say that lightning doesn't strike twice in the same place!

snegron · Jul 5, 2009

djohnfot said:
A beautiful Nikkormat FTn with attached 55mm Micro Nikkor f/3.5 lens for a whopping $20. I sold it a few years ago when I stupidly got rid of all my film SLRs. Well, I'm back into them with a vengeance, albeit without that sweet Nikkormat and that splendid lens - one of the greatest primes ever made, imho. I'm not crying too hard, though, for I did get a very nice Canon T90 with 50mm 1.8 for $20. Odd thing about that is it was sitting right next to a nice Yashica stop-down SLR that they wanted $30 for. The seller had no idea the T90 was worth 10 times their asking price and I did not volunteer the information. I reached for my wallet so quickly that I almost threw my arm outta joint. SO TOO WOULD YOU!

You are one very lucky person! I am now looking for a T90 at a reasonable price and would have also reached for my wallet just as fast!

cknapp1961 · Jul 5, 2009

Not quite a Garage Sale, but locally on Craigslist, I picked up a Nikon N80 with the 28-100mm G Nikkor for $25.00, fully functional, I guess she thought film was dead. Still had the original receipt in the box for $575.00.

clayne · Jul 5, 2009

mike c said:
At the county land fill somebody had thrown out many boxes of older 35mm cameras and lenes. I started grabing as much as I could before the dosezer plowed them under ,ended up with a Regula RM,Kodak Signet 40,two small selinim cell lite meter(both work),a 58mm 1.4 mc Rokkor PF Minolta lens (aperture blades are sluggish) misc. camera straps and stuff. Alot more stuff there but they chased me off as your not suppose to salvage any thing. Keep thinking that there was more treasure there but could not get to it.

mike c.

Isn't it kind of twisted that one isn't allowed to salvage anything that they're going to just roll over with the bulldozer anyway? I understand if they had their own salvage crew - but they're literally crushing everything left on the ground.

dougjgreen · Jul 5, 2009

djohnfot said:
My fried Alec is a watch and vintage radio collector. A couple years ago he was visited a local thrift store and grabbed a camera bag out of a cart one of the employees was using to carry stock from the back room to the sales floor. Inside the bag was a Leica M2 with the collapsible 35mm lens. The camera and lens were in exceptionally fine condition. He bought it for $4.95!

He called me and told me about his find and I really thought he was trying to pull a joke on me. No one in their right mind would sell a Leica for $5 but they did. I saw the camera and the bag and his receipt for $4.95. Within a week he had sold the camera and lens to a dealer for $600 who, I'm sure, made a tidy profit reselling it.

I have gone into that same thrift probably a hundred times and have never found a single item worth buying. It's almost always just recycled clothing and old appliances. But Alec! He once bought a genuine Philip Patek (sp?) watch in that same store for $10! He made a tidy profit from that one, too.

Lucky guy, that Alec.

BTW, a genuine Patek Philippe watch for $10 is an even better deal than a Leica M2 with a 35mm Leica lens for $4.95. I personally buy the highest quality knock-offs of those watches, in Asia, but the real ones sell for between $8-20K new, and used ones are still worth several thousand.

BTW, which store is this, and where is it located?

paladin1420 · Jul 5, 2009

Last fall I picked up an XA2, with flash, manual and original receipt for $5.00. Great little camera - fits in my pocket. I've seen other equipment relatively cheap, but I've already got more cameras than I can carry so I let them go.

sangetsu · Jul 8, 2009

I found a mint Power Winder F for my Canon F1 this week at the junk shop for 3000 yen. I also found a Canoscan 2400 film scanner (scans negatives from 35mm to 4x5) for 100 yen ($1), and it actually works.

titrisol · Jul 8, 2009

Minolta SRT-201 with rokkor 50 for $10

3 Olives · Jul 9, 2009

Not a garage sale - just a good deal.
I was trying to buy a Leica IIIc Body several months ago and had all but given up. I placed a bid on a camera Youxin Yin was selling and never figured I'd win. This was last of several Leicas he was selling and it flew under the radar and I bought it for $107.50. Camera has some light usage marks. The Shark skin type Vulcanite is original and in good shape. Camera was CLAd by Youxin Yin and the viewfinder and rangefinder are clean and clear. It has a new beam splitter and the rangefinder double image has very good contrast. Shutter curtains are new. The camera works smoothly and included a take up spool. It looks better than the pictures:

nigelgoods · Jul 9, 2009

6 German Classics

I recently made an embarrasingly amazing score at a small yard sale in rural NJ. Glancing through the tables filled with 1980s clothing and bad ceramic dinnerware I noticed a group of brown naugahyde and black leather cases hidden beneath a large macrame weaving of a cat. I lifted the weaving and began to inspect...3 Voigtlanders and 3 Rolleis! each with a small orange sticker that said $10. I told the homeowner that I was interested in the cameras, it was the end of the day and he was trying to sell off as much of the remaining goods as possible. He told me "$40 and you can take em' all home with you." Feeling a pang of guilt, I asked "are you sure? some of these are quite collectible." To which he replied "I have a digital camera!"

The final tally:

Rolleicord III
Rollei 35S
Rollei A26
Voigtlander Vitomatic
Voigtlander Vito II
Voigtlander Vitessa (with Ultron 1:2)

All in mint cosmetic and mechanical condition....$40!!!

perkeleellinen · Jul 9, 2009

A friend's grandmother died and he got her Contax II in the will. He's no sentimentalist nor photographer, so swapped the camera with me for a pack of 10 Marlboro lights.

snegron · Jul 9, 2009

3 Olives said:
Not a garage sale - just a good deal.
I was trying to buy a Leica IIIc Body several months ago and had all but given up. I placed a bid on a camera Youxin Yin was selling and never figured I'd win. This was last of several Leicas he was selling and it flew under the radar and I bought it for $107.50. Camera has some light usage marks. The Shark skin type Vulcanite is original and in good shape. Camera was CLAd by Youxin Yin and the viewfinder and rangefinder are clean and clear. It has a new beam splitter and the rangefinder double image has very good contrast. Shutter curtains are new. The camera works smoothly and included a take up spool. It looks better than the pictures:

Congrats! That is one beautiful IIIc!

raphaelaaron · Jul 9, 2009

i've gotten oodles of stuff from second hand places or garage sales.

my first ever camera, a canon ae-1, i got for 10 dollars. Someone else was checking it out at the time and I was waiting to pounce on it as soon as he left. When he did, I grabbed it and went to pay. I'm so glad I did because that camera was a true workhorse. I shot so many what i call powerful images with that camera. Just check it out on my flickr:

http://www.flickr.com/raphaelaaron

other stuff i obtained at local sales and lots was a Yashica-A, Argus C-3, Some funny looking old film cameras, and lastly my minolta hi-matic rangefinder. It was broken supposedly, and I got it for a very cheap price. Soon after fiddling around with it, I got it to work and now it shoots.

Quite happy with my recent finds.

3 Olives · Jul 9, 2009

I should have written Youxin Ye. He is a great guy and an excellent craftsman.

Trask · Jul 9, 2009

This is the first I'm hearing of this gentleman -- who is he, and what does he do? Trader/seller, repairman, ??

3 Olives · Jul 10, 2009

Trask said:
This is the first I'm hearing of this gentleman -- who is he, and what does he do? Trader/seller, repairman, ??

Youxin does repairs and CLAs. His work is excellent and his rates are very low. He is highly recommended by the members of:

http://rangefinderforum.com/

You can do a search there for more opinions.
He is also very good about answering email.

skruft · Jul 11, 2009

He is a super Leica repairman. (I am not a big Leica guy, but the repairs I did sent to him were perfect, quick and reasonable.)

Trask · Jul 11, 2009

That's a great resource -- thanks. I have several Leicas and am always glad to know of someone who can work on them.

swiader · Jul 29, 2009

Last week at a car boot sale in Wormerveer (The Netherlands) :
2x Nikkormat FT2 (one black ,one silver) in pristine condition , Nikkor Q.C 200/4 , Micro-Nikkor 55/3.5 , Nikkor 50/1.4 , Nikkor 24/2.8 , Nikkor 135/2.8. All for 120 euro's. Thought I did quite well!

Ron Swiader
The Netherlands

TheSohnly · Jul 29, 2009

I found an Olympus XA with A16 flash, the manual, and original owners certificate for $5

Gnomad · Aug 2, 2009

Today, a Honeywell Pentax Spotmatic for $10 and a Vivitar V3000 for $5. I'm guessing the Vivitar is a K mount-the other Vivitar camera I found a while back is a M42.

Your Great Garage Sale 35mm Find?

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