I'm buying cameras again

[Battou]

Mine has got tons. it's one of those places that is more like a mall than an antique store. The owners don't buy and sell, they rent out booth space to who ever wants to sell what ever. Lots of attic clearing all in one place. There are over a dozen of those in my small corner of the state. Yeah they have tons of furnature from the turn of the century but they also have lots of other cool stuff.

I got my bellows, EF body and my m42 screw 200mm tele amung others there.

 

[monkeykoder]

Wow I'll have to stop by a few of those places again now that I know what to look for...

 

[ksmattfish]

Is that a Norita on the second shelf?

Yep.

 

[ksmattfish]

Is that an H2 on the bottom with a 300mm+ lens?

There's a Spotmatic (I'm not sure which model, I have 3 or 4) with a 75-260 Soligor zoom on the left side, and the long lens on the right is a 400m Tele-Astranar (super cheapie, even back in it's day) on an Exacta body.

 

[Battou]

There's a Spotmatic (I'm not sure which model, I have 3 or 4) with a 75-260 Soligor zoom on the left side, and the long lens on the right is a 400m Tele-Astranar (super cheapie, even back in it's day) on an Exacta body.

I though it was more likely a spotmatic its more common, It and the H-2 are damn near identical.

here is my H-2 with 200mm Bushnell

 

[ksmattfish]

Interesting the ones my mom used to drag me through never had cameras.

I find it hit and miss. Most antique stores and malls, flea markets, etc... will have at least a few beat up old box cameras and vintage point-n-shoots. Sometimes I find some cool stuff, but in general my experience has been that the prices on Ebay are significantly better than what I'm seeing in the antique shops/flea markets in my neck of the woods. For instance I always see Crown and Speed Graphics in shops going for $400+, and they can often be found on Ebay for around $200. My best antique shop finds have been an Ansco Titan 20 (6x6 120 folder) for $15, but it was in ugly condition, and a Pentax K1000 for $20.

Where I've struck it rich is garage sales, although I've visited hundreds for every one that had anything decent. I picked up a whole bunch of large format darkroom accessories (hangers, tanks, washer, etc...) for $10 at one. I found my Rolleiflex 3.5E Planar with a bunch of accessories for $150 at another. Graphmatic film holder for $10 at another. When I worked in the camera store I heard a tale of a sorority girl borrowing her dad's old camera for her photo class, and then sold it in the sorority charity rummage sale for $20; it was a Leica M something.

As Battou mentioned, I found once people caught on that I was collecting old cameras people started calling me and bringing them to me. All of my Spotmatics, and many of the other 35mm SLRs were cleaned out of relatives closets, and given to me for free. Old photogs die, and their relatives call me. I've bought several large boxes full of cameras and gear for $100 to $200. There was a Leica F3 in one (it's up and to the right of the Diana box (which does contain the Diana)). My greatest score has been the Widelux F6 which was given to me by an old photog.

The best thing about collecting cameras has been that trying out all the different kinds of gear really taught me that the gear isn't very important. Whatever camera I'm using, whether the photos are any good or not is up to me.

 

[alexkerhead]

I though it was more likely a spotmatic its more common, It and the H-2 are damn near identical.

The easiest way to tell is the screws around the lens. The H2(as wel has the H1) has a plate with screws behind the lens, and the spotmatic does not.

Here are pics of an H1(looks the same as a H2), Spotmatic, k1000, and me. I would have thrown in the SV, but it IS identical to the h1, except for the re being a timer under the rewind know.

The cameras are reversed in this shot.

 

[Battou]

The easiest way to tell is the screws around the lens. The H2(as wel has the H1) has a plate with screws behind the lens, and the spotmatic does not.

Here are pics of an H1(looks the same as a H2), Spotmatic, k1000, and me. I would have thrown in the SV, but it IS identical to the h1, except for the re being a timer under the rewind know.

The cameras are reversed in this shot.

I see this now, I'm not a pentax specialist and had not seen them side by side like that, thanks.

 

[ksmattfish]

The easiest way to tell is the screws around the lens. The H2(as wel has the H1) has a plate with screws behind the lens, and the spotmatic does not.

That's good info. Mine are all definitely Spotmatics then.

 

[Battou]

tis mine

that will prolly be the last body I buy for a wile. I originally was looking at it as a third string incase I got out bid on the AE-1...after getting the AE-1. I simply could not pass that one up. One of those two AE-1's is just going to sit now

 

[Battou]

They arrived in the mail yesterday and I picked them up today. the AE-1 is friggin totaled, The EF is stunning mechanically, but I have not had a chance to check the electronics of it.

The AE-1 is really no big deal,There is visable deteriation to the brass on the body, it squeels worse than my old one and the meter cable is snapped. I took it appart shortly after I go it and stole the eyepiece out of it and put it into my old AE-1, on top of that the lens on it was salvagable so...