Was This A Good Deal or What? (Canon EOS content)

[MusicallyMrM]

I was at (for no choice of a better term) an estate sale. They were selling items from this rural NC house that had been closed up for at least 20 years the story goes. There on a shelf in the home was a Canon EOS 630 unopened in the box, manual, packing material, wrapped in plastic. There beside it in a box was a Sigma 78-200mm lens. If it had been used, it couldn't have been used but once or twice. Looked brand new. So I'm standing here with a pristine EOS 630 kit w/lens. A Sigma 78-200mm lens. I figure to offer at least $100.00 for the lot. I wound up getting everything for $15.00!!!!! They had the items in the house on a "list" but the camera stuff wasn't. I quickly paid them the $15.00 and moved briskly back to my car before someone realized the robbery I had just committed. I almost feel guilty if it wasn't for the big smile I still have on my face. I've tested everything and it works primo. (I bought a new 2CR5 battery from Radio Shack-the original, un-opened was still in the box but after all the years, I didn't attempt to install it or even test it) I'm still pinching myself!

 

[sparks017]

So you left without paying?

 

[MusicallyMrM]

I felt like I had simply made a donation to someone's cause......and made off like a bandit

 

[MusicallyMrM]

So you left without paying?

I just went back and read what I just wrote. Good lord, I hope everyone that may have read this already understood what I was trying to say. I quickly "paid them" the $15.00 and moved briskly back to my car before someone realized the robbery I had just committed. That was what I intended to say. Let me edit that right now in the OP.

 

[Derrel]

Robbery??? Heck, you took an EOS 630 OFF OF THEIR HANDS!!! You did them a favor!!

 

[MusicallyMrM]

Robbery??? Heck, you took an EOS 630 OFF OF THEIR HANDS!!! You did them a favor!!

:lmao:

 

[Derrel]

When I was young and in my 20's, I SOLD a good number of EOS 620 and 630 cameras. I was working at a chain of camera stores then in the late 1980's...autofocus was pretty new then...the 620 and 630 were up against the Nikon 8008s and the Minolta Maxxum 5000 and 7000 models. Olympus had some absolutely dreadful offerings that basically almost every customer HATED. THe biggest problem back then with selling the 620 and 620 models was the ANGER displayed by the Canon owners that all of their older Canon lenses and accessories had been deliberately obsoleted and made basically worthless as trade-in stock. A lot of Canon users would look at the cameras and then ask, "So, what part of my old system can I use with this?" and then after the shock of the answer worse off a bit, they would then ask the question, "So, what will you give me for my stuff as a trade-in?" and the answer was, "Uhhh, sorry, but we're not taking regular Canon manual focus lenses or bodies in as trade-ins due to the mount being obsoleted." Still, we did sell a goodly amount of those early AF Canons to people.

 

[MusicallyMrM]

When I was young and in my 20's, I SOLD a good number of EOS 620 and 630 cameras. I was working at a chain of camera stores then in the late 1980's...autofocus was pretty new then...the 620 and 630 were up against the Nikon 8008s and the Minolta Maxxum 5000 and 7000 models. Olympus had some absolutely dreadful offerings that basically almost every customer HATED. THe biggest problem back then with selling the 620 and 620 models was the ANGER displayed by the Canon owners that all of their older Canon lenses and accessories had been deliberately obsoleted and made basically worthless as trade-in stock. A lot of Canon users would look at the cameras and then ask, "So, what part of my old system can I use with this?" and then after the shock of the answer worse off a bit, they would then ask the question, "So, what will you give me for my stuff as a trade-in?" and the answer was, "Uhhh, sorry, but we're not taking regular Canon manual focus lenses or bodies in as trade-ins due to the mount being obsoleted." Still, we did sell a goodly amount of those early AF Canons to people.

Such is the "Shell Game" of new technology. Never did understand the economy of giving everything at best a shelf life of 6 mos. before the new product is released. We do it with cars, computers, audio-everything. Yet we wonder why our economy is failing so desperately as we play the "keep up" game. I am a Mac fanatic and I remembered how long (compared to Windows variant) OS 8, OS-9 was still viable and ahead of the game while Microsoft was trying to get a less buggy OS working for windows. I still have a PowerMac 6500 that I can still negotiate the net with albeit that there are some Flash apps that no longer are supported. Simply put, I will continue to find used gear and "work the hell out of it". One day, these examples will become museum pieces and be worth something as artifacts for the next generation. What do you think about that?

 

[Derrel]

Yes, the OS 8-9 days....I used to do a little demo at Fry's Electronics...I had several CD-ROM discs on which I had "built an entire Macintosh" computer. As you probably recall, back in the day, one of the huge differences between PC's and Macs was that Mac OS machines could run application software off of removable media, like CD-ROM discs, without the software even being installed on the computer's Hard Disk. I had a COMPLETE operating system, Photoshop, Office, some photos to work on, and in short, a 100% complete "Mac on a Disc", as I called it. I would blow peoples' minds (Windoze users that is) to see a CD slid into the tray, and then me opening up Photoshop and working on my own photo files as I compared various Mac models.

Last summer, I went to a community-wide garage sale with my friend Karen, who is a clothing reseller...I saw a PowerMac G4/500 tower, 19 inch monitor, USB hub, and a LaCie DVD burner/player external Firewire drive. I payed full asking price for the system, $35. The owner was a graphic designer,and this new old Mac had fully functioning copies of Photoshop,Quark Express, Microsoft Office, Toast, and a bunch of other stuff still running perfectly under OS 9.2. Funny thing is, I bought the same machine for $2999 in 1998 or 1999...the model but with the 450 processor, and I STILL HAVE IT..I have a Minolta SCSI 35mm film scanner that is set up to run on that machine and OS. So now I have basically, twins. I've moved on to two newer Macs, but old Macs can remain viable for a long time.

Old Macs...I actually prefer OS 9's interface and way of working to OS X. The first few iterations of OS X positively sucked.

 

[MusicallyMrM]

Yes, the OS 8-9 days....I used to do a little demo at Fry's Electronics...I had several CD-ROM discs on which I had "built an entire Macintosh" computer. As you probably recall, back in the day, one of the huge differences between PC's and Macs was that Mac OS machines could run application software off of removable media, like CD-ROM discs, without the software even being installed on the computer's Hard Disk. I had a COMPLETE operating system, Photoshop, Office, some photos to work on, and in short, a 100% complete "Mac on a Disc", as I called it. I would blow peoples' minds (Windoze users that is) to see a CD slid into the tray, and then me opening up Photoshop and working on my own photo files as I compared various Mac models.

Last summer, I went to a community-wide garage sale with my friend Karen, who is a clothing reseller...I saw a PowerMac G4/500 tower, 19 inch monitor, USB hub, and a LaCie DVD burner/player external Firewire drive. I payed full asking price for the system, $35. The owner was a graphic designer,and this new old Mac had fully functioning copies of Photoshop,Quark Express, Microsoft Office, Toast, and a bunch of other stuff still running perfectly under OS 9.2. Funny thing is, I bought the same machine for $2999 in 1998 or 1999...the model but with the 450 processor, and I STILL HAVE IT..I have a Minolta SCSI 35mm film scanner that is set up to run on that machine and OS. So now I have basically, twins. I've moved on to two newer Macs, but old Macs can remain viable for a long time.

Old Macs...I actually prefer OS 9's interface and way of working to OS X. The first few iterations of OS X positively sucked.

Agreed.