Vertigo2020 wrote:
canonet wrote:
Vertigo2020 wrote:
June, 1992. Passing conversation with a stranger turned to photography. The girl said her father was a photographer and recently passed away. She was going to dispose of all his junk. The junk included 4 prisitine Speed Graphics, about 8 LF lenses, 2 doz film holders, 12 dozen Press 25 flash bulbs, a mint 35mm Stereo camera w/case, a M3 Leica body, Omega D2 enlarger, and tons more misc other stuff. 5 cardboard boxes full. She tried to give me the items but finally accepted $75.

P.S. I know...I'm going to hell for that one.

No, you just got the deal of the centiry. I knew there had to be a deal like that somewhere and you found it. OF all of that, how much do you have today?


I don't have any of it today. Kept the M3 the longest. Most everything else I sold within a year. Not including the Leica, the total sales amounted to a little over $2700.

In fairness you did try to give her money for it.

My best deal is the two canon ef 75-300mm non usm lenses my girlfriend and i sold. After ordering them they were the wrong type (the amazon picture was the USM version) and never arrived after being posted so we cancelled the order and eventually got a refund.

6 weeks later they turned up, tried getting the company to take them back a number of times. Eventually 6 months later, trading standards told us that they were ours to keep.

Sold them on ebay for a total of £180 (one about £80 and £100). Shame ebay/paypal fees are so high though,

Ed Swift wrote:
Vertigo2020 wrote:
canonet wrote:
Vertigo2020 wrote:
June, 1992. Passing conversation with a stranger turned to photography. The girl said her father was a photographer and recently passed away. She was going to dispose of all his junk. The junk included 4 prisitine Speed Graphics, about 8 LF lenses, 2 doz film holders, 12 dozen Press 25 flash bulbs, a mint 35mm Stereo camera w/case, a M3 Leica body, Omega D2 enlarger, and tons more misc other stuff. 5 cardboard boxes full. She tried to give me the items but finally accepted $75.

P.S. I know...I'm going to hell for that one.

No, you just got the deal of the centiry. I knew there had to be a deal like that somewhere and you found it. OF all of that, how much do you have today?


I don't have any of it today. Kept the M3 the longest. Most everything else I sold within a year. Not including the Leica, the total sales amounted to a little over $2700.

In fairness you did try to give her money for it.

My best deal is the two canon ef 75-300mm non usm lenses my girlfriend and i sold. After ordering them they were the wrong type (the amazon picture was the USM version) and never arrived after being posted so we cancelled the order and eventually got a refund.

6 weeks later they turned up, tried getting the company to take them back a number of times. Eventually 6 months later, trading standards told us that they were ours to keep.

Sold them on ebay for a total of £180 (one about £80 and £100). Shame ebay/paypal fees are so high though,


I repeatedly offered her several hundred dollars for the "junk" She refused, after maybe 30 minutes I got her to take the $75. Someone had told them the stuff was old and not worth anything. They had already sold the man's studio gear at auction. BTW, I didn't know the Wollensak Stereo 10 was in the bottom of one of the boxes.

Trust me I got paid back in spades on August 29, 2005 when looters ransacked my home after Katrina. What wasn't destroyed by the storm was stolen, then 35 years worth of negatives were dumped in the mud and seawater where they sat for 9 weeks.

Vertigo2020 says

I repeatedly offered her several hundred dollars for the "junk" She refused, after maybe 30 minutes I got her to take the $75. Someone had told them the stuff was old and not worth anything. They had already sold the man's studio gear at auction. BTW, I didn't know the Wollensak Stereo 10 was in the bottom of one of the boxes.

Trust me I got paid back in spades on August 29, 2005 when looters ransacked my home after Katrina. What wasn't destroyed by the storm was stolen, then 35 years worth of negatives were dumped in the mud and seawater where they sat for 9 weeks.

Wow! Sorry to hear about that. Darn looters really know how to screw up life for people. i would dare say they were not aware of what you had in there. Was anything recoverable from the mud and water?

On the gear, I am guessing someone saw old cameras and quickly deemed it all as junk as if they did not know what was in the box and know the feeling. I once had someone try to buy my vintage Dodge Dart GT ( i thought I'd never use Dart and VINTAGE in the same sentence) for $400 telling me they were totally worthless.

canonet wrote:
Vertigo2020 says

I repeatedly offered her several hundred dollars for the "junk" She refused, after maybe 30 minutes I got her to take the $75. Someone had told them the stuff was old and not worth anything. They had already sold the man's studio gear at auction. BTW, I didn't know the Wollensak Stereo 10 was in the bottom of one of the boxes.

Trust me I got paid back in spades on August 29, 2005 when looters ransacked my home after Katrina. What wasn't destroyed by the storm was stolen, then 35 years worth of negatives were dumped in the mud and seawater where they sat for 9 weeks.

Wow! Sorry to hear about that. Darn looters really know how to screw up life for people. i would dare say they were not aware of what you had in there. Was anything recoverable from the mud and water?

On the gear, I am guessing someone saw old cameras and quickly deemed it all as junk as if they did not know what was in the box and know the feeling. I once had someone try to buy my vintage Dodge Dart GT ( i thought I'd never use Dart and VINTAGE in the same sentence) for $400 telling me they were totally worthless.



All my negatives were ruined. The only camera gear that remained was a Nikon 85mm 1.4 AIS that was full of seawater.

I bought a Nikon Micro 105mm 2.8 in excellent condition from a pawn shop that was getting out of the pawn business, and into the payday loan business. They were asking $200 for it, I offered them $175. They replied that they couldn't go that low, but they could give me 25% off of their asking price

I also bought an SB-800 in very good condition for $200 from a local pawn shop, and a Vivitar manual flash for $5 from the Salvation Army. And off of Craigslist, I got an Gitzo 1340 tripod with Manfrotto ball head for $45, both in pretty good condition.

EmigrantMtChri wrote:
I bought a Nikon Micro 105mm 2.8 in excellent condition from a pawn shop that was getting out of the pawn business, and into the payday loan business. They were asking $200 for it, I offered them $175. They replied that they couldn't go that low, but they could give me 25% off of their asking price

I love dealing with people who are bad at math... and a surprising number are!

John

EmigrantMtChri wrote:
I bought a Nikon Micro 105mm 2.8 in excellent condition from a pawn shop that was getting out of the pawn business, and into the payday loan business. They were asking $200 for it, I offered them $175. They replied that they couldn't go that low, but they could give me 25% off of their asking price

I also bought an SB-800 in very good condition for $200 from a local pawn shop, and a Vivitar manual flash for $5 from the Salvation Army. And off of Craigslist, I got an Gitzo 1340 tripod with Manfrotto ball head for $45, both in pretty good condition.

HA! I absolutely love it!

I bought a Nikon F3 and a 55 2.8 macro lens from a pawn shop for 250 some years ago. i tried to talk them down but they resisted and got a good deal!

Best deal I've gotten in recent years has been my brand new D200 from best buy for $599.
Kim
Western burbs of Chicago

hillsidekim wrote:
Best deal I've gotten in recent years has been my brand new D200 from best buy for $599.
Kim
Western burbs of Chicago

WOW!
How so cheap?

any more deals?

LN 5D a year ago for $600, D2X a couple months ago in good condition for $600, and a bag full of PW Plus II's at $35 a pop. :-)

I'm still patiently waiting to stumble upon a garage sale treasure chest or other "drop into your lap" situation. Vertigo, we all hate you!

In the meantime.... I can't complain.

Scored a mint T-90 for $50 a few years back.
OM Zuiko 50/1.8 for $10 at a pawn shop closeout.
Zuiko 28 for $13 at camera fair. (Both the OM lenses work beautifully on my Drebel.)
Several assorted nFD lenses for under ten each, including a 24/2.8.
Several more nFD, 28s and 50s, or a buck each!
Bronica SQ S 180mm on *bay for something like $15. (This is the only lens listed here with noticeable wear and tear.)
A friend gave me a complete 4x5 Graphic View setup. I suppose free is best, eh?

-Moo!

I got a brand new and unopened genuine Canon BG-E1 Grip for my 300D for $20 (AU$) a few years ago.

canonet wrote:
hillsidekim wrote:
Best deal I've gotten in recent years has been my brand new D200 from best buy for $599.
Kim
Western burbs of Chicago

WOW!
How so cheap?


best buy was selling out there stock of new D200's for $600 each, alot of people took them up on the deal, myself as one also.

canonet wrote

WOW!
How so cheap?


Best Buy was clearing them out last spring I think and there was much comment on the different Nikon forums. They lasted a couple of weeks then they came back for a couple more weeks. Long gone now though.
Kim

hillsidekim wrote:
canonet wrote

WOW!
How so cheap?


Best Buy was clearing them out last spring I think and there was much comment on the different Nikon forums. They lasted a couple of weeks then they came back for a couple more weeks. Long gone now though.
Kim


I did not know about that! I would have jumped on it ,,,,,,,,,,,,,despite being a big Canon shooter!

I got a 2-month-old, well-calibrated Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L lens with MS cashback for $850.

The killer new canon powershot ds100is. This blog has some great pictures of it.

First post here after lurking for a few days.

I've had a few good deals over the years. Most recently, a Vivitar 285HV, in the original box, for $1 at a flea market. The woman selling it threw in a deck of playing cards and a beaten up, leather camera bag.

Two others, also from flea markets, were a Manfrotto 3001 legset for $10 and a Topcon 35L rangefinder (with matching Sekonic selenium meter) also for $10.

Probably the best deal I ever got was at a yard sale. Olympus OM1n with 50mm f/1.4 Zuiko, Vivitar 28-90 Series 1, Vivitar 2800 flash and a bunch of accessories in an old Olympus leather gadget bag for $25.

The most fun I had was with the OM1. I'm a Nikon shooter (have been for over 30 years) and I've always been curious about the OM1. All that I can say is that had I tried one back then I'd probably have stuck with Olympus.