Cheap thrills: What is the best photo equipment bargain you've gotten?

Topic says it all.

 

: Topic says it all.
:
I bought a 300/5.6 Tokina lens for $10 through an ad in one of these
newsgroups. Something was wrong with the automatic aperture mechanism, so
that didn't work, but the optics and everything else were fine. I took off
the mount, removed the linkage hardware, and used it as a preset lens. It
worked great, especially for sports -- until some SOB stole it, along with
most of the rest of my photography stuff.

Paul, still pissed off

 

Yashica Minister III 35mm Rangefinder for $37AUS. Works like a charm,
the 45/2.8 lens is very sharp with no hint of fungus or yellowing etc.
Even the lightmeter still works accurately. Best thing is, no batteries
to ever go flat. It is quickly becoming my favorite camera.

 

Pristine condition SMCP-A 24 mm f/2.8 from a pawn shop for $50.00.

 

How about russian Contax and Leica copies? Cheap and cheerful.
If something is not to your liking, well, get out the
screwdrivers and have fun - the information is there
for the taking on the 'net. A Leica copy for $10? Amazing.
You can't loose. You learn something useful every time.

Murray

 

Rikkenon f1.7 50mm lens - [which produces great images] - £3 in a
charity shop. One of about 5 screwmount 50mm lenses I have but this is
definitely the best [unfortunately the rear element protrudes a lot so
it doesn't mount well on the EOS with adapter]

Fed-4 rangefinder with Industar 61 L/D - £10 (ebay) - mint and works
perfectly. Probably had a higher consistency of high quality images with
this than with anything else.

Caon EOS-650 - £15 (ebay) - just bought this and it's also mint and
works perfectly. Great results with an adapter and various 1970s-era m42
lenses.

Matt

 

My best bargain was a "broken lens" included with some Pentax items I
bought on eBay. The items all needed a lot of cleaning but worked
fine. I sold them for 80% more than I paid for them.

The "broken lens" turned out to be a Carl Zeiss Jena Flektogon 20mm
f/2.8. The diaphragm blades were sticky, so I had it cleaned and
re-lubricated for £25 ($45). There was nothing else wrong. Optically,
it is a superb performer. Cosmetically, it is EXC+.

It cost me nothing and I have been offered £200 ($360) for it, but I
have no intention of selling it. It works very well on my Pentax and
Canon SLRs and Leica M bodies and is one of my favourite lenses ever.

My second best bargain is a Rollei medium format outfit I just bought
from a photo dealer who was in dire financial trouble and needed cash
quickly - he has since cased trading. It includes a brand new Rollei
6008i and three lenses, one of which is new. The others appear to
have had very little, if any use.

The whole outfit cost less than half the price of replacing one of my
Hasselblad bodies and a standard lens. I sold my used Hasselblad
outfit (2 bodies, 3 lenses) for more than I paid for the Rollei gear.

 

Minolta SRT-101 w/ 50mm 1.4 lens. The body is in near-mint condition. I
was expecting to have to recalibrate the meter, but surprisingly it is
dead accurate with a modern battery. I did need to replace the light
seals. The lens is good...just a small dent in the filter ring I plan on
removing.

$20 at a local sale.

 

Two years ago I went into a pawn shop just to see what sort of camera stuff
they had. Passing me near the door, a guy asked me if I wanted to buy a
camera. He said they didn't offer him enough. We went back to my van and he
showed me what he had - it was all Canon gear, in great condition. I wound
up with a D30 body, 550 EX flash, 28-105 EF & 15mm fisheye EF lenses for
$500. Two weeks later I sold the D30 for $300. Even a blind hog finds an
acorn once in a while!

 

PS - everything was in the original boxes except the 28-105 lens.

 

Two classic folders from thrift stores :

A Retina IIb with superb Schneider Xenon 50mm/f2 lens $10
A med format Zeiss Super Ikonta 6x4.5 with Schneider Xenar $20

and best bargain of all - A YashicaMat 124G - Free

 

Olympus XA for $25, with flash, at a barn sale in Hannibal, NY. Vivitar
35ES for $30 online. Yashica T4 Super for $60.

All it takes is patience and a good eye. It's just photohraphy.

-Cardamon

 

What lenses did you get with it?

So you're pure Rollei for mf now? I like mine head and shoulders above any
mf equipment I've owned previously. I did keep my RB system for the 150mm
soft focus lens, though.

 

Carl Zeiss Tessar 21 cm f4.5 for under $20. It has a 17 blade aperture
that stops down to f45.0 and retains a very circular aperture at every
stop, though actually it is stepless movement from f4.5 to f45.0.

The funny thing is that I got a Zeiss lens cap for it that actually cost
as much as the lens. I still have not tried this one out yet, since it
came without a shutter. Seems like it needs a Compound #4 or Packard
shutter.

 

Lets see:

A Plaubel Makina 67 MF camera with a gorgeous 80mm Nikkor lens.
Saw it in a pawn shop for $250. Near mint condition, not a scratch or scuff.
Went out to my car, pulled a copy of Shutterbug out of the trunk, looked up
the camera in used equipment ads. It was going for about $1350 in average
condition. Went back and talked the pawn dealer down to $200 including tax.
It took me about 6 weeks to sell it (I'm a 35mm guy), but I cleared $850.
Used the profit to buy a Nikon F-100.

Fujinon EBC 100mm/2.8 for $10 (pawn shop).

Fuji ST-601 /w EBC Fujinon 50mm for $3 (Goodwill Store)

Nikon N5005 w/ AF-D Nikkor 70-210/4.5-5.6 for $50 (pawn shop). Didn't want
the camera but wanted the lens for my D70s kit. These lenses are going for
around $300 on eBay.

SMC Pentax-A 50mm/1.4 for $6 (Salvation Army)

Konica C35 rangefinder for $2.50 (thrift store)

Canon A-1 SLR with 100mm Macro and 50mm/1.4 FD lenses, Macro ringlight
system, and Tamrac bag for $100 (pawn shop).

A Vivitar (by Kino Precision) 28mm/2.5 lens in screw mount for $5 (pawn
shop)
This lens is as sharp as my Nikkor or Canon. I liked this lens so much I
have aquired the same lens in Nikon, Minolta MC, and Canon FD mounts.

It pays to go slumming.

Doug

 

Calumet 20x24 print washer, like new in original box and packing.
$300.00
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Retired Shop Rat: 14,647 days in a GM plant.
Now I can do what I enjoy: Large Format Photography

Web Site: www.destarr.com
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

 

Minolta SRT-101 w/ 50mm 1.4 lens.

I got you beat there.
My buddy, Crazy Marvin, gave me that setup for free. They don't call
him Crazy for nothing!
Alas, I gave it back to him later when I got my Fabulous EOS-1V.

Also, an old dude at the golf course sold me his old Canon (AE-1?) and
a 50mm lens for $20.
I sold it to a buddy for $25 the next day. Who Rules?

 

In the last couple of years I've picked up a Yashica Lynx 1000, a Lynx
5000E, and a Lynx 14E from eBay. None of them cost me over $50. They all
have excellent Yashinon lenses (1.8 on the first 2, 1.4 on the Lynx 14E).
The Yashinon lenses made by Tomioka Optical are generally excellent. The
tradition of fine Yashica lenses was carried on in the famous Yashica
Electro 35 GSN which also had a great lens.

Check out:
http://www.yashica-guy.com/document/variations.html

Doug

 

And the latter Yashica/Zeiss lenses on the T4 series P&S and
the modern Contax.

 

Yes, I have a couple of T4's...great Zeiss Tessar on that camera. The
sharpness and contrast is outstanding for a consumer P&S camera.

Doug