bargain or normal price?

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yoyo22

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Hi all,
yesterday G.A.S. took over control and I happend to purchase a complete set of Bessa equipment from the classifieds. Now I'm wondering if I paid too much, or if the price was ok. So let me list the items, which are all said to be good as new, with no scratches, just 30 films shot:

1 Bessa R silver
1 Nokton 50/1.5 black
1 Ultron 35/1.7 silver
1 Heliar 15/4.5 silver

- incl. UV-filters for the 50 and 35, supposedly Leica brand
- all lenses include hoods
- no original packaging for the items, but manuals and the papers
1 Pelicase 1300 black

In total I paid EUR 600, which should be around $ 785.

What do you think? Can I face my wife and tell her about a once in a lifetime bargain, or shall I better not mention it and hope she won't realize anything?
 
I think you've done a good deal, assuming condition is what it's stated to be. You can check the new prices of most, if not all, these item on Cameraquest (there'll be a link somewhere on this page).
 
A good deal if in good shape. Each of the lenses is worth over US 250, and the camera between US 150 - and 200. Then there are the peripherals (2 Leitz filters and Peli case), close to US 100.

Which classifieds did you use ?

Roland.
 
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I found it in the "Annoncen-Avis" here in Germany. I was also thinking I made a good deal, but I was a bit in doubt since the add was in place for over a week and nobody bought it yet.
 
Looks bargin to me. Some times folks do not jump on things the way you think. I take a lot of time to look at the word differences in things that sold and didn't on evilBay before I list my items. IMHO, I think it's paid off. Miss labled items are about the only deal you can find these days on eBay, if you can find them.

You did well, very well.

Give her the R and the 35, get a LTM to M adapter for the 15 (it came with finder I hope!) and sell the 50 1.5 on evilBay for 225 euro. You will be a hero with her.

B2 (;->
 
Today I received the package and I am slightly disappointed.
- the 15/4.5 got a slight 3-4mm scratch on the coating of the front element
- the 50/1.5 some sort of scratch on the rear element - half the diameter of that element, very straight and what's really strange: it seems to be inside
- the rangefinder of the Bessa is not really vertically aligned

Has anyone ever seen some sort of straight inside scratch in a CV-lens?
How about that slight scratch on the 15mm? Shall I just return the entire package?
 
I would be mostly concerned about the scratch in the rear element of the Nokton - I had a Rodenstock 90mm f/6.8 LF lens that I dropped in Monument Valley and the rear element got badly scratched and the lens was unusable. The scratch was clearly visible in every picture I took.

The front scratch in the Heliar might or might not be an issue - because it has such a wide field of view, it is possible that the scratch will introduce flare - but you won't know until you tested it.

I would load the camera with film, shoot one roll using all the lenses and then you can judge yourself.

If you don't want to do that, return the camera and the lenses - the risk is too high IMHO.
 
Could that be a hair or fiber in the nokton? The need to calibrate alignment of the R body VF is as normal to one of them as tuning a new piano after delivery.
Still a good deal if the defect in the nokton turns out to be removable..
 
Well, I returned the entire set for a refund. The disturbance in the Nokton was just too strange and huge.
Just brought the package to the post office, two hours later I already ordered a brand new black Bessa T. Now I just need that 15mm, but I'm working on that right now. At least with another black camera my wife won't realize it's existance among all the other black bodies and lenses.
 
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