best buy,worst buy

worst: Canon 3000N (sth. like Rebel XS N in the US) for a huge lot of money when I was just beginning with photography. Now it's worthless, so I practically gave it to my aunt.

best: beautiful Leica M6 classic. Cost me more than any other camera I've bought, but it was a relative bargain (less than the usual prices in classifieds or ebay) and the camera has moved my enjoyment of photography to a completely different level.
 
Best: an early M3 CLA'd by Youxin Ye in 2007 for US$450. Still waiting for it to arrive in the post.

Worst: Hard to say. Probably the Canonet QL17 GIII, that came with a scratched lens and a dim VF. Sold it at a small loss.
 
Worst , I fell for a " Black Russian '' Zorki S from Arax . it was £80 + sending it back 'cos it was so stiff , worse when it returned , the Lens aperture dial was out of sync . Refused my e-mails .

Best buy - waiting for my Contax III
 
Best (value) buy: Perfectly working and clean FED 3b with Industar 61 and Jupiter 11 for 15GBP.

Best buy: Leica IIIC since it's just lovely.

Worst buys: FED 5B with lousy curtains. Luckily not a lot of money wasted, it's not worth the hassle of replacing them. Nikon P50. Actually a fairly competent camera but lousy power management means it thinks the batteries are dead long before they are. 2 Zenit Cs, only because I can't use them without my reading glasses on!
 
worst: Leica IIIc with bad cosmetics and an after market flashsynch that wasn't even connected, shutter was not operating as it should. However, turned out to be a nice camera to learn the insides of the LTM Leica's that I can now fully cla myself: the shutter is running now very smooth on every speed..... but still paid way too much.

best: Bessa II folder, bought for Euro 300 and sold the other week for EUro 550.
 
Worst: A full Bessa R kit with 35mm Ultron, 50mm Nokton, 15mm Heliar marked "mint", but actually in bad condition.

Best: Original black paint MP 1958 with matching bp Summicron for < USD 1200
 
Best: Mamiya 645 Pro TL , 80mm, 150mm lenses, back, and metered mirror-finder for $330. Would have been worth a couple thousand just a few years ago. Wedding photogs can't ditch these in favor of digital fast enough apparently; Metz handle flash for $45 (they go for about $600 new). Worst: Seagull TLR for $150. Takes amazing photos (I got one with a great lens), almost always broken.
 
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I've been an avid reader of the RFF for some time now, and thought I'd create an account just because of the couple amazing deals I've gotten in the past year! 🙂

Unfortunately they're not rangefinder related, I'm waiting for a Konica Hexar in the mail, and I'm picking up a Nikon S2 tomorrow, so I can't say whether they were good deals or not yet 😉

Best: 1) Hasselblad 500 EL/M, with Zeiss T* lenses: 50/4, 80/2.8 and 150/4, with waist level finder, 45deg finder, and two 120 backs for $400USD

2) Canon 814 auto-zoom super 8mm video camera, Rollei 35 made in Germany, and Olympus PEN D for free. All of the above is literally as it was brand new, there is not a mark or scuff on them.

Working in a camera store has its perks 🙂

Worst? Not sure if I've ever really been disappointed by anything. I suppose it would be the Polaroid back I bought for the Hasselblad that didn't end up working, but I got another one for free again.
 
best deal: nikon FM a friend gave to me, I could keep it if I had it repaired.
worst deal: paying too much for a scratched, flary 90mm f/2 LTM with loose aperture ring and stiff focus ring from another RFF member
 
dragunov said:
whoah, whoah! can you show it to us?
Click to expand...

Since it was in original condition with just minimum signs of use it was simply too valuable for me to use it. Therefor I sold it for an amount for which I would usually have to work for approx. 18 months.
 
yoyo22 said:
Since it was in original condition with just minimum signs of use it was simply too valuable for me to use it. Therefor I sold it for an amount for which I would usually have to work for approx. 18 months.
Click to expand...


Now we just wonder what your yearly income is 😀
 
Best: Yashica GSM in mint, working condition (flea mkt for $5)
2nd Best: 9 condition Olympus OM2n with a bunch of Zuiko lenses and accys for $100 - traded for NIB Nikon FE2

Worst: hmmm....I have a lot of non-working old "shelf" cameras at home. I bet I paid more than $50 for at least one of them...
 
Best: M3 with a Rigid Summicron and 28 CV for $650
Though I just picked up a Pen FT with a 38 1.8 for $70

Not to sure on the worst... though it would probably have to be my Mamiya 645 AF kit, its a fantastic camera, but their value has gone down to nothing as of late.
 
Hard question . . . because:

I literally cannot remember what I have paid for a single piece of photo gear. In terms of dollars to pictures snapped it is probably an M6 Panda bought used from B&H in 1994 or thereabouts. Pleasure for dollars spent? Maybe a Speed Graphic I bought in 1991 -- first LF camera for not all that much money.

Worst: Hmmm. A piece of photo gear that I actually regret purchasing? Can't think of a single thing. I have a Wisner 5x7 that is a real beauty, but I practically had to arm-wrestle Ron Wisner to get him to send it to me . . . Maybe the worst piece of kit was a Linhoff zoom finder that had a crack in the glass. I can't remember how much I paid, but it was definitely too much.
 
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