Canon IIb + 50mm 1.9 lens

[slvrscoobie]

Hey guys,
Yesterday I was lucky enough to find a Canon rangefinder at an antique mall in central PA. Price was right so I brought it home.

Doing my research it looks like its a Canon IIb with Serenar 50mm 1.9.

Having a bit of trouble figuring out how much it would be worth though. One page I found said the body alone is 150-250. Lens is good condition but looking through there are some spots on it. Also has the leather case, but it has a name pressed into it.
Body is really clean, except for the viewfinder window which seems pretty fuzzy and i cant get a Qtip in the tiny square to clean it properly. Front 2 glass openings are nice though.

Where could I get this CLA'ed? Im in NJ.
Shutter speeds sound accurate, curtain is in good shape. The rangefinder looks accurate (lines up when focused at infinity), however, the images are separated vertically, but Ive noticed this on all the old RF's Ive used.

Any advice for a RF newbie? Depending on its value I might sell it as I wont use it as it should be. Id love to keep it but i have enough trouble editing digital files right out of the camera, films just to many steps.

 

[FrankS]

I see this place recommended frequently:

http://essexcamera.com/

 

[Bingley]

I second the recommendation of Essex. I had a Rollei 35 recently CLA'd by them, and their price was reasonable with a reasonable turnaround time. You might also check with Youxin Ye. He now works on Canon RFs, and did a repair/CLA of my IVSB2 last year. Highly recommended!

 

[goamules]

They are good cameras, better made than 90% of it's competition in the era, but not extremely valuable with that lens. So since you have little in it, just keep it for a conversation piece or shoot a roll. Or if you want to see the market value, put it on Ebay with no reserve and a .99 cent starting bid. It will sell for the current value. I'd guess around $200 or a little more.