Finding used cameras

[koniczech]

Hi everyone,

I often hear about people finding cheap, sometimes functioning cameras at antique stores on this site. Never have I been to an antique store in New England and seen a used camera for sale...

So my question for everyone is: Where do you think is the best country/state/continent for finding antique stores that sell used cameras?

Thanks,
koniczech

 

[35mmdelux]

wherever there is $.

 

[Sonnar Brian]

Florida, and other locations with a large number of retired people.

 

[colyn]

I see cameras at the local flea markets here in Fort Worth every weekend. Most are way overpriced ($675 Nikon FG) so I pass them up but I often find reasonably priced ones..

 

[Brian Legge]

I think Brian nailed it. I've been watching various used item sites on the internet closely this year while I was looking for deals. Places where people people retire had significantly higher density of gear floating around than anywhere else.

I actually met a retired gentleman up here in the Seattle area who use to be a very active member in the Arizona photography scene. He has acquaintances who still collect boxes of gear and ship them up to him here in Washington regularly to sort through and sell on ebay.

My best thrift store bargain finds here in Washington were a Olympus 35DC for $8 (non-function rangefinder, this camera got me started on camera repair) and a Cosina CX-2 for $6 (which I told to help fund a IIIc - thank you Lomography community). Both landed in the 'junk camera' piles as they didn't look especially interesting. Generally anything with a lens that can be removed is completely overpriced or matched to upper end ebay sales.

A friend who works at a thrift store mentioned they have about 10+ people hit the place daily looking for old cameras. If you don't see anything, it doesn't hurt to ask if they ever have interesting stuff and if there is a particular time of day that would be best to come by.

 

[Mablo]

Kodak has estimated that there are still something like 12 billion film cameras stored in drawers. I assume 80% of them are crappy point & shooters. Still that would make something like 2 billion quality film cameras out there. I think only a fraction of those ever find their way to the flea markets and antique shops.

 

[Roger Hicks]

Antique shops almost invariably overprice everything; thrift stores (charity shops, in English) are a better bet. The point about retirement areas is spot on. But one of my favourite places is a camera store in Luxemburg.

Cheers,

R.

 

[paulfish4570]

I looked in a thrift store today. Found an Olympus 105 zoom AF (correct nomenclature?) that still looked fine, for $6. I did not buy it because it has motorized advance. There also was a Vivitar EOS 35, which is an all plastic manual advance, fixed focus/fixed exposure 35mm for $3. Didn't buy it because I have a good fixed focus box camera. I doubt any good stuff will come through there.
I also stopped at a big church garage sale in a very affluent suburb; not a camera to be fondled.
I hear that estate sales are the places to run into for higher-grade gear ...

 

[John Lawrence]

Antique shops almost invariably overprice everything; thrift stores (charity shops, in English) are a better bet. The point about retirement areas is spot on. But one of my favourite places is a camera store in Luxemburg.

I agree with Roger's comments about antique shops, but for those in the UK charity shops are these days way overpriced. Most have a network of 'specialists' ranging from local jewellers to auction houses to price items, and almost all have access to Ebay or a volunteer who touts themselves as an 'Ebay expert'.

The end result is vastly overpriced items which almost never sell. I recently saw a Praktica MTL 5 with 50mm lens for sale in a local charity shop for £85.00.

John

 

[david.elliott]

I agree with Roger's comments about antique shops, but for those in the UK charity shops are these days way overpriced. Most have a network of 'specialists' ranging from local jewellers to auction houses to price items, and almost all have access to Ebay or a volunteer who touts themselves as an 'Ebay expert'.

The end result is vastly overpriced items which almost never sell. I recently saw a Praktica MTL 5 with 50mm lens for sale in a local charity shop for £85.00.

John

Almost every pawn shop around here has camera gear. Every pawn shop that does have cameras, overprices them horribly. $350 for a canonet for example.

 

[Brian Legge]

Estate sales by families, yes. Estate sales run by companies, no. Or at least that has been my experience.

 

[david.elliott]

Kodak has estimated that there are still something like 12 billion film cameras stored in drawers. I assume 80% of them are crappy point & shooters. Still that would make something like 2 billion quality film cameras out there. I think only a fraction of those ever find their way to the flea markets and antique shops.

I believe it. After all, I found my rolleiflex 2.8D in an unused old trunk in my home!

 

[John Lawrence]

Almost every pawn shop around here has camera gear. Every pawn shop that does have cameras, overprices them horribly. $350 for a canonet for example.

Here in the UK there seems to be a mindset that anything old is valuable. I've yet to work out if this is a result of all the antiques programmes on the television, or just plain greed.

John

 

[Steve M.]

You'd be much better off looking in the thrift stores as Roger said. Antique stores are not the place to look. I'll never forget the day I went into a thrift store in Savannah and bought a Canon AE-1 w/ 50 lens and hippie strap for $13.50. They even took an out of town check! One of my better prints on our wall came from that camera.

 

[robbeiflex]

Antique shops almost invariably overprice everything; thrift stores (charity shops, in English) are a better bet. The point about retirement areas is spot on. But one of my favourite places is a camera store in Luxemburg.

Cheers,

R.

I think I know which one (of the two) you are referring to. 😉
All of the used gear there is on consignment, so it actually depends on who is selling it but somehow the store manages to convince the sellers to keep their prices reasonable.

Cheers,
Rob

 

[cenpengenxer]

I've had a couple of good finds at some of the area "down and out" stores. Goodwill, Salvation Army, etc. any place that re-sells donated stuff. I've got a regular circuit now about every 2 weeks making 4 or 5 stops on the way home in one evening. The "good" stuff is usually in a case somewhere behind the registers and don't be afraid to ask the help, if there's any "new" camera gear that arrived that hasn't been put out.

Lastest RF type finds...noticed behind the registers, in the glass case, a small Yashica case tagged "camera lens" that actually contained 7 - 55mm filters for $3.99 including a circular polarizer. They were all screwed together to make what looked did look a little like a single lens. Asked if the price marked was the correct price, or was that for each? Nope, that's the price for the case AND whatever's inside it. I remember thinking...these filters have to fit ONE of the cameras I have. So, I gave the cashier $5.00 and told them I didn't want any change. Now the GSN can sport some new 55's if needed.

This was the same store that I picked up my ZI Contina 2, Novar from a few months ago. Came with original box, ER case, receipt, manual, and sales tag for $40.00. No mold, fungus, or haze. Looks brand new.

If it's any consolation, I look much more than I find.

 

[ashfaque]

Anything similar here in Nottinghamshire (UK)?

 

[shadowfox]

I never find a camera that is cheap enough, rare enough, or interesting enough in antique stores.

They are great for finding cool props for still-life photos though 🙂

 

[braver]

I regularly find Exaktas and the like on markets. However, with the really good, people still know the brand names. Especially Leica, nobody knows what they look like but they know it's some kind of expensive camera. Same for Hasselblad. Best buys I had, a Leica M2 for €200 and my beloved Rolleiflex T for 250, were out of legacies where the sellers knew very little of what they were selling and were happy to take whatever they could get quickly. On Marktplaats here in the Netherlands you can get lucky like that sometimes, but I haven't had the rolleiflex-2.8-in-a-drawer kind of luck 😉

 

[johannielscom]

Antique shops almost invariably overprice everything; thrift stores (charity shops, in English) are a better bet. The point about retirement areas is spot on. But one of my favourite places is a camera store in Luxemburg.

Cheers,

R.

Roger,

I'd be very interested in that store, since I will be visiting Luxemburg in two weeks, going there on holiday. Care to disclose said shops address here?