Goodwill Hunting

[Greyscale]

I bough five "old plastic cameras" in a box for five dollars at my local Goodwill store yesterday. 😀



Good Day at Goodwill by Greyscale3, on Flickr

Canon ML ... clean and working. This has been on my want list for a while. That big hunk of glass looks awesome hanging on the front of this little autofocus beauty.

Canon Sure Shot Supreme ... clean inside and out, but needs a battery. I was looking for one of these too. I love the early Sure Shots. Now all I need is an AF35M, and I will have the first four models.

Olympus Stylus ... clean and working. And cute. I just got a couple of batteries in the mail today for the Mju II zoom I bought last week, popped one in, and she fired right up.

Fuji Tele Wide DL-155 (dual focus autofocus, 35 and 55mm) ... Like new. Not a scratch on it and working.

Samsung Maxima Zoom 80 GLM ... no battery, so I don't know if it works or not, it was in the box with the others.

The Fuji looks like a very nice camera, but I haven't found any information on it on the web. But hey, it's a Fuji, how bad can it be?

I had never found a single camera worth buying at this Goodwill store before, I was beginning to think that the whole "bargain cameras at Goodwill" thing was an urban myth.

I guess that I was wrong?

 

[jesse1dog]

The Canon Sureshot Supreme has been my favourite camera for some time -it's the film camera I am most likely to grab from the cupboard. Not too good into the sun but few cameras are though. I've thought of upgrading to something a bit better but I'm still looking. If you can find a case it slips on your belt pretty well. You should have a lot of fun with it.
jesse

 

[Brian Legge]

Goodwill now funnels any cameras they think are potentially valuable to their online auction site, shopgoodwill.com The prices there are along the lines of ebay prices, possible a little higher. The amount of info is even less than your average ebay ad.

I've only made one decent buy there - a bulk lot of film cameras, described only by a small picture.. Most were Instamtics but there was a Canonet 17 and 28 in it. Not bad for $15+shipping.

 

[feenej]

The Infinity Stlyus has a sharp lens. I got mine at a charity shop too. I recently found a Stylus Epic (Mju II). Impressive lens.

 

[Greyscale]

Jesse ... the Supreme was complete with case. Very nice.

Brian, usually I am lucky if I see one or two cameras that actually do fall int the "old plastic camera" niche. This time I got lucky, the box of cameras was brought in while I was in the store, I made what I thought was a lowball offer and they jumped at it.

 

[jesse1dog]

A good Canon Sureshot Supreme camera case must be nearly worth $5!
Did it have a battery in as well?

jesse

 

[Greyscale]

A good Canon Sureshot Supreme camera case must be nearly worth $5!
Did it have a battery in as well?

jesse

Unfortunately, no battery. Or rather, a dead battery. But no sign of corrosion, either on the battery itself, or in the battery compartment. I'm confident that the camera will work once I do get a battery.

 

[David Hughes]

There's a lot to be said for the sheer pleasure of hunting for dirt cheap cameras. Those that you get for a coin or two can give you a lot of fun and someone's dud film to practice cutting leaders for the pre-war Leicas...

The main problem is that a 50p or £1 camera then become a trophy in the war against the system and, before long, you end up needing another display cabinet, a proper instruction manual, lens cap, etc, etc. I guess we've all been there.

Regards, David

 

[Krosya]

Funny, I just also found some good deals at a local thrift store. 0.99 cents EACH:

Both seem to be working fine, but no results are back yet to confirm on film .

 

[Harlee]

I recently picked up a really close to mint XA with a A16 flash for about $3.25. Wasn't sure if it would work when I got it home, but both camera and flash work like a charm. Another one which I like is a Nikon Elite 38-140mm AF camera. I shoot 800 in it and am really amazed at how sharp the pictures are, even at 100-140mm. That one set me back $5.00 after a little haggling. So, once in a while you'll find them just waiting for a new home. Oh yes, I also have three Oly Stylus for about $3 apiece. One of them is the delux model with gold lettering, etc. So keep looking!

 

[Pompiere]

I had been trying to kick the plastic camera habit but today I gave in and bought a Pentax IQZoom 160 for $2.50 at an estate sale. I have gotten some deals in the past at Goodwill, but I haven't seen any lately. I still keep looking, though.