Searching In Vain - What's Your White Whale?

A black Pentax ME Super for a reasonable price. I finally ended up getting one on eBay, after a year of looking, for $23. The seller didn't say it was black in the title, and the gallery photo was taken close-up with a flash, so it looked like a silver one.
 
My curse:
I tried three different Fuji AF 645 cameras. Three different models. In three different years. None of them focused accurately. [According to Fuji. Not a case of "operator error."]

Whale?: Black Contax G2. I had the complete kit, and sold it to buy an M7. Later sold the M7 and re-bought a G2, but couldn't find a black set at a reasonable price. Settled on silver. Sold it, and went back to an M7. Sold the M7 and went back to another silver G2. Sold that and went to a Zeiss Ikon. Now, i want another black G2. Insurance doesn't cover the kind of therapy i require.
 
CK Dex, that's hilarious. I relate on so many levels, though in some ways my condition is worse (I can't bring myself to sell ANYTHING)...
 
For me it was the Leica Summar lens that I was looking for since I bought my III f. After having owned many Russian standars (FED 50/3.5, Jupiter 8 and Industar 22), a Canon 50/1.2, I still wanted this precise lens.

The ones I met where in very bad shape and the price silly for such a condition but my quest ended two weeks ago with a nice examplar for 90 €.
 
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One of was a Yashica YE with Yashinon 1.8/50 until late last year I find one completely as new in box with price and sales receipt.
The other is (was) a Zeiss Biotar 1.5/75 in Contax mount. I bid on one this year only to be outbid by over a $1k. It finished at $2500ish. Later I found out that Zeiss actually only produced 6 copies of the lens. It's a collector and will not find it's way to my hands to be sure.
3841307568
 
Mine has been to find a working, reasonably priced Robot Royal 36. I've spent a couple of years trying to get one that wouldn't first require the sale of a kidney, and recently did find one, but when it arrived it was in a dirty, grimy state, but most everything did appear to work... It's at Essex Camera right now and I have my fingers crossed.....So, maybe I'm now done buying....Yeah, right.. 😉...Just how many lenses were made for that camera?...😱
 
A long long time ago found mine I was a student in my first year of college and I had always fancied a Canon rf, one day went to a local furniture auction and there it was a canon GIII ql17 with case, strap, lens hood, flash, instructions and even the box. I paid the huge amount of £3! it was great. But a year or so after it was stolen from my car and that was the end of that and since then I've had to make do with Leicas!
 
Either a 1973 911 or 1969/1970 VW Bus...I know neither one are cameras but I would enjoy going out to shoot much more if I were driving either one...

Maybe later a camera with a Xenar or Planar lens...in medium format...
 
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nikon_sam said:
Either a 1973 911 or 1969/1970 VW Bus...I know neither one are cameras but I would enjoy going out to shoot much more if I were driving either one...
Click to expand...

Go for the 911. Rent a truck to haul stuff. A 40-year-old VW bus is a scary thought. A bug might hit it and send it careening off the road.
 
I paid $50 (USA) for a camera just to see what it looked like, when I got, of course, it didn't work. This didn't matter because I knew the lense was going to poooor. It was raining so I took it apart and cleaned the shutter and got it working. Now it is my Holga like camera. So a silk purse (well, almost) from a white whale:

3476836041_21501b4c24.jpg
 
...one of my photographic white whales is an eye-level prism for my nikon f2.

i suppose it's bad timing and tight budget - i either just miss a "reasonably priced" one or i find one waaayout of my budget...or i give up the hunt for awhile and i'm back at square one.

"...patience and shuffle the cards"

kenneth
 
No diapers here, either, but I've never been able to get a relatively reliable working Zeiss Ikon Super Nettel (I or II); perhaps none exist. I have 1 w/an amazing (for uncoated Tessar) lens, but despite repair/CLA, the slow speeds are still iffy.

On the other hand, I was looking for an affordable working Kodak Ektra for years, & got 1 on the 1st try.
 
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Mine would be a 64xxxxxx (not even an early one) Nikon F with a 5cm f2 "tick marks" lens in reasonable condition and at a reasonable price.

This is pretty easy to find if one is willing to pay a lot of money but putting the sentence "at a reasonable price" into the equation makes it almost impossible to find...well at least until I posted this message now who knows...

GLF
 
Johan,

I really think it's amazing. I was not kidding. I know it doesn't make the world better, but it's a big coincidence...

After finishing my career on photography in early 2000s, it was taking a little long to have my diploma made. There's no group celebration here, and the few diplomas every year are made little by little, and people are called little by little to go and pick them up... When I was called, near one year after finishing studies, I was told that the Director had signed my diploma that day, and I could go and get it. I went, and when I was walking out between the trees, I opened the envelope to see how it looked, as I had never seen one before... The date written there was... my birthday! That day was my birthday and I had forgotten about it... But your case is really amazing...

Cheers,

Juan
 
Sorry, Joan, I just saw the red letters "I want to buy" a minute ago...

I was really amazed when I thought you had that number with you...

Well, if I ever see that camera, no doubt I'll get it for you!

Cheers,

Juan.
 
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