Sub $25 cameras.

I should also add that I've think I've spent upwards of $500 over the years on complete crap that I could never get to work or cost me way too much to make functional.
Even bottom feeding can be an expensive hobby.
 
I passed on 2 Yashica Electros (one chrome, one black) both for sale for about $15 at two different camera show. Still kicking myself to this day.

Anyways, here's my list:

- Konica C35 (Black), Ricoh 500G, Olympus EC, Olympus ECR in clean condition, all for $80
- Olympus 35 S for $10
- Olympus Ace for $20 (no lens though)
- Olympus 35 LE for $25
 
I once found a Baby Rollie for sale on a blanket in East Harlem for $3.00. It took 127 film if I remember correctly and it had an uncoated Zeiss lens. I purchased some rolls of 127 from Hersch Photo and proceeded to use the camera. Then I sold it after a couple of years at a camera trade show. But it took very sharp photos.
 
my best bargain was a $25 GSN at my camera store. Got a full year of great use out of it before I had to have it CLA'd
 
kellymjones said:
2 Yashica T4 Supers -- $4.99 each -- Thrift Store
1 Pentax K1000 -- $1.99 -- Thrift Store
1 Yashica Electro 35 GSN -- $20 -- Craigslist
1 Nikon F with 50mm f1.4 -- $40 -- Craigslist
1 Olympus RC -- $7.99 -- Thrift Store
1 Konica Auto S2 -- $13.99 -- Thrift Store
Click to expand...

Yeah, I gotta start going to thrift stores . . . :eek:

ScottGee1
 
I bought my Konica S2 on ebay for around $22; w/ shipping the total was still under $30. I may have been the only bidder. The camera arrived in excellent condition (OK, so I needed to wipe the dust off and carefully clean some smudges off the lens), with an apparently new case and a strap. I popped a battery in, and the meter sprang to life. Works like a charm, and what a lens!
 
Oh man, I check the thrift stores at least weekly, sometimes daily if I'm really bored on my lunch break.

As far as rangefinders go, I've found a Canonet QL17 GIII for about $14, and a Canonet 28 for about 10 I think. An Olympus XA with A11 flash for $4.99; it was in the bin with all of the cheap point and shoots. A later model Argus C3 for 5 bucks. One of the original big Canonets with the advance on the bottom for $2.99 on "Name a Cat Breed and get 50% Off Day". It's got some sort of problem with the aperture though.
A perfect Yashica GS for about $10 I think.

As far as not-rangefinders, I found two XA2s, each with A11 flash, for $4.99 each two days before I found the XA. Sold one for $10. A canon AE-1 with 35-70 lens for $14. I traded that to a friend for an A-1 body. A tamron 90mm f2.5 macro with the canon FD adaptall mount and case that looks like it's never been used for $4.99. Then I found the matching lens hood two days later for $1.29. A Canon 28mm 2.8 with case for $2.99, Canon 50mm 1.4 for $20.
Geeze, I could be rich if I didn't want to keep all of this stuff for myself!
 
Best Score by Far..

Best Score by Far..

Kyocera Samurai half-frame AF SLR camera with zoom lens. $10. First time I've ever paid more than somebody was asking for at a Garage sale. Nice camera hunts a little at AF but great images and fun!
 
Just won a Canonet GIII ql17 online for $11.50, with case, step-up ring, copy of the manual, and a couple mercury batteries. Needs new seals, though...
 
Ok Im cheep
Best find Leica for £5 in a junk shop
Cosina csm with 28,50 and 70-150 £10
Minolta hi matic £5
A fed 2 £13
Nikon f65 £12
Nikon 301 with tokina 28-70 £8 but cam dont work
Canonett 28 £10
Fed 4 with a load of other bits £5
2 xa1s with one flash and another cam £12
a boxed xa3 £10
Minolta s100 with lens £10
Canon AV1 £9
old Praktica 1p
Petri 7 £5
Hell if I see it for a good price ill go for it.
 
My wife gathered a sackful of cameras from some vendor's junk pile at the camera swap meet, intended as drama props... from which I rescued a pretty decent pre-war Kodak Junior 620 folder... so, $4 for all.

Argus C3 - $10
Time 35 - $0 promotional deal with magazine subscription
Yumeka 35-R5 - $10 boxlike 35 with built-in AM/FM radio & earpiece.

Out of the $25 range, but close...
Pentax ESII SLR - $32 from eBay
Canon ELPH Jr - $35 nice little APS cam I carry in a belt pouch
Pentax Auto 110 - $35 with lens and pouch
 
Got an Olympus mju for $5.00 at the Warrensburg annual townwide garage sale two years ago. Was laying in a pile of junk cameras with its imitation plastic case and no battery. I asked how much and the seller said what do you want to pay. I offered five bucks and she said its yours. My wife later said I should have offered $3.00. It works perfectly. Some months later my local 1 hour photo went out of business and he had a stock of point and shoots. I got the mju's younger brother with f2.8 lens for $25.00 brand new.
Kurt M.
 
Fed-3 + industar-61 = $9.50
Zorki-4k + industar-50 = $13
Zenit-c + industar-50 = $13
Kiev-4a + Jupiter-8m = $13
Kiev-4m + Helios-103 + 2 yellow filters + 2 Kiev cassettes + cable release + russian manual = $25
Zorki-6 + industar-50 = $13
Minolta Hi-Matic F = $25
 
The following were picked up in great condition on th ebig auction site:

Vivitar 35es $10
Minolta Himatic E $7
Vivitar Ultra Slim & Wide $2
Yashica 35CC $24
Ricoh 500ME $16

And a non-RF: Pentax MZ50 + zoom $8 (described as non-working - the batteries were inserted the wrong way round)
 
I second the Agfa Optima series. A few years back I picked up two of them, a 335 and a 535 - for 2,50 euros each. Another favourite is my Konica C35 EF (same shop, same price). It's scale focus and has only two shutter speeds, but it has a flash plus a great Hexanon lens.
 
I think I have posted here before that close to 30 years ago, a person in my office offered me several cameras and a 400mm preset for sale. I knew I didn't have the money and didn't want to have him haggle me, so I told him I didn't really have the money right then, that all I had was $25.00. He agreed to the sale. So, I got:

No name 35mm with fixed lens
Another 35mm compact camera
Pentax SP with 50mm f/whatever, not the f/1.4
400mm preset lens.
Rolleiflex TLR f/3.5 with stiff focus, but after 30 years still working well

About five years later, I picked up two Contax 50mm f/1.4 lenses from the PX for $20.00 each, and about two weeks later, two more for $15.00. Only because nobody knew the Contax name. Nikon, Canon, Pentax, Yashica, all well known and respected names thank you, but Contax ... ?? With the first purchase I got a Contax 139Q on sale, and the next time, a Yashica FX3 on sale as backup. I still have two of the lenses and the FX3. The Contax died so I have replaced it with two FX 103's before they went above $25.00 on the 'bay.
 
A couple months ago, I snagged a Canon EOS Rebel Ti on eBay for $22 (!). Pretty funny, considering it's the most technologically advanced film camera I own! I've already put more than $22 worth of film through it. :) I literally paid more for my Holga... or my Mamiya 7 lens cap... or (fill in just about any photographic accessory)...

It's getting harder and harder to find deals, though. Even thrift stores use eBay to set their prices. I know of a couple that don't, but their pricing is random. Sometimes it's in your favor, sometimes it isn't. I've seen a Nikon SLR with lens for $25 sitting next to one of those junky cameras with the motor drive and fixed focus lens (in a faux-SLR body), for $150 -- no joke.

My first eBay purchase in 1996 was a lot of 3 Super-8 cameras. I was the only bidder, at $0.99... I contacted the buyer and offered to let him relist it, but he was adamant that I won the cameras fair and square. LOL. It's a different eBay these days. Everything in the world is "collectible" and has an online community of users lusting after it.
 
I got a Minolta Hi-Matic F for $10 in very nice condition with a tattered case from the community darkroom here in Rochester.
 
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