What were you best gear finds of 2015?

[kshapero]

After having a Pentax MX-1 a while back, I discovered the real thing (not Coke), the Pentax MX. Oh my.

 

[santino]

Original EOS 1ds with 1200 actuations for $ 350. It still smells like new 🙂

 

[lxmike]

M3 DS, Summicron 50 col, Summitar 35/3.5 w/goggles, lens shade and Leitz filters for these, 90/4 w/ bubble, 135/4.5 w/bubble and an ugly but accurate Leica meter w/ incident plate; all for $375.

thats a steal

 

[Doug]

Well, not a steal, but perhaps a bargain, in a sense... an APO Summicron 50mm discounted 12% by Leica for the currency exchange-rate, plus another 12% off by the seller as it was a demo item. Availability finally caught up with demand, as one would not have seen this kind of pricing a year ago.

 

[BlackXList]

It's been the year where I've (mostly) ceased accumulating gear for fun, and made fewer (larger) purchases.

In terms of fun, the flea market Minolta Talker has been very entertaining.

In terms of work, I got a couple of the Sigma Art lenses for a bit under RRP, and they're giving me some serious joy.

 

[PrestonR]

A friend of mine gave me a mamiya c330 body, and "Santa" gave me a chrome 80/2.8!

 

[Mr_Flibble]

Picked up a second Leica IIIc (unmarked "K") camera that was delivered to the US forces of the occupation in 1945... for a whoppin' $125. 😉

All those savings went to the CLA of a 50mm f/2.5 Hektor lens though. 😉

 

[lynnb]

A IIIc for AUD$170 (USD$124) at a camera market.

 

[Moto Mark]

An Olympus XA with A16 flash for $36.00 including shipping 👍

It's my 3rd XA but my first with the bigger A16 flash. Seller said it was not working but when I got it I took out the old battery, cleaned up the battery compartment and put in a new one and PRESTO, it works perfectly !

Not as good a deal as Gerry M's deal though, you scored big in that one 👍👍

 

[CliveC]

Not a camera, but I scored a Broncolor Mobilite kit at a local auction for $150. Replaced the dead battery and now I have a pretty nice mobile lighting system. Took one look at the cost of modifiers and decided pretty quickly that I'm sticking to umbrellas for it though.

 

[RedLion]

A grip for my F3.

 

[daveleo]

Minolta MC/MD manual focus lenses and the adapters to Fuji FX bodies.

 

[lukitas]

Ricoh GR, second hand.
Best thing I bought in a long time.

 

[bucs]

Bought a Contax IIa with 5cm Sonnar 1.5 for $100

Pretty good I think

 

[ktmrider]

Mint M2

Mint M2

I got a mint, button rewind M2 from Sherry. It looks new and was not cheap but after she went thru it, I basically have a new film Leica for one third the price of the MA.

It matches my other button rewind M2. Both are from 1959 and are so similar I have to put tape on one so I can remember which is color and which is b&w.

 

[MrFujicaman]

I'd have to say it was getting a Gitzo GT0531 carbon fiber tripod with a Really Right Stuff ball head for $16

 

[nobbylon]

Nikon F100/50 1.4 €100
Sold the lens for €105 so the F100 was free with enough for a beer ��

 

[milosdevino]

Minolta V3 for $25 AUD. Seller said it wasn't working, but it was just the film counter that was malfunctioning. Plus I don't think he realised it was a double stroke wind.
Esay fix, now it works just like a bought one.

 

[shimokita]

Not in financial terms... I had been searching for a small digital to complement the dSLR and film kits, something for intimate settings, low light, light weight, good focus, and manual controls. I ended up with a short list and selected the X100T... it's been a couple of months now shooting in-camera JPGs and using face detection. For my situation it was a good additional bit of gear.

Casey

 

[nikon_sam]

Found a second Mamiya 70mm 2.8 Leaf shutter lens (the first one has glass too cloudy to use but otherwise perfect condition...) works perfectly and has nice clear glass...
Pulled out a Mamiya m645 1000s body that had questionable slow shutter speeds and put the two together...found a WLF for a great price and now I have another usable 645 SLR...$70 for the WLF, $70 for the lens...body was free...
I've run two rolls of film through it and got good results...going to keep that set-up together...forever...
Almost forgot...I bought two Schneider/Kreuznach lenses...90mm f/8 Super-Angulon
and a 210mm f/5.6 APO-Symmar, both mounted on TOYO boards...paid $100 for both.
Most of what I've bought this year were lenses...but only at bargain prices when I could find them...