What's Your Best Bargain Find?

What's Your Best Bargain Find?

I got an Angenieux c-mount 5.9mm wide angle lens for $5 at an estate sale down the street from my house. Sold it on eBay for 700 dollars.

Bought a black paint Leicaflex Standard on eBay that needed an overhaul for $89. A trip to DAG sorted it out, now it is smooth as silk.
 
So far my best was a thrift-store Kodak single-use disposable camera in a stapled plastic bag for $4. Also in the bag was a Contax T2. :)
 
Bought a leather ever ready case for my Barnack for $20, and the guy said you can have the old Canon camera that fit inside. Turned out to be a Canon JII with 5cm Nikkor the rarest Canon ever! The JII was the first camera produced by Canon at the end of the war from left over parts!
 
“Broken” contax g1 -40
Hasselblad 500cm with 50/4, 80/2.8, WLF, prism, and goodies - 300
Rolleiflex 3.5f - 280
Contax g45 -100
Contax t2- 150
Nikon f4 with 85/1.4 - 120
Camulette 400cc with Japanese Congo lens, box, tripod, holders, filters - 200
10,000 ft of cine color stock/ 500t, 100t, 250d etc - 20 bucks
 
Years ago I bought an Olympus Epic Stylus/MJU II (the 35mm f2.8 lens one) for $20 because the back screen was broken. The buttons still worked so I saved the manual on my phone with the plan to reference it whenever I needed to do something. Before I even finished my first roll I dropped it which lead to all of the back buttons breaking. It became a point and shoot in the purest of terms. Two years ago I sold that camera for $90 as is and it's crazy to me I broke a camera and then sold it for a $70 markup. This point and shoot craze is wild.
 
I found a 1.4x viewfinder magnifier for my Leica for $100. Can't find them anywhere for under $250. Now I just need a 50mm to go with it!
 
Oh, that reminds me -- a 28mm SLOOZ viewfinder for $10. Semi-silvered surface was crazed, but still eminently usable. Also a IIIa for $10, same place, years later (same time as I got the M2 (see #590 above).
 
At various camera shows within the last few years:

Canonet 28 for $1 - works fine

Canon FTb for $10 - mint, works fine

Nikon L35AF, with huge fold-out instruction sheet - $20, everything works. Seller even told me what I already knew: “these are cult cameras selling for $120”

Most disappointing: Bolex 160 Macrozoom. Always wanted a 155 or similar. Stupidly, I should’ve found someone at the show who had AA batteries. Paid $100 and took a chance. At home with batteries now, nothing worked. Took it apart a bit, cleaned contacts. Nothing. Beautiful camera, beautiful design. Sophisticated. Will probably have to have Bolex repair it, which I’m willing to do.
 
I dunno, really ... Too many cameras over too many years.

But the Kodak Retina IIc that showed up in the mail two days ago was certainly an impressive bargain!

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Love these cameras more and more... :D

G
 
Best bargains I found a few years ago:

-great condition black chrome Leica M4, 450e
-mint M6 + mint 28mm elmarit, 900e
-mint M6, mint black paint 35mm ASPH Summicron , ~10 IXMOO casettes, Billingham bag, 2000e

Only later I found out that the 35mm cron was worth more what I paid for the whole set.
 
Zorkii 3M from KEH Outlet for $44.57 (with tax - free shipping). They had listed the camera as not working. When I took the back off of it to inspect it, I found a piece of foam wedged in the shutter mechanism. There were also pinhole light leaks in the shutter which I was able to touch up with liquid electrical tape.
 
My all-time best find was the 1932 Black Leica II with original 5cm Elmar and leather case - dusty and and dirty but complete and functional - $25 ! Couldn't get the money out fast enough. This was at an automotive swap-meet - sitting on a table with lots of dirty car parts and other antiques.

It's one of my favorite shooters and re-ignited my interest in the Barnack cameras. I have since bought a few more from that era but none were any were near that price!
 
about twenty years ago I found an Olympus OM10 with 50mm 1.8 for £25 and about a decade ago I grabbed a Pentax K100 with 50mm f2 for £15, to be honest I am not normally lucky when it comes to finding bargains
 
It might seem strange for me to talk about a Leica M8 purchased new at full MSRP as a "bargain" but bear with me.

Leica M8 (Late 2006?) 4800 USD

But as a way of saying "sorry" for the infrared contamination issue, they offered early M8 buyers factory-direct pricing on lenses, 1 free 6-bit lens upgrade and a free UVIR filter. So I added the following:

50/1 Noctilux @ 2700 + free E60 UVIR filter
6-bit coding for my 50 Elmar: 0

About 3 years later, I decided that the Noctilux wasn't really my thing, and sold it for $4700. And after the M9 came out, I got the upgrade bug, so I sold my M8 for ~2500.

Yup! I basically got an exclusive 4-year rental on a new Leica M8 for $300; less if you deduct the price I would have paid to have my 50/2.8 6-bit coded. Is it any wonder if I recall my Leica M8 very fondly!

Edit: On second thought, I think they gave away *2* free lens updates, because I know I also had my 28/2.8 done. And hence this was a "free" M8 rental.
 
I would have to rate the Kodak Retina IIIc I acquired earlier in the year as a serious bargain find. Yeah, the top is bashed down a bit so the accessory shoe isn't useful, but the camera only cost me around $30 and otherwise works perfectly, has a terrific lens, and is a pleasure to shoot with. The Retina IIc is right in there too, but I send it off for an overhaul since it was so dirty: it's cost me a total of about $220.

I don't really look for bargains, but I'm always happy when they come along. :)

G
 
Lenses can change a lot in market value over time. I got a like new Summilux 75mm 1.4 for less than $1800; a nice looking Rigid Summicron 50mm 2 for $100; a Canon 35mm 1.5 ltm for around $300 maybe. These three lenses may have increased in value by around $5k over time.
 
Last year I bought a not-working Pentax Spotmatic for $12 (one bid) and found the mirror was stuck. Five minutes on YouTube found the solution and five more minutes fixed it. It has been working beautifully ever since. Later a friend gave me three screw-mount lenses to fit, a 35mm, a 50mm and a 135mm.
 
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