What's Your Best Bargain Find?

mainly i just keep my eyes peeled. i keep a real good eye on the "less populated" communities locally (thrift stores, kijiji etc.). less competition from other treasure hunters.

i also have followed Al's mantra. i have a slew of local thrift and pawn shop owners who call me if anything interesting comes in.

i forgot to mention i found a canon 35mm f2 LTM with case at a local thrift shop for $15
 
Zoom-Nikkor 80~200 2.8 ED AIS manual focus $599.00 on ebay
Nikon S3 user $565.00 on ebay.
Plus a small mountain of Nikon manual focus, Minolta Maxxum, Pentax manual focus, Chinon and Yashica bodies, lenses, motors, flashes, filters and such that have been simply given to me over the last three or four years by friends, relatives and even virtual strangers who simply didn't want or need any of it any longer.
And I think I'll be getting a very nice Minolta SRT 101 or 102 with a couple of lenses including a Minolta 300 f4 from a neighbour in return for on-going favours (house-sitting) in the very near future.
 
in my neck of the woods there are literally thousands of "antique shops" out in the countryside full of cameras. every little village/town/corners has one.

i found a place stocked to the hilt with polaroids... 110's, 185 etc.
 
In recent times,

User but very clean "Thin" Canadian Tele-Elmarit 90/2.8 for $250 (RFF)

User cosmetics but perfect glass Summicron 35/2 v3 for $750 (RFF)

Fully functioning excellent user Hasselblad 500 C/M outfit with perfect Planar 80/2.8 C T* for $500 (local camera swap event) Later sold unnecessary accessories that came with it so the final cost was about $450.
 
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Leica IIIC with a nice Summitar for 20 dollars. That was in 1969 though and I was making 33 dollars a month in the military.

Oh, and I still have it. I learned a lot from that camera.
 
I have posted in similar threads about the Rolleiflex, Pentax SV, Soligor 400mm preset, and some off brand 35mm, all for $25.

Two Contax T* 50mm f/1.4 for $20 each, and one week later, two more for $15 each.

A Yashica FX 103 for $15.

A Fujica ST901, ST801, Fujica 50mm f/1.4, Fujica 35mm f/2.8, two Vivitar flashes, all in a leather carrying case, for a little over $100.

More recently, an Olympus XA listed simply as an Olympus, together with two other nowhere el cheapo cameras for about $22.
And a 4x5 Chromega enlarger with 4x5 film holder and stabilizer for $50.

When one is patient, there are good deals to be found. And of course what I consider to be a bargain might be non-interesting stuff to be avoided to another. Also I have missed a lot of good deals, for I don't know how much, but outbid for sometimes as little as $1.00. But I don't know how high my competition went. Only it was more than what I was willing to pay.
 
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This XA whatchamacallit thingamadilly for $4 last week. It shoots as good as it looks too. Weird though, every shot looks like a 1979 post card.
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Like this... Welcome to Sunny Florida. 🙂

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A late production dual range Summicron, new, in box for $500. Got it several years ago at Ball Photo in Asheville NC. It's a beautiful lens with perfect glass and a lovely fit and finish. I used it a few times with the goggles when my daughter was a newborn, other than those few rolls it's still new. This was just after the owner, Mr. Ball had died. He was a wonderful character but this was the only good deal I got from him in 25 years as a customer. Joe
 
emraphoto said:
my best finds...

m4, 50mm dual range, 35mm cron, 90mm cron, copy stand $1400

black enamel m4 and 50mm 'cron $1100

contax t3 (black) $300

mint rolleiflex wide (55mm f4) $300

mamiya 7II with 50mm, 80mm and 150mm $800

mint nikon f3hp, new in box fm2 titanium, 50mm f1.4 and 105 f2.5 $300

mamiya c330 $75
Click to expand...

Not bad! Especially the Nikon and Mamiya kit. The Titanium FM2's are quite something.

I'll give you 900 US for the Mamiya 7II kit anyday
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A few years ago I picked up a Nikon S3 with 5cm 1.4 and Jupiter 35mm 2.8 lenses at a local camera club swap meet for $250. Excellent condition with just a few small dings in the chrome. Funny, no one else there seemed too interested in the seller's table - he had a bunch of other Nikon stuff, several F bodies for around $100 and a number of older Nikkor F-mount lenses for even less. I never took to the S3, though and ended up selling the lot on *bay for $1200. Had a heck of a time seeing the rangefinder patch, so it probably needed a good cleaning. I did finally see the light, however and bought an M2 with 50mm Summicron this year - the viewfinder/rangefinder is worlds better IMHO and a total joy to shoot with.
 
Took a chance on a Zeiss 6x6 Nettar with a stuck shutter for $8. Got the shutter working - turned out to be a nice camera. Bellows and rest of camera are in good condition. Having a lot of fun using it.. 🙂
 
I had good luck with my Spotmatic II. I found it online for $80. Cosmetically, it looked almost new as did the 50f1.4 Super-Multi-Coated Takumar included (w/ correct hood, caps, and pentax filter). The seller said that he just had it CLA'd and would include the invoice. When I got the camera, it operated absolutely perfectly. The invoice was from ACR in Texas from the year before and the service was for a complete restoration totalling nearly $300! Looking to add some lenses, I came across a deal for a 28f3.5, 135f3.5 and 200f4 for $100 - all Super-Multi-Coated Takumars complete with original hoods, caps, and cases all in beautiful condition. Later, I came across a 400f5.6 for $60.

I decided to splurge on the 85f1.8 and a Hirano case though. But why not? I've NEVER enjoyed using an SLR until I got this Spotmatic.



 
This probably doesn't mean much to most people on here, but I bought a box at a country auction for $5 that contained a brass Darlot Paris Petzaval lens with hood and mounting flange and a brass Waterbury No. 1C Landscape lens by Scoville Mfg. Co that has 3 aperature discs.

At this same auction I bought a Leica IIIc with 50mm F2.0 Summitar for $75. I think the brass lens box was a better deal.

Wayne
 
recently an Olympus XA-1 for $1 (probably all they're worth though really, ha) and an LPL 35mm enlarger for free, plus loads of other darkroom gear here and there that I seem to inherit. Also a massive Manfrotto Studio tripod that had been collecting dust in the IT storage cage at my old work for many, many years.

and a Minolta Sr-T 100x with 45mm F2 Rokkor pancake lens that I was given for free when I was fired from my first job as a kid (working in a local camera store). business had slowed down in winter and the boss felt bad for letting me go, so let me have one of the secondhand cameras they had.
 
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