What's Your Best Bargain Find?

$2.00 for a Yashica T4

$2.00 for a Yashica T4

Wandered into a Goodwill store while getting my oil changed. Found a Yashica T4 with a Zeiss 35/3.5 T* for two dollars. I love that little camera.
Telecentricity
 
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10 bucks!
In perfect working condition. I know it's not a rangefinder but it IS a beauty!
 
I'm sure many real deals remain hidden under piles of toys and bric-a-brac in hundreds of thousands of garages... How much time do you want to spend in garages instead of making pictures...
 
a set of parts in a box which turned out to be summicron-m 35mm v.4 when assembled: $300
horizont panoramic: $42
as-is summilux 50 v2 with blurry pictures on ebay which turned out to be in fine condition: $650
 
An Olympus 35SP, 35RD and 35RC for $3 each. The RC was in good condition but the SP and RD still need CLAs to deal with oily blades, oil replacement, etc so the 'deal' part of that is borderline. I should probably sell the SP to fund the RD repair, but I've never shot an SP before... and I hate giving up cameras before I've shot them.. hah. :)

An Olympus XA and 35DC for 6$ each at thrift stories. The DC was the first camera I spent a bunch of time repairing. It was why I started looking for an RD.

I have no idea why why my lucky finds have been so Olympus focused. I love the cameras but it is totally disproportionate.

Most of my other 'good deals' have turned out to be rather mediocre ones in the end due to the condition of the items.
 
'Photographic printing' by Gene Nocon.
Learning a logical process in the ''f stop process'' of printing, which was a eureka moment for me.
 
Beat my Pentax ME Super @ £2.19 last week by a long chalk! :D

Pentax P30N - Mint, unused & boxed = 99p ...... Wahaaaaayyy :D

Now another relative I can get back into film thanks to a cheap & simple gift. :)
 
I once saw a dumpster literally full of used lenses on the street outside B&H Photo.
Peeking inside I saw mostly M42 stuff. I thought about digging through them
but by then I couldn't muscle my way past the other vultures, er, collectors...

Chris

I'm crying!
 
I'm going to have to go with the $30.00 1974 Jupiter-8 50/2 I got at this year's Omaha Camera Show. It's practically welded to my M4-P and I couldn't be happier with a lens.
 
I was given a Nikon kit for FREE, consisting of a Nikon F90X, 24-120mm, 35-70mm f2.8 afd, and SB-28. All items mint and like new.

My uncle gave it away because he went Digital:p Good for me!
 
I posted this elsewhere a few days ago. It is my best yard sale find of all time. I've had some good ones, but nothing compared to this.

I have always wanted to try a Leica but never had the money. Well...
I went to a yard sale 2 weekends ago and was lucky enough to be the first person to arrive. A lady was selling her "old" cameras and didn't want them anymore. It was 2 Leica cameras. An R4s and a classic M6. She also had 4 Leica lenses to go along with the cameras.

Elmarit-M 28mm f/2.8 (with hood)
Elmarit-M 90mm f/2.8,
Summicron-R 50mm f/2 (with e55 p-cir polarizing filter)
Elmarit-R 28mm f/2.8.


The two bags came along as well. I paid $200 for everything. I am holding onto the M6 and the two M lenses. I will be selling the R4s and 2 lenses and black Leica leather bag in the next couple of weeks.

The 28mm Elmarit-M is missing the focusing tab, so the focusing ring is loose. I will be sending it off to either DAG or Sherry. It seems like that is who most people recommend.

This will be my first experience with a rangefinder.
 

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I got a good deal on most of my gear, though nothing like the post above me.

M2 with hole in shutter curtain for $400, repaired it myself
M5 with working meter, no issues, $500
Bessa R, missing self timer lever, otherwise fine, $200
35/1.7 Ultron, wobbly front and stiff focus, $180, fixed the focus and wobbly front
50/1.5 Summarit, cleaning marks on front element, $200
Pair of Perfect J8's of different vintages, ~$15ish
Canon 85/1.9 $100ish

I'm happy with what I've paid for all my gear, though the repair costs on the M2 have been killing me, thinking I'm going to just shelve it. It hit pavement from a foot and the viewfinder died, nice $250 repair, previously had to have the rangefinder arm replaced for around $200ish, could've just gotten a m6 instead.
 
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