peterm1
Veteran
I have never had any really big scores but now and then smaller scores happen. These are still fun and keep me interested. I make a point of looking in the disposal bins that many camera stores have for old equipment and accessories.I have several times picked up nice equipment including lenses for very little.
One of the nicest is a Vivitar close focus 135mm f2.8 (a pre Series 1 lens but otherwise it would probably qualify as one). I knew nothing about this lens when I bought it - I bought it a partly because of its large front element - 62mm which was impressive and partly because I had been researching Vivitar and found that many lenses were very good. This is, it turns out, one of the good ones - made, according to its serial number prefix, by Komine a top Japanese maker. It is a lovely lens which I would expect to sell in the $100-$200 range (not that I intend selling it). I think I paid $20. It is in Minolta mount and this probably accounts for its cheap selling price.
A year or so back I saw a beat up old Canon in an Op Shop and while I did not want the camera (which was somewhat over-priced) or the other lenses that came with it I offered $25 Australian for the lens that was actually on the camera at the time - the last FDn version of the Canon 50mm f1.8 and in pristine condition. They agreed. I later found that these usually sell for around $100 US. The lens is excellent and as you might imagine has very modern, sharp contrasty rendering for those times when that is needed. It is quite petite so adapts well to mirrorless cameras.
I also found a 50mm f1.7 Rikenon lens in an antique store. It has a price tag of $15 Australian. I was not familiar with these lenses but figured that at that price I could not go wrong as the lens was in good order. I asked my camera store guy about it and while not familiar with that specific lens he told me that most if not all of the 50mm f1.7 lenses coming out of Japan in the 1970s' - 1980s were made by Konica under license from Carl Zeiss Germany for the Japanese domestic and export markets. The optical components were the same and the lens bodies were custom made to match other companies' livery and proposed price range. While the Rikenon version of this lens is clearly made to a budget (e.g. more plastic parts than I would expect) it wants nothing in the optical department. Its sharpness and rendering is superb. I really like the way this lens draws its images.
At a camera fair I found a seller offering miscellaneous lens hoods from various cameras for $1 each. Maybe that is all many of these hoods were worth but some were bargains at least as I see them. I often buy old lens hoods (especially metal ones) if they can be had cheaply enough and then I use them on my lenses to prevent the hoods that came with them from being damaged or to substitute for a hood that was missing. It does not much matter if a lens hood was for another manufacturer's lens so long as it fits etc. Quite often these turned out to be bargains. I picked up a few rectangular metal hoods from the 1970s that often seem to have a price of maybe $30-$50 on auction sites. The buy of the day turned out to be a chromed Voigtlander hood for use on their Prominent camera system lenses. Before I bought it I had no idea of auction prices on eBay but when I checked later, several were for sale with a b.i.n. price of around $50 + in rough condition and $100 + for good ones. I had bought mine because I recall having one many years ago which, at that time, I used on a Voigtlander Prominent that I then owned. I just liked the look of the hood for use on other lenses especially the classic German ones. Which is how I now use it.
At the same camera fair another trader had a bundle of lenses out for $20 each. I picked up about 5 including a Triotar 135mm f4 (fat version). While a little rough and needing to have the helicals cleaned and re-greased I knew I could fix it up with a couple of hours work. The aluminium body just needed a cleaning and polish -they often seem to tarnish and become oxidized and dull. The lens comes apart simply for those who take the trouble to research it and the helical fix was easy enough - to the extent that a CLA for a helical can be. This lens seems to have an asking price of around $100 + on eBay. Very nice lens too - its only "sin" being its length (its not a tele but rather a full-on long focal length lens). I also picked up some older zooms also for $20 each such as a Vivitar Series 1 70-210mm f3.5. Due to its relatively fast aperture for a lens like this, this latter lens is a bit heavy but a nice performer for that vintage. Unlike the Triotar every one of those other lenses were in excellent condition though often with less popular mounts which never the less can still be adapted and used very successfully on mirrorless.
Some of the better bargain vintage lenses I have found turn out to be in the old Minolta mount. I ascribe this to supply and demand. There are lots of them around as this system mount, which is now not in regular use, but which was once popular and the lenses are often very nice. But demand is still lower than I would expect. If used on mirrorless the mount does not much matter if you buy an adapter. I would say something of the same of some older lenses in Exacta mount though Zeiss, Schneider etc lenses in this mount will tend to be higher priced due to the reputation of the firms who made them.
One of the nicest is a Vivitar close focus 135mm f2.8 (a pre Series 1 lens but otherwise it would probably qualify as one). I knew nothing about this lens when I bought it - I bought it a partly because of its large front element - 62mm which was impressive and partly because I had been researching Vivitar and found that many lenses were very good. This is, it turns out, one of the good ones - made, according to its serial number prefix, by Komine a top Japanese maker. It is a lovely lens which I would expect to sell in the $100-$200 range (not that I intend selling it). I think I paid $20. It is in Minolta mount and this probably accounts for its cheap selling price.
A year or so back I saw a beat up old Canon in an Op Shop and while I did not want the camera (which was somewhat over-priced) or the other lenses that came with it I offered $25 Australian for the lens that was actually on the camera at the time - the last FDn version of the Canon 50mm f1.8 and in pristine condition. They agreed. I later found that these usually sell for around $100 US. The lens is excellent and as you might imagine has very modern, sharp contrasty rendering for those times when that is needed. It is quite petite so adapts well to mirrorless cameras.
I also found a 50mm f1.7 Rikenon lens in an antique store. It has a price tag of $15 Australian. I was not familiar with these lenses but figured that at that price I could not go wrong as the lens was in good order. I asked my camera store guy about it and while not familiar with that specific lens he told me that most if not all of the 50mm f1.7 lenses coming out of Japan in the 1970s' - 1980s were made by Konica under license from Carl Zeiss Germany for the Japanese domestic and export markets. The optical components were the same and the lens bodies were custom made to match other companies' livery and proposed price range. While the Rikenon version of this lens is clearly made to a budget (e.g. more plastic parts than I would expect) it wants nothing in the optical department. Its sharpness and rendering is superb. I really like the way this lens draws its images.
At a camera fair I found a seller offering miscellaneous lens hoods from various cameras for $1 each. Maybe that is all many of these hoods were worth but some were bargains at least as I see them. I often buy old lens hoods (especially metal ones) if they can be had cheaply enough and then I use them on my lenses to prevent the hoods that came with them from being damaged or to substitute for a hood that was missing. It does not much matter if a lens hood was for another manufacturer's lens so long as it fits etc. Quite often these turned out to be bargains. I picked up a few rectangular metal hoods from the 1970s that often seem to have a price of maybe $30-$50 on auction sites. The buy of the day turned out to be a chromed Voigtlander hood for use on their Prominent camera system lenses. Before I bought it I had no idea of auction prices on eBay but when I checked later, several were for sale with a b.i.n. price of around $50 + in rough condition and $100 + for good ones. I had bought mine because I recall having one many years ago which, at that time, I used on a Voigtlander Prominent that I then owned. I just liked the look of the hood for use on other lenses especially the classic German ones. Which is how I now use it.
At the same camera fair another trader had a bundle of lenses out for $20 each. I picked up about 5 including a Triotar 135mm f4 (fat version). While a little rough and needing to have the helicals cleaned and re-greased I knew I could fix it up with a couple of hours work. The aluminium body just needed a cleaning and polish -they often seem to tarnish and become oxidized and dull. The lens comes apart simply for those who take the trouble to research it and the helical fix was easy enough - to the extent that a CLA for a helical can be. This lens seems to have an asking price of around $100 + on eBay. Very nice lens too - its only "sin" being its length (its not a tele but rather a full-on long focal length lens). I also picked up some older zooms also for $20 each such as a Vivitar Series 1 70-210mm f3.5. Due to its relatively fast aperture for a lens like this, this latter lens is a bit heavy but a nice performer for that vintage. Unlike the Triotar every one of those other lenses were in excellent condition though often with less popular mounts which never the less can still be adapted and used very successfully on mirrorless.
Some of the better bargain vintage lenses I have found turn out to be in the old Minolta mount. I ascribe this to supply and demand. There are lots of them around as this system mount, which is now not in regular use, but which was once popular and the lenses are often very nice. But demand is still lower than I would expect. If used on mirrorless the mount does not much matter if you buy an adapter. I would say something of the same of some older lenses in Exacta mount though Zeiss, Schneider etc lenses in this mount will tend to be higher priced due to the reputation of the firms who made them.
