Junk shop Olympus and surprise bonus.

[matty]

I've had a very quiet time on the collecting front recently, the local boot sale seems to only have cameras that I already have good examples of or very overpriced bits and pieces. So I was pleasantly surprised the other day when I had chance to pop in to a junk shop I hadn't had been to for a while (I was on the way back to my base having had to help another unit with an audit.) There was a rather tatty Prinz bag leant against the wall with £20 marked on it. Inside was a Olympus OM10 Quartz, a little rubbed but still in working order, with a nice clean Zuiko 50mm 1.8 lens and the manual adaptor. There was, also, an after market 70/200 zoom (a bit ropey so will go in the spares bin.) As I haven't got the Quartz model I haggled and agreed a price of £15, then the shop owner ducked into the back and came out with a long case, "this goes with it" he said and pulled out a nice clean Optomax 500mm f8 lens, T mount with a Pentax K mount adaptor. Oh ta very much I said, paid my money and walked out the shop a very happy boy. I'll probably replace the K mount with a spare M42 adaptor (I tend to use my M42 cameras more than my K mount ones and it makes it a bit easier swopping over to my EOS adaptor for the 30D.)
Matty

[philbirch]

Nice one! I must find a new junk shop the only one in Warrington closed down a few months ago. I need to do my Cash converters/generator rounds again. There can be some real bargains to be had there.

One shop in Warrington has a Praktica BC1 and an EOS1000N film camera priced at £45 and £49 respectively. Too high. I chatted to the guy about this and showed him my Canon FTb, "nah, wont touch that old stuff" he said. But this is exactly what will sell, and for good money. "No way of testing it" he replied. So the EOS1000N with no battery and a film in it has been tested eh?

I rant. Sorry.

[Stephen]

It always worth asking in "antique" (secondhand) shops and bookshops, who often do collectors shelves. They often buy in job lots and get left with odd stock to clear cheap. I recently had a M39 135 mm 3.5 Russian lens, "might be from a projector!", aluminium finish, perfect, in bakelite box....£2.00, in my local bookshop and bric a brac emporium.

[philbirch]

Never thought of bookstores.

Antique or second hand shops are rare in my neck of the woods. Or I dont know about them.