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Post by John Parry on Feb 15, 2006 17:34:31 GMT -5
Some of the best advice I've ever heard with respect to the buying of cameras is our good friend PeterW's. He said "there'll be another one along tomorrow" Absolutely right.
I now set myself a fixed price for each category of camera - around $10 for an old (but not yet in my collection) Praktica, $15 for an MTL, and $20 for a bayonet model. I adjust upwards if there are lenses that I haven't got, but I find there isn't much point if there are too many lenses in the package - the 'buy a bunch and sell 'em separately' crowd tend to have a bidding frenzy on those.
Got my first Nova last night on the maximum bid principal - 99 pence ($1.50?). I look forward to comparing it to the Super TL.
Regards - John
ps Maximum bid principle unfortunately doesn't work on Flektogons - am going to have to follow Peter's other advice on those (car boot sales!)
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PeterW
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Post by PeterW on Feb 16, 2006 12:27:10 GMT -5
Good luck, John. I don't think I've ever seen a Flektogon in a car boot sale, but a couple of stalls at our local boot sale are semi-pro camera dealers who are using boot fairs as an alternative to camera fairs which have droppd off alarmingly in the past six months, so you never know.
I phoned a couple of camera fair organisers who said there just hadn't been enough support before Christmas to make it worthwhile hiring the hall and taking out insurance. They were hoping for better things this spring.
A fairly recent example of 'another one along tomorrow', or rather the same camera along next week, was a 1950s Zeiss Ikon Nettar. Not pristine by any means, with paint chips and knocks, but it worked OK, and the bellows looked good. The first time I looked at it the seller was asking £20. I declined with thanks, so he came down to £10. "It's a Zeiss, you know". I still declined.
The following week I was wandering along the line of stalls and he recognised me and called out "What do you want to give for this Zeiss folder, then?"
I decided to be really cheeky and said "Couple of quid".
He tried for five, but I still declined and said "It's only got a Novar lens, real bottom of the market model". He held out his hand "Come on then, yours for two quid". And no postage to pay! Quite made my day. I've started restoring it but haven't finished the painting yet, still in the primer stage.
Peter
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Post by John Parry on Feb 19, 2006 8:02:05 GMT -5
Well, your good luck wish did me good Peter !
Was talking to a friend, who I knew was into serious digital work, and mentioned that I was looking for a Flektogon. "Hold on a minute..."
He disappeared, and returned two minutes later with a Carl Zeiss Jena 24mm M42 in very nice condition indeed - "You can have that". He was also going to give me a Hanimex 80-200mm zoom, but I explained that I have zoom and prime medium lengths in abundance, so he's going to make a few pounds on eB@y with it.
How about that for a coincidence, within three days of my post. And how kind was that? OK - not a Flektogon, but a superb lens in it's own right, and it'll allow me to practice, and see whether I really need one.
The Nova arrived. Nice condition, and a good Domiplan 2.8/50, but the shutter is lazy - takes half a second to finish closing at all speeds, so it's a looker, not a user. What can you expect for 99p ?
Regards - John
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