what are the biggest bargains you have found?

cooltouch · Joined: 15 Jan 2009 Posts: 9096 Location: Houston, Texas

I had the good fortune to come into a bit of extra spending money about a week ago, but as is too often the case, my list of things to get far exceeded the amount of funds I had. Plus, I had to spend money on the wifey to keep her happy. But I managed to come up with a few items.

After seeing one of our members post a rather long series of shots with his Samyang 800mm f/8, I was rather encouraged by his results, so I bought one, albeit in Opteka livery. I picked up a mint used one and saved $50 or more.

Click here to see on Ebay

Then I spotted this auction for several cool Canon Old F-1 goodies, and couldn't resist. Hell, just the Finder Illuminator F goes for $50.

Click here to see on Ebay

And just a short while ago, the GAS urge sucked me in. I bought these items, not really needing any of them.

Click here to see on Ebay

But they were mis-listed on eBay, so there was no bidding activity at all . . . until the last 15 seconds or so. But I beat out the other people. I've owned Canon A-1s. The A-1 was my second ever SLR. It's a cool camera, but I don't know if I'll keep either one. And I also have a 50/1.4 SSC. And a Canon winder for the A series. Actually, it was the old camera dealer instinct that kicked in. I saw a possibility of making money and placed a max bid accordingly. So, even though I paid almost $100 for this group of items, I know I'll be able to make a tidy profit off them. Sorry if this offends any of you, but people always have the freedom to buy or not. And none of these items are uncommon, so there will always be opportunities for folks to search for items listed for cheaper prices than mine will be. But I'll price the pieces reasonably because the object is to make a bit of money, which I can really use, and not just watch the auctions last forever with no bids.

I suspect, though, that I'll be hanging onto one of the A-1s for quite a while before I finally let it go. I've actually been having this strange compulsion to buy another for quite a while.

mo · Expire: 2016-07-30

Nice haul Michael...hey if you have the knowledge and the Know how ...go make a profit! Very Happy

I am a sucker for buying little gadgets for cameras that I don't have... Embarassed

Those F-1 goodies look intriguing.
I will be looking forward to your Samyang /Opteka images.

exaklaus · Expire: 2011-12-02

My best bargain for the last weeks:
A Zeiss Flexon 2/50 for exakta. Came with an Exakta Varex.
Buy-it-now for 50 Euros at Ebay. Auction was 4 minutes old, when I noticed it!
Pretty used, but I'm lucky about it!
Klaus
Laughing

Attila · Expire: 2025-11-18

Great catch! Congrats! First one what I seen with Exakta mount

Socrates · Joined: 20 Jun 2011 Posts: 18

Nikon 58mm Noct 1.2...

3 years ago for 50 Euros.

Someone was selling this lens on a flea-market. He though the lens was useless because the mount was broken. Got it fixed up for another 50 euros. Optics are in excellent condition.

What a steal. Very Happy

std · Joined: 09 Feb 2010 Posts: 1826 Location: Bulgaria

Flexon .. never heard of it till now.
I have read it is the same as Pancolar 2/50.. which is really nice lens - congrats!

gmonkman1 · Posted: Fri Jul 01, 2011 8:55 pm Post subject:

off to the local 2nd hand store I went
and my hard earned money I spent
on a Pentax M 40mm 2.8 pancake
and great pics it does take.

Great write-up at ...oldlenses.blogspot.com.
scroll down a few days to find it.

Oh yeah...almost forgot to mention price...$15.00 ...yay

ManualFocus-G · Expire: 2014-11-24

Willem · Joined: 08 Jun 2011 Posts: 280 Location: Netherlands

A super multi coated takumar 3.5/28 m42-mount for €45. Seemed te be all loose, but only needed one screw tightened. Also came with a pentax k1000 and some other stuff.

killwilly · Joined: 16 May 2011 Posts: 111 Location: United Kingdom

Whilst on holiday recently in Scotland I found and bought from a charity shop a Praktica MTL 5 B camera, complete with a Carl Zeiss Tessar Jenna DDR 2.8/50 lens and in mint condition. It has a serial number- 338683, total cost was £8. The camera will never be used, but the lens is, I think a very good purchase,

Alan.

iangreenhalgh1 · Expire: 2014-01-07

Yes Alan, it is a good purchase.

I have that lens, not so great on my digital EOS but very good on 35mm film.

The digital pics with it could be not so great due to my lack of skill but the 35mm roll I just shot with it has come out very sharp and nice indeed.

mo · Expire: 2016-07-30

Klaus ,if you do not mind I re sized your image to fit better.I hope that was ok with you. Very Happy

I love the lens and I have seen the Flexon name before.

Mir · Expire: 2017-09-30

I got me an aus JENA Pancolar 1,8/50 for 20$ .....javascript:emoticon('

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It's well used and a bit yellowish.......

Still, i'm a very happy camper !

exaklaus · Expire: 2011-12-02

cooltouch · Joined: 15 Jan 2009 Posts: 9096 Location: Houston, Texas

Well, I officially went in the hole with my last purchase. Even though I came into a bit of money recenty, I didn't have enough left of it to get this beast, but that isn't always a deterrent. I've got a big stack of stuff to put on eBay and I guess I'd better get busy with it now.

Anyway, here it is:

Click here to see on Ebay

Notice it received only one bid -- mine. It's in reasonably good cosmetic condition, except for the front element, that is. I think that's what scared everybody else off. I didn't see it as a show-stopper, though. I did some research and determined that the front element is held in place by a slotted ring that I should be able to loosen with my set of spanners. The fungus is mostly on the periphery of the front element and I feel pretty sure that I can remove it all. I'll give the cold cream a try.

I used to own a 60B -- bought it about 20 years ago used, but in close to mint condition, and kept it a few years until I ran into some tight financial straits and had to sell it along with most of the rest of my cool photo gear. Anyway, the one I bought came in a case with the hood, a front hood "cap," and a 1.4x TC. The case had a spot for the 2x TC also, but I don't think mine came with one. I also think it came only with the one clear rear drop in filter. I do recall that my 60B came with a front filter, though. 112mm -- according to adaptall2.org that's the front element size, but I don't remember it being that big. So anyway, I already own the Tamron Adaptall 1.4x and 2x, so it doesn't matter to me that this outfit doesn't include either. And I've never been much on using front filters unless they're special purpose. The case would have been nice, though. It also comes with a Nikon Adaptall-2 mount, which I can use.

So, I've accomplished my primary photographic goals with my bit of extra spending money: a Tamron 80-200/2.8 and a Tamron 300/2.8. I've gone into deficit spending to pull it off, but I'll figure a way to dig myself out of the hole.

I'd show you a pic of the 80-200 but I don't have it yet. I bought it from KEH and it should arrive later this week.

Mike Deep · Joined: 25 Oct 2008 Posts: 319 Location: Upstate New York

The 60B does indeed have a matching 112mm front filter, I have one on mine. I probably don't have to remind you that the front element is softer LD glass.

Today's find: $25.

cooltouch · Joined: 15 Jan 2009 Posts: 9096 Location: Houston, Texas

That's a cool old Tilt-All, Mike. Too often, folks today don't recognize a quality piece when they see it. Which can be to our advantage.

Regarding the 60B, well I know fluorite is soft, wasn't sure about the LD glass. Hope the coating's still intact and fairly hard, though. Cuz it's gonna have to withstand a fair amount of rubbing, I suspect, to get the fungus off. Unless the cold cream works a lot better than I'm used to. Here's to hoping it does.

cheekygeek · Joined: 05 Aug 2008 Posts: 183

This deal didn't start off to be an incredible bargain, but in the end it definitely surprised me. Ran across a fellow whose brother had some Pentax gear. He was several hundred miles away from me, so I was not able to see things first hand. The item that definitely "caught my eye" was a S-M-C Takumar 135mm f2.5 with hood, cap and case and in mint condition. I agreed to purchase it for $75, shipped.

Before that happened the seller's brother told me that it was too bad I didn't ALSO want the S-M-C Takumar 35mm f3.5 (with caps and case) because it was in just-as-nice condition. I called him a Temptor and asked him to check it out mechanically. He replied that sadly, the aperture blades were sluggish. So I told him in that condition it was still worth $20 to me. He replied that his brother said OK and was going to throw in a Spotmatic F that he had. (Nice! This is my first "F" and it still has the little caps for the X & F flash sync on it. Still need to check to see if the meter works, but I'm hopeful as the lens had the cap on it and it was in its original case).

Imagine my surprise when the "F" came with a SMC Takumar 50mm f1.4 on it. So, I got a Spotmatic F with SMC Takumar 50mm f1.4 in like new condition, and a S-M-C 35mm f3.5 that needs a little help on the slow aperture blades for $20 shipped (plus a decent deal on the 135mm f2.5 Takumar. What a gorgeous lens. Pics to follow).

UPDATE: Popped in a Energizer 357 (Silver Oxide) battery and the meter appears to work perfect. Will know more after putting some B&W through it.

cooltouch · Joined: 15 Jan 2009 Posts: 9096 Location: Houston, Texas

Doncha just love it when that happens? Dang, three SMCTs! A similar thing happened to me a few months back that I reported on in this thread. In my case it was a Nikon F2s with motor drive that the guy threw in with a PB4/PS4 bellows I bought from him -- already way underpriced at $100.

So anyway, be sure and share a pic with us of your "haul," and let us know how that Spotmatic F turns out. The F was the only one of the mechanical Spotmatics to utilize that extra lever on the SMCT lenses for full aperture metering, so here's hoping its meter works!

iangreenhalgh1 · Expire: 2014-01-07

Hi Michael

I don't recommend cold cream for fungus, it does work but I have found that soaking the glass in ISO alcohol overnight works better. I had a projector lens you could barely see through due to all the fungus. I took it apart, soaked the glass in ISO overnight (making sure to note down on paper the orientation and position of each glass piece) then reassembled and it's as clear as it could be now and works pretty well.

P.S. best bargains I got lately are a Ross Resolux for 4.99 and a Contax 139 Quartz for 10ukp.

cooltouch · Joined: 15 Jan 2009 Posts: 9096 Location: Houston, Texas

Thanks for the tip, Ian. I'll give it a try when the lens gets here. So what did you use for the flower shot? The Ross Resolux?

I envy you very much. A Contax 139 Q for 10ukp? That's just not fair, I tell ya! Not fair 'tall!

Cistron · Joined: 25 Feb 2011 Posts: 238 Location: London/Vienna

cooltouch · Joined: 15 Jan 2009 Posts: 9096 Location: Houston, Texas

Last week, I ordered a Tamron 80-200mm f/2.8 LD from KEH. They had a BGN one with a "loose" zoom collar for $245, so I jumped on it.

No caps, no hood, as it turns out. Oh well. Yes, the collar is somewhat loose, but tighter than a lot of zooms I've owned. I can definitely live with it. And the only reason why this lens was rated as a BGN instead of EXC+ is this one little scratch -- see the red arrow? It's pointing at that tiny scratch. You can see it better in the second photo. Oh, and there's a bit of wear around the lens's bayonet mount for the hood.

I haven't tried it out yet. But I will in just a few minutes. I think I'm gonna pair it against my Tokina AT-X 100-300mm f/4 SD and see how it does. True, the maximum focal lengths don't match and the Tokina is a stop slower, but it should be fun nonetheless. Hmmm . . . I have a Tamron 1.4x, so that would make 'em just about equal, wouldn't it? I'll post the results in a dedicated thread.