The Thrifty Camera Hunter

Finding, restoring, and using vintage cameras on the cheap.

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Nikon F401x and 50mm f/1.8 AF A neighbor messaged me and asked if I'd like an old camera of his that was in his garage. Of course, I said yes!

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Nice finds, but not thrifty enough

Nice finds, but not thrifty enough

We stopped by an antique store and, as usual, the cameras were far too pricey. This Nikkormat Ft with 50mm f/1.8 was $100!  The shutter was slow and it was missing a cover on the bottom.  As much as I wouldn’t mind having one of these, $100 is far too much for a non-working example. I wasn’t able to test this Nikon L35AF, but I don’t doubt that it would work.  They wanted $35, which is too rich…

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Zeiss Ikon Ikonta 35 522/24

Zeiss Ikon Ikonta 35 522/24

I picked this one up for $10 on eBay.  It’s having some shutter problems, but I hope to be able to fix them!                    

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Long Time, No Camera Hunting!

It’s been so hot this summer that I haven’t gotten out to hunt for cameras.  That changed today as we braved the heat to hit up some thrift shops and antique stores.  I didn’t find anything I couldn’t live without or was anywhere near thrifty enough for me, but I did take some pictures of my finds! Canon Sure Shot for $12.50.  That’s just way too much. Fuji Discovery 1000 Zoom Date for $7.99.…

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Zeiss Ikon Maximar 207/3 also known as the Maximar A

This is a plate camera from the 1930s that my brother-in-law and sister-in-law picked up for me at an estate sale for 50 cents!  It was considered a miniature camera at the time because the glass plates that it shot onto were much smaller than the standard.  I want to get a roll film adapter for it and shoot 120 film at 6 x 9!

I had seen pictures of the red circle online, but had no idea…

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Canon AE-1 Program

My brother-in-law and sister-in-law picked this one up for me at an estate sale.  I put a fresh battery in it and it fired right up!  It’s the Official 35mm Camera of the 1984 Olympic Games!

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Camera geek pride!

Show your pride as a camera geek!  This shirt features the classic Argus C3 “brick” on Kodak yellow and red!

I designed this shirt!  Go buy one, camera geeks!

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Thrifty Camera Reviews: Olympus XA

Zuiko 35mm f/2.8

I’ve had my XA for a quite a while.  In that time, I’ve carried it with me just about everywhere.  It’s hard not to, it’s just so pocketable, usable, and has really good image quality.  It’s fantastically discreet for street photography and the sharp lens, especially when wide open, will not disappoint.  Here are some samples that I’ve taken with my XA.

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Not, cameras, but still cool finds.

Today, I checked out a new (to us) thrift store and found some low end point and shoots and a few odds and ends.

I bought a whole box of stuff marked darkroom equipment.  It was marked $15, but I got them down to $10.

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Slim pickings

I haven’t had a lot of time for camera hunting lately, as you can see by my lack of updates.  When I have had time, I’ve come up empty.

This Saturday, we hit up a few antiques stores close to home.  Antique stores are pretty notorious for being far too high priced.  I found a couple of things, but nothing at all I couldn’t live without.

I found this old Kodak folder for $20, but it was falling…

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New Member of the Crew

New Member of the Crew

Minolta Maxxum 70 that I got from ShopGoodwill for $7!  The 50mm f/1.7 was a thrift store find for $5.

It’s in perfect shape and I can’t wait to run a roll of film through it!

Min

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Why I don't usually buy cameras at antique stores

Why I don’t usually buy cameras at antique stores

    Usually, these can be had for under $10.

  These are usually around $20.

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Minolta 70-210 f/4 “Beer Can” Another find at Goodwill last night, a Minolta 70-210 f/4 coloquially known as the "beer can" because of its size. 

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Olympus Stylus Zoom DLX I picked this up at Goodwill last night for $5.00.  I was looking for a weather sealed camera for street photography in rainy weather and this will do the trick!

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The Fujica ST605N

Our friend Margie and her husband Lamar had an old camera and a few lenses in storage.  Knowing about my addiction to old cameras, they decided to give it to me.  I got my hands on it last weekend and have just now gotten a chance to look it over and give…

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New Camera Storage and Display

A small shelf from Goodwill will serve to hold some of my cameras for a little while.  Not…

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Interview with Jake

• What was your first camera?

One of those novelty soda-can shaped cameras. Fanta, I think.

• What got you interested in collecting cameras?

I just love experimenting with different cameras. My collection came to be as a result of that.

• What was the…

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