One was a parts camera, but the other two were quite nice. I bought a few Kodak Medalist cameras from the 1960's. Not perfect cameras, but I have been rarely surprised by what arrived. Almost all of them have been very close to what I expected when they arrived. Everything from 1/2 frame 35mm to 8x10 cameras. They've ranged in age from 10 years old to well over 100 years old. I've probably bought 25 film cameras from eBay over the last 15 years. I don't know if I really have a point with 's just food for thought. Or, in the case of one repair shop I e-mailed this week, literally dying. And the people who can fix it are retiring. All of this stuff is only getting more expensive and more worn-down.

So that's a $150-200 theoretical premium on pretty much everything.ī) As a sort of appendix to the recent discussions about possible new film cameras and the state of the used market. Stick with reputable sellers (even though they're far from infallible) and always have in the back of your mind that what you buy may need to be CLA'd in the very least. Why do I post this? Two reasons: a) as a warning for others to be very wary of buying old photo gear. So that's 9 out of 13 cameras I've bought that have turned out to have serious problems. I might have been able to put it back on correctly with some trial and error, but there was also a substantial scratch on the lens that came with it that had been described as a 'cleaning mark.' So, back it goes! Broken. The cap on the ISO/EV dial had fallen off.

Broken. Cheap because of a bad bellows that I planned to replace, but unfortunately the lens standard was all out of alignment. This cost $15 because the grip is a bit sticky.ġ1. The leather is totally shot and the touch-sense meter activation doesn't work, but the camera was dirt cheap.ġ0. Very sticky shutter and overexposing meter despite the seller putting in a Schottky diode to compensate for the modern battery.ĩ. Focus badly misaligned (including infinity).Ĩ. This one had no promise of functionality, and I decided to keep it and get it repaired since there was a weird bit of hardened material on the lens (which turned out to be 'liquid plastic') that wasn't in the description, and after the refund I wound up paying $50 for it. Here is every camera I've bought since deciding to get back into film late last year:ġ. I didn't even have to cock the shutter to realize that this would be my ninth malfunctioning camera purchase of the last six months. I wasn't hugely excited for it, but I was looking forward to it. Today, I received an Olympus OMG that I'd bought on eBay.

Mamiya C330 Serial Numbers