Holga, Toy, Charity Shop, Car Boot and other Bargains (film only please)

If the A1 was in nice condition, fully working and free from shutter squeak then £100 wasn't unreasonable these days. Prices for good film cameras have been on the rise over the last couple of years, so the days of getting a nice, fully working A1 for £60 are long gone I'm afraid, unless you happen to drop lucky.
 
Well I envied the guys who had the A1 when it first came out and it had excellent reviews...using mine now to give it a workout (try to rotate all my cameras). IMO £100 for the A1 is too high, maybe £50-£60 with some lenses something like this http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Canon-A1C...550535?hash=item238a43bd47:g:82IAAOSwskFZfgdv
Beats me why people buy AE1, AV1, AE1P etc when they can get the A1 for a few quid more.
 
There's still nearly a day to go on that listing, so you can't go off that price yet. Have a look at the completed item prices for fully-working ones that look anywhere near 'Excellent +' to 'Mint -' and have a good set of clear and close-up photos showing their condition inside and out. https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_sacat=0&LH_Complete=1&_nkw=canon+a1&rt=nc&LH_PrefLoc=1

I agree with you fully about the A1 being a better buy than the others you've listed. I don't know about a few quid more either, as I've seen the AE1 sell for more than the A1, presumably because it's got a silver top and looks more 'retro'?! Put it this way, I've owned both in my time, and I've still got the A1! ;)
 
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My AV-1 cost me £19.99 from Cash Converters recently with a 50/1.8 and third party 28mm and 70-210 zoom lenses.I have 3 AE-1s which have cost £10-£15 each one without lens.

I've had the opportunity to buy A-1s on the flea market but both were faulty. Oxfam supposedly do have a camera guy who prices their cameras and checks them all.
 
My AV-1 cost me £19.99 from Cash Converters recently with a 50/1.8 and third party 28mm and 70-210 zoom lenses.I have 3 AE-1s which have cost £10-£15 each one without lens.

I've had the opportunity to buy A-1s on the flea market but both were faulty. Oxfam supposedly do have a camera guy who prices their cameras and checks them all.

Well of course they all take pictures ;) and most of my cameras were under £10...but couldn't resist splashing out for a Minolta X700 with 50mm f1.4 for £15 and because of envy in the past the Canon A1 with 50mm f1.4 for £35 (mind you had to oil the mirror damping system). But all the "A" models are "quaint" compared to a Canon T90...well the Av1 would be a better camera if the T90 shutter stuck :eek:
 
I got an X-700 with an f1.7 for about that, I got an SRT-101 with an f1.4 for £4.99. I have paid under £20 for 90% of my cameras.

My Om2, my Mamiya C220, my Yashica 635 and Yashica E were £30 my Nikon FM was £50 and my Mamiya C33 was £64. I sold the C33 on for £180.

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I got an X-700 with an f1.7 for about that, I got an SRT-101 with an f1.4 for £4.99. I have paid under £20 for 90% of my cameras.

My Om2, my Mamiya C220, my Yashica 635 and Yashica E were £30 my Nikon FM was £50 and my Mamiya C33 was £64. I sold the C33 on for £180.

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That's the advantage of using film as you can get excellent results from the cheapest of cameras..it's the lens that's important. I picked up a Ricoh camera that also takes Pentax bayonet lenses for peanuts...over time accumulated a set of Pentax zooms and a 50mm, well thought I'd have a more sophisticated camera (for Pentax lenses) and saw a Chinon CP-7M under a tenner on the bay inc postage (no one wants them)...so why pay more for a Pentax camera when you could use this, with built in winder single or continuous, bulb, AV, manual and programme, memory lock etc etc OH and no light seals to worry about on the door (well just one strip near the hinge).
 
...and no light seals to worry about on the door (well just one strip near the hinge).

When I bought my Olympus 35 RC it was an absolute chore removing the old light seals. I almost regretted buying the camera. But now that it is done I think it was worth the misery.
 
When I bought my Olympus 35 RC it was an absolute chore removing the old light seals. I almost regretted buying the camera. But now that it is done I think it was worth the misery.
You just have to sit down, put some good music on and enjoy resurrecting a classic camera :)

It's all in the attitude.
 
Just a small story as it's quiet here:- I'm a fan of Konica hexanon lenses, but the problem is their electronic\mechanical cameras are hit and miss (so beware), anyway picked up over time four of their latest (at the bootie) i.e. FT-1 and after swapping parts got one working...h'mm well after a while the diode for the meter went out (everything else worked) so stuck it in a drawer, anyway about two years later was now sorting out the drawer clearing out old bodies, top, back and bottom plates, winders etc and forgot all about the FT1, so put some batteries in it and the meter diode is working again :rolleyes:..if it goes out again the camera goes in the bin.
If anyone wants to try Hexanon lenses I used to use the Konica Autoreflex TC (mechanical) and is very reliable although takes the old mercury battery for the meter, but I've just put a 1.5v one in and adjusted the asa.
 
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J FT-1 and after swapping parts got one working...h'mm well after a while the diode for the meter went out (everything else worked) so stuck it in a drawer, anyway about two years later was now sorting out the drawer clearing out old bodies, top, back and bottom plates, winders etc and forgot all about the FT1, so put some batteries in it and the meter diode is working again :rolleyes:..if it goes out again the camera goes in the bin..

That could well be a dry joint where the diode meets the circuit board. If you have the abilities in respect of soldering, then IMHO the following method should work for you.

1. Get hold of the following products:
a) Silver solder manufactured by Richard Johnson of DCC Concepts - you will find this on Gaugemaster's site - yes I know it is a model railway site BUT, we used to have a model railway and that it was what I used when making lighting systems and directly connecting decoders to loco motors.
b} A small bottle of no clean flux - this great stuff is also from DCC Concepts.

2. Remove the diode using cutters - provided there is enough leg lead left.. Reheat the the solder joints on the circuit board so you get a decent solder flow and let it cool. Make sure that you heat protect all the other parts.

3. Coat the the diode lead ends and whatever lead you have left from the circuit board with the flux and allow to dry - very important this particular point.

4. Connect the diode one leg at a time - observing polarity of course - using the silver solder and allow to cool before trying the opposite end.

The beauty of the silver solder is that it melts at a far greater lower temperature than conventional solders. It makes a great reliable joint without the risk of damaging other components - although heat sink precautions should be put in place as a matter of course.

HTH - and I hope that the diode isn't faulty - LOL

David
 
That could well be a dry joint where the diode meets the circuit board. If you have the abilities in respect of soldering, then IMHO the following method should work for you.

1. Get hold of the following products:
a) Silver solder manufactured by Richard Johnson of DCC Concepts - you will find this on Gaugemaster's site - yes I know it is a model railway site BUT, we used to have a model railway and that it was what I used when making lighting systems and directly connecting decoders to loco motors.
b} A small bottle of no clean flux - this great stuff is also from DCC Concepts.

2. Remove the diode using cutters - provided there is enough leg lead left.. Reheat the the solder joints on the circuit board so you get a decent solder flow and let it cool. Make sure that you heat protect all the other parts.

3. Coat the the diode lead ends and whatever lead you have left from the circuit board with the flux and allow to dry - very important this particular point.

4. Connect the diode one leg at a time - observing polarity of course - using the silver solder and allow to cool before trying the opposite end.

The beauty of the silver solder is that it melts at a far greater lower temperature than conventional solders. It makes a great reliable joint without the risk of damaging other components - although heat sink precautions should be put in place as a matter of course.

HTH - and I hope that the diode isn't faulty - LOL

David

Thanks David for you rinformative reply, but the camera is not worth bothering with as, as well as the Konica mechanical TC also have the model before the FT-1 which is the FS-1 and that works perfectly.
As you are electrical minded AAMOI the main fault with the later Konica cameras is they just connect printed circuit ribbons by clamping them together and corrosion get in between the copper.....info from a guy said "un-clamp then clean the copper and re-clamp" h'mm but it didn't work for me on the other FT-1s.
 
That's the advantage of using film as you can get excellent results from the cheapest of cameras..it's the lens that's important. I picked up a Ricoh camera that also takes Pentax bayonet lenses for peanuts...over time accumulated a set of Pentax zooms and a 50mm, well thought I'd have a more sophisticated camera (for Pentax lenses) and saw a Chinon CP-7M under a tenner on the bay inc postage (no one wants them)...so why pay more for a Pentax camera when you could use this, with built in winder single or continuous, bulb, AV, manual and programme, memory lock etc etc OH and no light seals to worry about on the door (well just one strip near the hinge).
For Pentax lenses I have a Miranda MS-2, Ricoh KR-10, Chinon CE-5 and Vivitar V2000 and I have a Centon but it's the DF-300 not a K series. I also have 12 K/KA mount Pentaxes.
 
I have the TC-X and the FP-1. The FP-1 is odd as it is Program only, and only allows you to use either f2.8, f5.6 or f11. An Olympus XA gives you more choice.

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To increase members human vocabulary o_O Like most companies trying to save money...Konica used Cosina to make the TC-X (more plastic) and introduced cheaper lenses called Hexar........and then Konica finally merged with Minolta, but Konica Minolta Ltd didn't survive in the camera business.
I quite liked Konica film and have used their colour neg film of 3200 ASA\ISO
 
To increase members human vocabulary o_O Like most companies trying to save money...Konica used Cosina to make the TC-X (more plastic) and introduced cheaper lenses called Hexar........and then Konica finally merged with Minolta, but Konica Minolta Ltd didn't survive in the camera business.
I quite liked Konica film and have used their colour neg film of 3200 ASA\ISO
I read that when I first got it. I believe it was also the first camera to use DX coding and the first camera to have a body cast from plastic.
 
Not yet, I have 3 ME Supers, 2 MVs, 3 P30/t/ns, a KX, a Super A, an MZ-5n, an MZ-30 and MZ-50 sorry that's 13.

I bet you haven't got a Canon T70 :D Do you keep all your cameras in a glass cabinet for display or all shoved in a drawer\cupboard?
 
There is only one camera I don't have any lenses for and is Topcon uni (bought for £1)..unusual camera as it has the shutter speeds and f nos around the lens mount, the iris\blades are built into the camera...shame it only takes UV lenses and not the superior RE lenses. :(
 
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I don't have any Topcons. I have two Exaktas, a Varex VX and an RTL 1000. The Varex came with a lens but it has seized up. The RTL has the meter, haven't tried a battery in it yet but all of the speeds sound right. I do have an exakta T2 mount now I think of it.
 
Keeping this on a Pentax theme, I recently picked up an MZ-50 at a car boot sale for £1. It's body only though. Any recommendations on a nice, low-cost AF lens I can use with it (assuming it woks once I put some batteries in it)? I prefer primes, but don't mind zooms if they're sharp - in fact, given that my other SLRs all have 50mm lenses stuck on them, a walkabout zoom might be nice to have for a vit of variety and versatility.
 
Keeping this on a Pentax theme, I recently picked up an MZ-50 at a car boot sale for £1. It's body only though. Any recommendations on a nice, low-cost AF lens I can use with it (assuming it woks once I put some batteries in it)? I prefer primes, but don't mind zooms if they're sharp - in fact, given that my other SLRs all have 50mm lenses stuck on them, a walkabout zoom might be nice to have for a vit of variety and versatility.

Well unless you have a specific reason (e.g. eye sight) can't see any use for AF primes when you can use a MF prime, the way I look at it is a MF prime is for a bit more serious stuff and to slow down, but a AF zoom is so handy for those quick moving shots esp for kiddies. And remember a AF lens doesn't always focus on what you want and if you set it for manual focus then you might as well use a MF prime. Does the MZ-50 take a Pentax MF prime?
Maybe Nige I've overlooked something and would like to know from a serious AF user why I need a AF prime for my AF Nikon and Canon when I have loads of MF prime lenses.
 
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Well unless you have a specific reason (e.g. eye sight) can't see any use for AF primes when you can use a MF prime, the way I look at it is a MF prime is for a bit more serious stuff and to slow down, but a AF zoom is so handy for those quick moving shots esp for kiddies. And remember a AF lens doesn't always focus on what you want and if you set it for manual focus then you might as well use a MF prime. Does the MZ-50 take a Pentax MF prime?
Maybe Nige I've overlooked something and would like to know from a serious AF user why I need a AF prime when I have loads of MF prime lenses.
Usually with AF cameras it is because the focusing screens used are less suited to manual focusing than older fully manual cameras. Older cameras have extra focusing aids like the split screen whereas newer AF cameras just have a plain screen with the AF points marked on.
 
I have an old profile pic with my MZ-5n with an SMC-M 50mm f2. You need the SMC-A for it to meter properly
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I have an old profile pic with my MZ-5n with an SMC-M 50mm f2. You need the SMC-A for it to meter properly

Ignore the bit about metering, with the MZ-5n it just doesn't display the aperture with the M lenses. It still shows shutter speeds and has focus confirmation with the A lens it shows aperture as long as the lens is set on A.
 
Well unless you have a specific reason (e.g. eye sight) can't see any use for AF primes when you can use a MF prime, the way I look at it is a MF prime is for a bit more serious stuff and to slow down, but a AF zoom is so handy for those quick moving shots esp for kiddies. And remember a AF lens doesn't always focus on what you want and if you set it for manual focus then you might as well use a MF prime. Does the MZ-50 take a Pentax MF prime?
Maybe Nige I've overlooked something and would like to know from a serious AF user why I need a AF prime for my AF Nikon and Canon when I have loads of MF prime lenses.

Thanks Brian. Matthew has nailed the reason in his post below yours - modern autofocus SLRs (and DSLRs) don't usually have the benefit of of a nice focusing screen. My OM-1 for instance has a lovely screen, with ground glass, micro-prism AND split-prism focusing aids and is a joy to use. My Nikon F70 on the other hand has none, and while it's still possible to focus without them, it's more difficult, especially if precise focus is needed, so I use AF lenses with that. I have nothing against MF lenses, and use them all the time on other cameras, but in the case of an AF enabled camera, I might as well take advantage of the technology, or just use a different, non-AF camera instead.
 
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As I said there is focus confirmation on the MZ-5n in the form of a beep and a light. I couldn't confirm that on the MZ-50 as my CR-2s ran out but there was the symbol on the LCD that the beep was on and it has the button to turn it off in the same place. As far as I know it only beeps when it is in focus.

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As I said there is focus confirmation on the MZ-5n in the form of a beep and a light. I couldn't confirm that on the MZ-50 as my CR-2s ran out but there was the symbol on the LCD that the beep was on and it has the button to turn it off in the same place. As far as I know it only beeps when it is in focus.

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I've just looked at the manual on Butkus and it looks like this is true for the MZ-50 (although only down to f/5.6). I've got a MF Centon zoom lens that I can try it out with when my batteries arrive.
 
I don't have any Topcons. I have two Exaktas, a Varex VX and an RTL 1000. The Varex came with a lens but it has seized up. The RTL has the meter, haven't tried a battery in it yet but all of the speeds sound right. I do have an exakta T2 mount now I think of it.
I have tested the RTL1000s meter with an LR44 and it works. I haven't come across my exakta t2 mount yet though [emoji848]
 
Just asking - is there a difference between what the 'big charities' (BHF, Oxfam) and what the local ones do (Little Snoring Cat Rescue) ?
Do the big organisations put them on eBay centrally, while the small set ups try to sell them locally at over-optmistic prices?
 
Just asking - is there a difference between what the 'big charities' (BHF, Oxfam) and what the local ones do (Little Snoring Cat Rescue) ?
Do the big organisations put them on eBay centrally, while the small set ups try to sell them locally at over-optmistic prices?

Quite a few charities now use the bay e.g. Oxfam. British heart foundation and so on...but I don't think all the charities have got organised centrally yet.
 
Just asking - is there a difference between what the 'big charities' (BHF, Oxfam) and what the local ones do (Little Snoring Cat Rescue) ?
Do the big organisations put them on eBay centrally, while the small set ups try to sell them locally at over-optmistic prices?

It seems to vary; I've seen lots of cameras and lenses at our local Oxfam, even bought some of them, and then they vanish for a while. I think they have "someone" who looks at what people bring in, checks it over, and then they put it out when they have some shelf space. Prices sometimes a bit optimistic, but I've had some good bargains too, my tripod for a fiver for instance!

Some smaller shops just put £5 or £10 on anything. Many of them don't even bother to put camera stuff out. I suspect though that the more savvy managers check fleabay, but many don't seem to realise the difference between optimistic BIN prices and actual sold prices! (Yesterday I saw a roll of ordinary film for something like £30 with free delivery... from Japan!)
 
One Red Cross shop I go in always check the prices against eBay. Then they knock some off.

A couple of years back I was getting my Minolta SRT-101 & 50/1.4, Minolta X-300 & 50/1.7, Pentax MV & 50/2, Canon FT QL & 50/1.8 and Canon FTb QL & 50/1.8 for less than a £5 each. Now the charity shops have become aware of the value of these cameras to us.

Not long ago I saw an almost identical Canon AV-1 kit in BHF, (AV-1 with 50/1.8, 3rd party zoom and wide angle lens, flash and bag), to the one I got from Cash Converters for £19.99. It was £120.

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I bought another Olympus OM-101 today, this one was from Cash Converters for £9.99 and includes the manual adapter. This is the same as I paid for my last one on the flea market.

I also took some films to be processed and scanned at a different Asda. They couldn't print them as the printer was out of order and they couldn't scan them as they were out of CDs. I did ask if Asda sell CDs but as she said the photo centre is closing from Monday and she is out of a job from the end of the week so I didn't press it. I got them processed, I'll try scanning them when I have time.
ba6bd91774a3a9f5ec189e818ab5cfe5.jpg
 
I bought an OM10 at the bootie a year or so back, anyway sorting through my stuff found a receipt for it (originally with a kit zoom 35-70) and someone paid £180 in 1984...:eek:
 
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