1 dollar score

<p>I like to go to fleamarkets but you rarely find anything out of the ordinary. Or the things you find are common and overpriced or they are rare, overpriced and in bad condition. So today I went to the fleamarket in Gent (Belgium) and my hopes are never high with this one, when I got there there were few stalls due the bad weather forecast (although the weather was quite nice, only a little windy). My hopes weren't high to begin with and after seeing some ordinary box camera's in the 30 - 50 euro range my expectations were fallen faster then a shot down Messerschmitt airplane. But at the last stall I spotted a Minolta XG2 in very good cosmetical condition, it had no lens but the bodycap was attached to it. the mirror was half way up and of course the batteries were dead and thus the camera non responsive. The lady who ran the stall saw my interest and told me that she didn't know if it still worked or not but that it was only 1 Euro (that's 1 US $). Yep, you read it right, ONE measely Euro. So I figured that even for that price the camera might have been junk since the body cap was worth that price alone. At home I ditched the empty batteries, installed new ones, attached a MD Rokkor lens and what do you know, the little critter shot away like it first did all those years ago. So now this little poor fellow has found himself a new home. My lucky day so it seems.<br>

<img src="http://users.skynet.be/flexaret/gasmask/xg2.jpg" alt="" /><br>

<img src="http://users.skynet.be/unclegoose/gasmask/xg2.jpg" alt="" /></p>

<p>Nice one.<br /> I do wish it were 1€=US$1, still.<br /> Today's price is about the value of PI : 1€=US$1,4214</p>

<p>We had the advantage of it for so long, it only seems fair, but it does make popping over to Berlin a little more costly. ;)<br /> We <em>have</em> done better than the Naira (NGN or ₦).</p>

<p>So you got a $1.4 dollar score. ;)</p>

<p>Ah yes, I don't follow the money thing anymore. But at 1.4$ it's cheaper than a beer or a soda in a bar over here.</p>

<p>Not bad Phil, since it is a bragging thread :-), might as well add to it: my last camera show adventure netted me two K-Mount Ricohs, 2 Minoltas(X500 and an X370), 6 lenses for 40USD. All cameras were working and the meters accurate.</p>

<p>May I join in? <br>

Eplace--XG1 brand new in the box (really) $24. Arrived a couple of days ago. Put in some new batteries and experienced instant gratification.<br>

Which reminds me, I need to go pick it up and adore it some more. </p>

<p> </p>

<p>Congrats on your acquisition. It looks almost new. If you already have a lot of Minolta gear (especially those great Rokkor primes), your enjoyment will be multiplied. If not, you will quickly become an enthusiast. When you have time check some of the older Minolta-related posts in this forum. Nice thing about the aperture priority of the XG series: they're automatic with anything- MC and MD Rokkors as well as independent brands in that mount. Even preset lenses will allow exposure automation. Well, almost, anyway: I think a pinhole might be pushing one's luck, though.</p>

<p>Okay, I'll play...in a thrift shop in Manhattan I found a very clean Konica AutoReflex T with a Hexanon 57/1.4 for $19.99. Everything on it works. Still, it's not as good as $1.4 for a nice Minolta. Great score!</p>

<p>I will play along too. My fleamarket find two-weeks ago was a mint Pentax M series 17mm f4 Fisheye for 40$. The seller thought it was a marco lens. I said sure. I went along, who was I to argue. He was the expert dealer.</p>

<p>OK, my turn: Five years ago, at a flea market in Prescott Valley, AZ, I picked up a mint (really, mint!) Olympus OM-1 with Zuiko 50mm f/1.4 lens for $10. Not likely to get that lucky again....</p>

<p>Mint,(really) Minolta XG-A, with 50mm 1.7 and neveready case. $10.00</p>

And my latest thrift-store bargain: a Nikon FM with 50mm f1.8 lens in excellent shape for $15. It has seen very little use.

However, the light seals are intact, but a little sticky; hopefully no light leaks. I'm impressed with the overall quality, and the

Nikon FM has the quietest shutter of any of my 35mm SLRs. I also like the easy-to-use double-exposure-option switch, its

mechanical shutter and that it uses still-available batteries for the light meter.

I posted last week about my $5 XD5, but that was on the great virtual flea market, not a real one. The great deals are still out there. And yet, I see prices creeping up on the classic SLRs, as they already have done on the MF folders and the 35mm RFs. And many of the most active threads on PN lately are about film. I'm afraid our thing is becoming cool.

<p>Excellent find! Congratulations! Hope to see some pics from it soon.</p>

<p>Yes, I worry sometimes that our praise of the many classics we collect and use may drive the price up.</p>

<p>Mine is a "fixer upper" perspective...Most recently, a Nikkormat FTn with a beautiful, older 50mm 1.4 - camera a bit worn with a cracked mirror - lens almost perfect - in a local metal dumpster! And two years back...a 65mm fujinon for the older Fujica 6X9, for 35.00 in great shape at a flea market (shutter jam fixed in five minutes) And many years back...a virtually unused Zeiss Super Ikonta C (latest rendition with tessar) - with equally unused case (not even strap wrinkles) - for 45.00 (shutter button was stuck, and my guess is that it had been stuck since new and never fixed or used - so I fixed it). Then there was a Leica M2 for 65.00 - but which needed fixing, which I took upon myself (reglued shutter curtain, realighned rangefinder mech, relubed bearings, etc.) and the number of hours spent on this project kind of made up for the price - but it was lots of fun and a great experience! Oh...and I forgot about the FREE Leica 3C with 35mm Elmar and hood! Very beat up (in a box with other beat up cameras) and finder totally clouded over. Not much worked on this one...but I brought it back up to speed - completely dissassembled it and put it all together. A free Leica 35mm Summicron M (8 element version!) - focus frozen and owner said "here, take it...Leica wants more than its worth to fix it!" (I then held it over a warm woodstove and renewed the focus!) Also brought four broken Rolleiflexes in rapid succession - average price about 30.00 each - and fixed and sold them for a total which brought me a "new in the box" Rolleiflex 3.5f series 3 with Planar...the cats pajamas with a Maxwell screen! Never looked at any of this from a "business" perspective (the time taken by all the fixing more than wiped out any savings).....just lots of fun and great therapy! Hey, anyone have any broken Hasselblad gear they'd like to get rid of? </p>

<p>Nice find! I have never found a camera in all of the flea markets that I have look for them at. Some day my camera will find me :)</p>

<p>I thought I did pretty well today getting a filthy but fully operational Voigtlander Vitomatic II for five US dollars, and another five bucks for a slightly clouded but workable Tokina 80-200 F4 zoom in Minolta mount, to put on my ten dollar X-700. </p>

<p>But a working Minolta for a Euro is probably the score of the day.</p>

 

<p>...please excuse my long post above - but I am certifiably obsessed! But Uncle Goose, you're one dollar (and change) Minolta is quite amazing!</p>

<p>Thanx everyone for the nice responses. I must say I was surprised this XG even worked. On my way home I was convinced there had to be something wrong with it for that price. Luckily there wasn't.</p>

<p>Congratulations on your find, Uncle Goose!</p>

<p>I picked up a $1 find too at a fleamarket today, though not as nice as yours I'm afraid.<br>

A Voigtlander Vitoret D,<br>

With a clean lens and the meter appears to be working. and the seller lumped in a useless Agfa flash (Him: "that goes with it too", I: "Errr, no it doesn't")</p>

<p> </p>

<p>I came close to Uncle Goose's level today, at a yard sale with a "buck a bag" closeout. I got a bag which happened to be a camera bag, and in it was a Pentax K-1000 with a decent 50/f2 lens and a really horrible "Underground" 80-200 4.5 with clouded glass and a very loose mount. I also threw in a USB wireless adapter which doesn't seem to pick up any networks, and a couple of cans of insect repellent, which were full enough to count for the dollar, so perhaps I can count the camera as free. </p>

<p>The Underground lens is already in pieces, as I was trying to find a way to tighten the mount and haven't yet, but the camera works, and it even has a good battery in it! It's about the last thing on earth I needed, but there it is. I guess I'll have to put some film in it now.</p>

<p>Nice find. I am getting into 35mm photography more seriously these days. My first camera that I bought was at my church flea market. I bought an almost new, 1970's Nikon FM series with the standard Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 lens, an Osawa 28mm f/2.8 lens, a Quantaray 80-200mm telephoto lens, an Osawa 135mm med. telephoto, a Vivitar Flash, several filters, a damn nice bag and all of the manuals. All of that was $17. <br>

I think that that is a great beginner set. <br>

Also, two weeks after I bought that, a friend was cleaning out some boxes and found a brand-spanking-new Minolta XG-A with a Minolta 50mm lens, a (haha) J.C.Penney med. telephoto, and (again, haha) a J.C.Penney Flash unit. He also threw in some Hoya filters. All of that was free. Even gave me some film. <br>

I really think that getting nice camera's from people who really don't know much about it, is the way to obtain such nice cameras.<br>

I hope I can get lucky again in the future with my camera purchases.</p>

<p>Cheers</p>

<p>nice.</p>

<p>i managed to get a free minolta xg1 in great condition with a 45mm rokkor and a jcpenney 135mm medium telephoto for FREE.</p>

<p>came with a case, too. and the batteries are fresh!</p>

<p>$5 score today at the antique store. It was $15 last month and I resisted the urge until today, waiting was a good thing.<br>

Clean Olympus XA2 and A11 flash, I know it's too new to really count but it has zone focus, manual wind and it's a cult camera.</p>

<p>They had a Yashica MG1 but it looked about the same as a GSN that I had plus it smelled bad and I never really liked the GSN anyway.</p>