bob_chong

Actually, Win, you're wrong. The orginal question was "what's keeping you from buying at the same price." I just told you what: someone who has cornered the market. Is it perfectly legal? Of course.

 

"Oh, a single bidder can bid up past the normal market value? I always thought that the non-winning bid is just a few cents below the winning bid. Just be honest: one person can't push the price on ebay. It takes a few others to do so."

 

I'll make it simple for you. If your name is Jurgen you can buy super baldaxes for $20. If your name is Bob you can bid 20, but Jurgen will outbid you. So you bid 120, and Jurgen will outbid you. He will bid and bid you higher, because the idea of cornering the market means that he cannot let anyone else buy a high quality folder for LESS than what he, personally, would SELL it for himself. By cornering the market, he can ensure that he sets the price. Look at his ebay.de finshed auctions. I am correct on this. He has decided, for example, that a camera with a Solinar is worth X euros. He will buy all Solinars up to X euros (and beyond sometimes), so that he can maintain his pricing structure. Just look at how much he buys. If this is not the definition of cornering the market, please tell me the economics books you have been reading so I can learn about your planet.

 

Thank you.

"However, what keeps you from buying the cameras for that price on ebay, too? Jochen is NOT the only one who is able to see such offers, or what?"

 

There are a couple of factors. One, he has a confederate in germany who he can have things drop-shipped to, since the ebay.de auctions tend to favor "will ship to germany, eu only." Second, he is a shameless sniper. I know this is all fine and good, but his top bids will always beat anyone elses, because he knows he can average his cost down on other cameras he gets for cheap. He has cornered the german market on folders, especially ones with 4 element lenses. I am not exaggerating. I defy, DEFY anyone to try and win an ebay.de auction for a folder with a 4 element lens. It cannot be done. JK will snipe you every single time. Basically, if he cannot have the camera for $20, he will punish you for joining the auction by bidding up past the normal market value, just so he can maintain his corner on the market. It is very shrewd and is interesting to observe.

 

Likewise, I admire his ability to reap thousands of dollars of tax-free, unreported income.

 

As for the quality, like I said, there are stories.

I thought the Ennagon is a triplet. There is some resolution info here http://www.hevanet.com/cperez/cameras/balda.html

 

There is a german expatriate who buys baldas (and other folders) for $10 or $15 from ebay.de and then resells them over here for ten to fifteen times what he paid. Caveat emptor. There are stories. Ask around.

Milk spilled, crying follows. What's with all the wailing and gnashing of teeth? Perhaps Ted "The Swimmer" Kennedy can appoint a commission to look into it. The kids aren't Peter Zenger and the cop wasn't Hitler. Chill out, Chicken MF Littles.

Are you sure that wasn't a misprint? That camera retails in the US for $189, or 159 euros. Wow is right.

"Dr. Wilder's (or is it Dr. Baltimore?)"

 

LOL.

 

I believe that's Alan Wilder of Baltimore, MD (the abbreviation of Maryland is MD).

These posts always amaze me. The collected wisdom on this topic, despite what the few Seagull enthusiasts claim, could be boiled down to this: the Seagull is, was, and will always be a gigantic, steamy pile of defecation.

For hanging in an office somewhere, poster sized.<div></div>

Hmmm.<div></div>

RTFM: "the R2 does not have the long rangefinder effective baselength required to consistently and reliably close focus lenses ... In other words, the shorter rangefinder on the R or R2 will exceed its focusing accuracy close up and wide open with longer fast lenses, but it will be fine wide open at infinity or at close focus stopped down."

 

from http://www.cameraquest.com/voigtBR2.htm

 

Google is a wonderful thing. Try it sometime.

Hmmm. Very interesting question. This has never been asked before, and you certainly wouldn't find any insight in the archives...

Maybe the new owner will pimp it out for fondlers.

"aperture priority 2.8...exposure meter shows...6.3sec. When I remove a lens...51 sec."

 

Well, isn't f2.8 three stops slower than no lens at all? Thus, 6.3 seconds times 2 to the 3rd power is 51 seconds. Or whatever the inverse square law states. 6.3*2*2*2=50.4

 

So the answer to your question is yes, this is normal.

 

You really ought to buy a book on photography. I don't mean that as a flame but as serious advice. Others can recommend titles if they wish.

Try here:

http://www.sfill.jp/

"...using todays filter systems is impossible ... Has anyone out there successfully made such a home built device...?"

 

Such a device is called your hand. You were born with two of them, I presume.

There is a brand new website that might be of help. It's called eBay. A couple people use it, and you might be able to find Leica gear there every now and then.

Variations of RTFM should include RTFA (a=archives) and STFI (s=search, i=internet).

 

http://www.adorama.com/skudooraid003925.tpl?sku=HS3035CFI

make that last thing 'causation' instead of correlation

Does anyone know or can anyone point me to any valid, published studies (in a peer reviewed journal, for instance) about the effectiveness of these circle jerks, er, uh, I mean "protests"? Do these things accomplish anything except make those involved feel noble? I don't want any hippie shit about "we stopped a war, man." I want to see direct correlation, scientifically studied.

A folder will be only marginally smaller, but nothing is lighter than a Holga.

 

An Etyude Russian 645 toy camera might be a tiny bit smaller, but it is no folder.

"If they are indeed shipping 100 a month and it is backordered for 9 months, we are taking about a demand of some 900 units, which is not all that many."

 

If something is backordered for nine months, then demand is pretty high. It doesn't matter if the number is 100 cameras or a million--demand is outstripping supply.

 

If demand were not high, VH Co. could simply send 900 of these puppies and be done with it.

 

There are 900 people who have committed to buying this thing. There are untold more who might buy it, were it available sooner than November 2002.

 

Also, until the supply can meet the demand, the prices will remain ludicrous.

"If anything the price for these cameras will probably increase"

 

No, they won't. When was the last time you saw this ad:

 

"Clearance Sale! All prices raised! Hurry and get discontiniued models at 150% their regular price!"

You've spent "endless hours of internet searching" on a fake? You are either unemployable, lonely, or retired. Who else would put so little value on their own time?

 

"Is my poop brown or tan?"

"CLA" is latin for "too lazy to search the archives."

Ahhh, the unwashed masses. And I do mean unwashed.