Biggest "steal" you ever made...

[Larry Kellogg]

I know I'm supposed to list some camera steal but how about a electronic device that can send pictures? :-)

Years ago, I went to an auction at a failed dot com company with a friend of mine. We sat there for hours without buying anything, watching people pay crazy prices for old computers.

At the end of the auction, they started selling sealed boxes of electronic stuff. My friend won a box for $25. When he got the box, he found that it contained a huge piece of electronic gear with all sorts of lights and switches on the front. Not having any idea what it was, he gave it to me to do some research.

I found out that the thing was an interface unit for a T1 line. I called my friend and said I would tell him what it was if he split the money with me. He said sure, so I told him, and sold the unit to someone for $900.

[Eric Woodbury]

How about the biggest steal I've let. I'm still kicking myself for selling a 305mm Kodak Portrait lens a friend gave me. I practically forced someone at a camera show to take it off my hands. I guess I got fair price, if selling a car to a used car dealer is fair.

[dbendo]

How about the one that got away, About 20 years ago a friend closed his printing business, offered me his Drum Scanner they used to to make color separation's for next to nothing. He said really to just take it.

I didn't act fast enough, his partner gave it away. %$#@

[sperdynamite]

My Deardorff V8 that I bought about a year ago for $300.00 (more info in a recent thread in camera forum). Needed new bellows which I swapped for a bright red set. I could also mention the 300/5.6 Sinaron that I got for $400.00. I LOVE that lens and that camera. I hope they're with me for life.

[Roger Cole]

I know I'm supposed to list some camera steal but how about a electronic device that can send pictures? :-)

Years ago, I went to an auction at a failed dot com company with a friend of mine. We sat there for hours without buying anything, watching people pay crazy prices for old computers.

At the end of the auction, they started selling sealed boxes of electronic stuff. My friend won a box for $25. When he got the box, he found that it contained a huge piece of electronic gear with all sorts of lights and switches on the front. Not having any idea what it was, he gave it to me to do some research.

I found out that the thing was an interface unit for a T1 line. I called my friend and said I would tell him what it was if he split the money with me. He said sure, so I told him, and sold the unit to someone for $900.

That would have been a CSU/DSU then, most likely.

[John Layton]

I like to take things apart. A few years ago, I purchased five "broken" Rolleiflexes for a total of less than 100.00. Took them apart and fixed them, then sold four of them and kept an Automat, with its pristine Tessar - and sold the rest to fund a "brand new, in box" Rollei 3.5F series 3 (circa 1962/1963 with six element Planar), and new ever ready case with strap and meter (focus control) cover. Not sure if this qualifies as a "steal," but in truth the "broken" Rolleis were, by and large, simply victims of under-use, and I was able to fix them all with a basic clean and lube, with no parts needed. So yes...this was a steal!

But my true "steal" was a few years before the above...when I was working in a retail camera shop and was given a box of cameras which were deemed "unfixable." In this box was a Leica 3F with a 35mm Summaron lens (with metal shade!) and finder. Looked impossibly beat but with a bit of patience I fixed this up pretty well, used it for awhile then sold it.

Then again, I was given another "unfixable" item - a 35mm eight element Summicron-M with a "frozen" (un movable) focus control. Leica had refused to repair this, and the owner gave it to me in frustration. To fix this lens, I held it for awhile over a hot wood stove - after which it worked great! I did offer to give this one back, but the owner refused...telling me that as I had figured out such a simple means of "fixing" this lens after Leica had refused it, then I deserved to keep it!

Best Flea-Market steal? A 65mm f/5.6 (rarer and better than the 6.3) lens for the Fuji 690 RF - for 35.00, then sold shortly thereafter for about 800.
Flea-Market/Yard sale fantasy? This has to be a Voigtlander Bessa-II, pristine condition of course, with an Apo-Lanthar lens. There's gotta be one out there somewhere!

[EdSawyer]

" This has to be a Voigtlander Bessa-II, pristine condition of course, with an Apo-Lanthar lens. There's gotta be one out there somewhere! "

That would be a good score. King of the old 6x9 folders, no doubt!

[Corran]

Yeah, we can all wish. I wonder how many of those were actually made? I have a feeling some of the ones that pop up on eBay are just 105mm APO Lanthar cells that were put into the camera or shutter and recalibrated focus. That's what I would do if I wanted to sell a camera for $10,000+.

I guess sometimes you get lucky though. I was watching a seller on eBay who listed a huge lot of cameras he bought from an estate. They were all tested but basically "as-is." One of the old miscellaneous Leica screwmount lenses that was really rare shot up to $23,000. Sold for about $25k if I remember. Ridiculous - it was in poor cosmetic shape too. Found some images on flickr from the lens and I was underwhelmed - basically a standard fast portrait lens made by a defunct company, it's just rare.

[Larry Kellogg]

That would have been a CSU/DSU then, most likely.

Yep, it was a CSU/DSU. You an old network engineer? It's probably worth $5 now, LOL.

[vdonovan2000]

At the Oakland Museum white elephant sale, I saw a grimy plastic bag with what appeared to be a Polaroid 110b in it. It was priced at $20. I'd always wanted one to convert to pack film, so I could have a manual pack film camera. I had a friend whom I knew could do the conversion for me for about $200, or if it was in bad shape I could use the lens on my 4x5. So I bought it, knowing I'd made a pretty good deal regardless.

When I got home and opened the bag and found that a) the camera was in mint condition and b) it had already been expertly converted to pack film. Boom!