As if I really need it. I read stories on here about people traveling many states and shelling out serious money for a nice wooden and iron studio camera and stand. I was not fast enough and rich enough for one that sold on here recently in the next state over, so I looked around a bit and there were two on ebay for $400 with no bites. They were further away than I wanted to travel. I looked on craigslist and decided to look in antiques instead of the photo category. Found a person 2 hours away selling a century setup. They'd been trying to sell it for more than a month with no serious bites at $400 and were close to giving up trying to sell it online. Nasty paint color and a mystery box of goodies were my impressions from the online ad.
For $300, I loaded into my Saab hatchback:
1 Century stand painted with all the wheels and working hardware
1 unidentified 8x10 camera with good bellows and working knobs
4 backs (rollfilm, 4x5, 5x7, 8x10 with partly unfrosted glass)
a couple random lensboards
4-5 beseler negative carriers for a 4x5 enlarger
1 pristine unused looking iris lens clamp
I'm curious what the camera is, as it has no markings. The 4x5 back for it had Burke & James embossed in padding on the spring back, but I don't know if the whole camera is B&J or just that back.
I am pleased to have found a studio camera for sale inexpensively in my own state. I will now have to try my hand at stripping paint. The undersides of the camera and stand show some nice original finish. I don't know why most of the studio camera for sale have such ugly paint schemes. Did MTV do "pimp my antique camera" before settling on teen's cars instead?
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