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Thread: Pictures made with thrift store cameras

  1. #1

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    Pictures made with thrift store cameras

    I'll start. I have a modest collection of cameras, mostly 135, mostly purchased from thrift stores and junk shops for less than $20. No amazing finds, just a few curiosities. I've run a roll or two of film though most of them that still have film available. Here's one:

    Scaffolding. Nov. 2016.

    Camera: Bolsey Model B rangefinder (c. 1947) w/ fixed Wollensak 44mm f/3.2
    Purchase price: ~$5

    Film: Ektar 100, shot using 'Sunny 16'.

    David
    Comments and critique always welcome.

  2. #2
    Vaughn's Avatar
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    Re: Pictures made with thrift store cameras

    Three images with a 75 cent Diana Camera (on sale -- was $1).

    First two are carbon prints, the third is a silver gelatin print. All on Tech Pan, I believe.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails HumCo_3BoysNorthJetty.jpg   Two Boys,South Jetty, 2009.jpg   AlexOregonCoast.jpg  
    "Landscapes exist in the material world yet soar in the realms of the spirit..." Tsung Ping, 5th Century China

  3. #3

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    Re: Pictures made with thrift store cameras

    Quote Originally Posted by Vaughn View Post
    Three images with a 75 cent Diana Camera (on sale -- was $1).

    First two are carbon prints, the third is a silver gelatin print. All on Tech Pan, I believe.
    New it was $1.00. Used to be sold by street cart vendors and at rodeos and circuses in NYC back in the 50s.

  4. #4
    Serious Amateur Photographer pepeguitarra's Avatar
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    Re: Pictures made with thrift store cameras

    Agfa Isolette + Tmax100 (Isolette purchased for $25 at an antique store in Germany).
    Rodinal: Stand Development
    120 film

    A Walk along the Aliso Creek by Palenquero Photography, on Flickr

    Pentax SV
    SMC Tak 55/1.8
    Fujifilm Neopan 100 Acros
    Perceptol (1+31) 19min @68F
    135mm film

    PILGRIM, Dana Point, California by Palenquero Photography, on Flickr


    Spotmatic Blk + SMC Tak 55/1.8
    Rollei Retro 80s
    TmaxDev
    135mm film

    San Juan Capistrano by Palenquero Photography, on Flickr
    Last edited by pepeguitarra; 7-Jul-2019 at 18:22.
    "I have never in my life made music for money or fame. God walks out of the room when you are thinking about money." -- Quincy Jones

  5. #5

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    Re: Pictures made with thrift store cameras

    This is a fun thread, and a playful antidote to "My photos would be better if only I had ________." No offense intended.
    Philip Ulanowsky

    Sine scientia ars nihil est. (Without science/knowledge, art is nothing.)
    www.imagesinsilver.art
    https://www.flickr.com/photos/156933346@N07/

  6. #6

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    Re: Pictures made with thrift store cameras

    C. 1954-57 Voigtlander Vito B w/ fixed Color-Skopar 50mm f/2.8. Scale focus.
    Purchased for $10, near-mint condition.
    Portra 400

    Last edited by DDrake; 7-Jul-2019 at 17:09.
    David
    Comments and critique always welcome.

  7. #7

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    Re: Pictures made with thrift store cameras

    Nice images so far. Vaughn: how much of those images is light leaks, etc, versus intentional in-camera manipulation?

    Philip U.: My idea of fun, anyway. I gravitate toward black cases in thrift stores, junk shops, and antique malls. Impossible to say no if it's $5 or less. And I've rarely passed up a working-ish camera for under $10.

    Suspect I'm not alone.
    David
    Comments and critique always welcome.

  8. #8
    Vaughn's Avatar
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    Re: Pictures made with thrift store cameras

    Quote Originally Posted by DDrake View Post
    Nice images so far. Vaughn: how much of those images is light leaks, etc, versus intentional in-camera manipulation?...
    The carbon prints are direct contacts with no other manipulation (no burning/dodging, etc). The first one is two side-by-side negatives on the roll. The middle one was an accidental double exposure. Both taken on the same day. The negs are about 1 3/4" squares, so they are wonderful little prints.

    The enlarged image of Alex was pretty much a straight print -- but I might have burnt the lower left a little. The numbers must have been bleed-though from the film backing paper due to old way-out-of-date film and poor storage. Alex was 12 years old, going on 16, so I like the numbers.
    "Landscapes exist in the material world yet soar in the realms of the spirit..." Tsung Ping, 5th Century China

  9. #9
    Corran's Avatar
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    Re: Pictures made with thrift store cameras

    Great idea!
    A couple photos from a Nikon 35AF point-and-shoot that I bought on eBay for $5. Sadly at the end of this canoe trip with some artist friends, the camera got dropped in the water when I was pulling in the canoe and died. And worse, they now sell for 10-15x that price, so no more Nikon p&s for me.



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    All comments and thoughtful critique welcome

  10. #10
    Corran's Avatar
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    Re: Pictures made with thrift store cameras

    Two more from the Nikon that my then girlfriend now wife took of me, first with my Nikon SP and second with my first 8x10, a Gundlach from the late 1800s, on old expired color film back in 2012:



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