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Anonymous
I have been helping out an old woman who lives near me for years (I'm now 20), doing the sort of things for her that she can't do herself. What does this have to do with photography? You'll see.

This week she finally told me her life's story. She married when she was very young, and stayed with the man until he died (cancer, I think). The reason this came up, of course, was because I found some ancient film rolls and other photo accessories in her attic, completely covered in dust. She explained that her husband was an avid photographer, but for some reason never took it up as a career (he made LOTS of money in the medical business). Cutting to the chase here - for some reason, she thinks photography made her husband die younger than he needed to. Mentioning the photo stuff in the attic made her upset, and she told me that I could take anything photography-related I could find up there, since she knows I love photography. Well, that attic is one hell of a mess. I've been poking around up there for a few minutes now and then for a few weeks now, and I still expect to find more stuff. My first find was an epic amount of developed and undeveloped (expired decades ago) film. Now on to the good stuff - let me warn you, this guy had metric shit loads of camera goods. I mean, jesus. Just take a look:
Olympus OM-2 with 50mm f/1.8 lens
Minolta X-700, minor body damage
*original Minolta Maxxum 7000 (with the pre-Exxon-lawsuit crossed XX pattern)
Asahiflex IIA (didn't even know what it was when I found it, had to look it up)
An Instamatic (don't know which model yet)
Canon EOS 650, badly bruised
Now even though none of these cameras are particularly wonderful finds, I still think of it as a goldmine. That is, before I find something else. Then it becomes a platinum mine.
>> Anonymous
(continued)

...is that...a HASSELBLAD? I pretty much creamed myself right then, in the middle of this old lady's attic. Yes, it was a Hasselblad. A 503cx, to be exact. You can probably imagine - I decided to take a break after that. I'm pretty much on cloud frigging eleven right now. I tried to explain the value of what she has lying around in her attic, but she just told me that if I found it, it's mine to take. She certainly doesn't need the money, but I'm still surprised to see her complete lack of interest in her husband's affects. I think photography may have killed him. He died sometime in the (earlier?) 90's, and most of his equipment I've found so far had to have been bought not long before. In addition to what I've listed above, I also came across a pile of Holgas in varying states of disrepair, and a speedlight. He organized his equipment very strangely. I found the cameras all in one spot, the film all in a few boxes in the corner...He literally had so much STUFF he had to organize it by type. That's why I think I haven't even found his lenses yet. They're probably tucked away in a chest I haven't looked in yet.

So, I have two questions to ask /p/:

Have you ever come across a stash of photo goodies?

...and also,

How fucking wonderful is it to be me right now?

btw, sorry about the godawful MSPAINT image. I hope you'll understand.

*If you don't believe the story (and I'm sure many of you won't), fear not - I'll post pics as soon as I'm satisfied with my looting.
>> Anonymous
pics pics pics nao
>> Anonymous
nao
>> ac !!VPzQAxYPAMA
>>70374
Oh man, do want hasselblad.

Best photographic score I've gotten like this is an old Nicon FG from a friend of mine. And that's really pretty lame, overall.
>> heavyweather !4AIf7oXcbA
>>70374
Holy shit, dude. Truly, EPIC WIN. /p/ Hero.
>> Anonymous
The best find/deal I've had so far was a pawn shop owner I was friends with who didn't know a thing about cameras (didn't know much about anything, actually) ;)

I ended up getting 2 complete camera bags, with:
3 bodies: Olympus OM-10, Minolta SRT-201 and Minolta X-370
Lenses: 50mm f/1.8 prime (Olympus), 28-135mm zoom (olympus), 70-210mm zoom (olympus), 50mm 1.7 prime (minolta), 50mm 1.8 prime (minolta), 135mm prime - an oldie (minolta), 70-210mm zoom (minolta)

2 Cokin A-Series holders, 3 rings, ~15 or so filters. UV or 1A filters for all of the lenses, a couple polarizers, cases for everything, 2 collapsible lens hoods (49mm and 55mm)

3 Flash units (2 proper ones and a little mini olympus one), 2 remote release cables, lots of kodak lens cleaning paper, 2 bottles of solution, 3 blower bulbs, Lens cases for the olympus lenses and all of the bodies (one is an extended case for a full-size zoom lens)

Everything was in pristine condition except for the 135mm minolta prime (a few scratches) and the one camera bag (the zippers were in bad shape).

The total price this guy gave it to me for: $40 Canadian, no taxes.
>> Anonymous
>>70472
Why don't you sell the stuff on ebay? Pawn shops suck for photo gear unless they specialize on it.
>> VF-19
I inherited my father's Spotmatic II with carrying case, all his lens, and accessories. 2.8 28mm, 2.8 35mm, 1.8 55mm, 135 mm (don't know the F on hand), 4.5 200 mm. The 55 and 135 are from the old Takumar Line and both are multicoated. I also got two flashes, and a flash bracket for the spotmatic. The only thing that's wrong with the spotmatic is the hotshoe isn't so hot anymore... It keeps shorting out and firing the flash... Usually right to my face...

Thanks Dad
>> Anonymous
I inherited an heavy as fuck 300/5.5 Tele-Xenar with a M40 mount. Who the hell came up with this mount? Now I have to scrounge some obscure nazi camera or make a homebrew adapter to try it.
>> Anonymous
Made me think twice about snobbing out over a $8/hr senior photo job:

One of my photo grad friends was paying off his $120,000 Brooks degree by working at Lifetouch or some similar studio for practically slave wage. The studio folded, and for practically unfathomable reasons, the manager gave ALL of the equipment to my friend. 3 or 4 studio strobe setups, a few Hasselblads, backdrops, the fucking works. Maybe the stuff was all used up, or maybe the manager was just insane, but jeeeezus.

The best haul I ever got was a Nikon FM2 and a couple of third-party lenses.
>> Vincent
Lal @ brooks, If you have rich parents and they want to get rid of you for a while yet your too stupid to go to a real college, Go to Brooks.

Sure it will teach you a lot about photography, but guess what, It doesn't mean shit in the real world. You better be a fucking genius in the business world to even make a decent wage. Cause taking pictures is like acting, thousands go in, and only a few make a living out of it.
>> Anonymous
>>70544

k
>> heavyweather !4AIf7oXcbA
>>70544
I think you just changed a life, sir.
>> Anonymous
My new girlfriend bought me a Canon eos mark iii, i'm very happy with it. Best girlfriend ever.
>> Anonymous
>>70577
God Damn.
>> Anonymous
>>70577
i think you don't have a girlfriend. enjoy your... son of a bitch.
>> ac !!VPzQAxYPAMA
>>70577
Pics of the girlfriend taken with the 1D III or it didn't happen.
>> Anonymous
I must second that!
>> ac !!VPzQAxYPAMA
So... Pics or it didn't happen.
>> Anonymous
It's karma OP. I was helping a young woman with something when she asked if I could assess the remainder of her dad's photography gear. Her mom had been selling Bronica bodies for $25 off card tables in a yard sale.
The cameras were gone but I bought (fair price) a slew of darkroom stuff from them. I directed them to a local photo shop as the best place to sell filters and rings and a few cases.
>> Anonymous
>>70544
The truthfulness blinded me.
>>70373
I know how you feel, my first camera find was an Olympus OM-1 with some mild wear and fully functional. I use to use that baby over my digital
>> Anonymous
>>70577
Congratulations.

And honestly, I'm not jealous, though I don't know why. Because, well, it's one of the best cameras in the world, and she's probably got a good connection with you, and at least moderately attractive and good in bed, because even buying a 1D Mk. III doesn't in and of itself make someone the "best girlfriend ever."

Or maybe I'm just in a generally joyous mood, and this got assimilated into that.