More bargains on Ebay

These are pictures of more bargain priced cameras I purchased on Ebay. I don't want to give the impression that every camera for sale on Ebay is necessarily a bargain. You do have to shop and sometimes even "snipe" (wait until the last few minutes of an auction to place a bid on the particular piece of equipment you want) in order to get some of the better deals. Beginning with the model directly above the cameras are:

1. A Minolta SRTMCII, an "old school" manual focus SLR (single lens reflex) camera. As of this writing, I have a partially exposed roll of film in the camera. As you can see from the picture, this one was produced back in the days when camera bodies were constructed of metal. It is a heavy piece of equipment. The lens shown above has been discarded because the Seller indicated that the aperture did not function properly, and as you can see, it is use-worn badly. (which by the way was one of the reasons I wanted this camera). Often, other buyers will walk away from a camera when the Seller admits the lens doesn't work. I had previously purchased some lenses that I knew would work on this camera, so I wanted it. The price: $12.50

2. A Nikon F50. This one came WITHOUT a lens, but it's a Nikon! If you're unfamiliar with 35mm film photography cameras, Nikon is one of the best brands you can buy. I don't presently have a lens for it, but I will scour Ebay until I find one (at the right price of course). This model has auto focus as well as manual focus capability. The price for this camera (body only) $5.68

3. A Nikon N4004. As of this posting I haven't actually received this one yet (I just won it today). It does come with a 50mm lens, and is also capable of both auto focus and manual focus photography. After it arrives, I'll put a roll of film through it and post the pictures here. The price of this camera on Ebay: $19.49 (I sniped this one)

Many of you know my personal preference in camera brand names is Minolta, but I won't pass up a chance to get a good deal on a major brand name like Nikon either. Now, I must make a "disclaimer" of sorts. Ebay is GREAT place to buy used equipment if you're (like me) a weekend photographer. If however, you're looking for great deals on newer equipment, or professional grade equipment, ebay is probably NOT the place to shop. The reason for this is the Sellers are often people who've inherited the equipment, or someone who acquired it in an estate sale, or simply had the equipment for several years in a closet. These people don't know much more about the equipment than you do. Having said all of that, I do hope you'll consider ebay as a source of good equipment at bargain basement prices. Happy Shutter Bugging!

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More Pictures of "Cotton"

Remember little "Cotton" (her real name is Marley) from my previous posts?  Well, here's an update.  Little "Cotton" isn't so little anymore

 

                                    Amazing what regular feedings will do.  She's "potty" trained now.  

St. Louis Summer Concert

   Like most medium to large size Cities, St. Louis has a "summer concert series".  Entertainers of various music genres give free concerts.  I'm usually NOT impressed by singer "wanna-be" entertainers.  And I'd never heard of, much less actually heard the young lady above sing.  I was on a photo hunt for this blog when I happened to be downtown in St. Louis city and heard her singing.  I was blown away.  Never have I heard a live singer deliver such a crisp and perfect performance.  And, she seemed to be doing so effortlessly.  With all do respect to Alicia Keyes, Kristy Menekee (above) could give her some good competition. During her performances, I noticed other people were stopping to listen, just as I had.  If she ever comes to your area, don't deprive yourself of the experience.  Even the little guy below stopped to listen.

 

Old Cars

     Remember the "good ol' days" when plastic models of cars like these were only $2.00?  Tubes of glue (model cement) were 10 cents, and tiny jars of model paint were 15 cents each.  The big names in model kits were (at least in Nashville, Tn where I grew up)  Monogram, Revell, and AMT.  If your (Parents') budget didn't allow for such extravagance as these, there were the 29 cents, and 50 cents models.  They didn't come with genuine rubber tires, metal axles, or the "chrome" bumpers and windshield borders like the more expensive models, but you just had to buy some black and chrome paint to fix that problem.   Seeing these real life cars reminded me of that much simpler time before computers, the internet, or cable TV, when people had to use their creativity and imagination.

    These pictures were taken with my Minolta HTsi 35mm film camera, using Fuji brand 35mm film.  The lens was a 300mm telephoto lens, and the film speed (ISO) was 800.