A box full of stuff

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 We all spend too much time browsing for good deals on vintage lenses, hoping to find that one rare piece of glass in mint conditions on sale for peanuts and finally be the one who can brag about it on social media. Well, this week happened to me. Sort of.

 I was, as said, browsing local ads when I spotted someone selling a Zenit B and a Helios 44m-4 for 20 euros. “Decent deal”, I thought, “I could probably flip it for a bit of profit”. The seller was just 20 minutes away by car, so I reached out to him, knowing that probably the items had already been sold, especially considering that there where pictures of at least three more lenses coming for free with the camera. A few hours passed and the seller responded and we agreed on meeting the day after. I was fairly sure that they either typed 20 instead of 200, or that every lens was broken.

 You can understand my surprise when I finally saw the box and started sorting through and found out that, while a bit dinged and banged here and there, most of the stuff was in decent or good conditions and the guy was actually only asking 20 euros.

vintage lenses


 Now, I have become quite picky and meticulous when checking lenses to buy, just a few days prior I had passed on a few lenses and accessories because they had been poorly kept and needed to be cleaned and repaired, but this time, as soon as I saw that the Zenit camera and the Helios were clean and working, I gave the guy what he was asking, knowing that, at least, I could make my money back.

 One at home, I played around with the items a little bit, although I won’t have time to properly sit down and clean them for another week or so, so here’s what I got:

·         Zenit B and Helios 44m-4: the camera seems to be perfect and the lens only needs a bit of cleaning. The front thread is a bit deformed

·         Pentacon 29mm 2.8: could use a bit of cleaning, M42

·         Cosina 28mm 2.8: the front thread is badly dinged, needs to be lubricated, but it works, PK mount

·         Avenar 135mm 2.8: clean and smooth, M42

·         Pentax A 28-80: damaged, something is loose and rattles inside, doesn’t focuses properly, needs cleaning, PK mount

·         Panagor 2x focal multiplier: well, who cares, M42

·         Polaroid Swinger: really dirty, probably doesn’t work

·         Filters and cases

 This box of goods gives me the chance to shoot a couple of interesting videos, along obviously the reviews, and I’m especially happy that I’ve found the Pentacon, as I was eager to try more from the band. Plus, now I have a wider range of lenses for my Praktica MTL5, with the Pentacon 28, Mir 1b 37mm, Pentacon 50mm 1.8, two Helios’ 58mm and the Avenar 135mm.

 So, expect videos coming the next months! Anything in particular you want to see? And what do you thing, I got my money’s worth?

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