Thrift Store Adventures

Today I decided to visit the Saturday morning Kiwanis sale in Ann Arbor.  I haven't been there is a few years, and a photography contact told me about a couple of Miranda SLRs that were in the glass case there.  So, Adrienne and I went downtown and I immediately head up to the second floor with Tom, one of the volunteers that works with the cameras.  Sure, there were two Mirandas (a brand which I have not previously used), and I picked up the more recent one, a Sensorex II. I also picked up some other items very cheaply.  A cheap Argus 35mm outfit for $1 and the original K-mart sticker on the back listed it for $24.99!    A neck strap for $2, some 1 GB CF memory cards, and a Bogen quick-release plate for $2.  Over a decade ago, my daughter and I would occasionally visit the sale, and like any operation of this type, it changed from week to week.  I know I got some bargains back then, and with many people abandoning their film cameras or seeing little value in them, they end up in places like Kiwanis.  Today's visit at least made me more aware of what they have -- and depending on what one is looking for -- there is something for everyone.  Light meters, expired film, plastic cameras, vintage Kodaks, modern and vintage SLRs, lenses, lots of flashes, books, etc.  It's certainly worth stopping in from time to time to check it out.

Lots of stuff to look over.

 Because the Kiwanis folks have volunteers that look over the items, you are more likely to find that things actually work.  It's a good place to browse, but since it is only open on Saturday mornings, it can be quite packed and busy, too.

The Miranda Sensorex II I purchased is in great shape. I put in a battery and turned on the meter, and it sprang to life.  It all looks very clean, so I am going to shoot a roll of b&w this weekend, to see how it works.

Later on, we stopped at the Ann Arbor Recycle/Reuse center, which is open every day, and things can come and go very quickly.

Tom Nighswander, local photographer and Kiwanis volunteer

 I have purchased many books there over the years, as well as some camera gear.  It's all very spotty though, and things don't sit around too long unless they are really awful.  All I saw there was a Dacora-Matic 4D camera from 1960.  Dusty and probably with a non-working Selenium meter, I left it on the counter.  It was interesting to see, though.  An instance where the push-button craze just went too far!

The fun thing about thrift stores is the hunt -- and finding something that you think is a bargain, versus the wait and see atmosphere on ebay.  Browsing is serendipitous, which can also lead to some very interesting finds.

We all have stories about great thrift store finds.  What's yours?

in the glass case

The Miranda Sensorex II is a beauty.

Dacora-Matic 4D.  An odd one.

Bag of Surprises

Last weekend I stopped by the Ann Arbor Recycle Reuse thrift store to see what I might find in the way of cameras, etc.  I found a few photographic books that I decided to pickup, and I was looking through a jumble of things in one corner towards the back, when I spied one of those Kodak Film cooler bags.  It was ratty-looing with mildew on it, but I looked inside, anyway.  Much to my surprise there were two decent Polaroid pack film cameras and a bunch of accessories.  The cashier was somebody new, and I offered $5, as the bag was unpriced.  He looked inside, and thought that "some of the small parts were probably worth more than the cameras" and came back with $7.50.  Sold.  I was going to offer $10, but Adrienne (who obviously is a shrewder person than I) thought that was too high to start with.  So, I saved at least $2.50.

Once I got the bag home, I immediately started looking through it.  It has sat around in someone's basement for a long time, I think.  However, the two cameras, a Polaroid 450 and a 340 were in pretty good shape.  There was a cardboard box of exactly the right size inserted into the bag for rigidity, and tucked between the box and the bag were a bunch of papers, including  a few old b&w Polaroids, some more recent-looking b&w prints, instructions for the Polaroid cameras and accessories, as well as the manual and papers for a Canon Canonet-28. A Polaroid self-timer, close-up kit, UV filter, M3 bulbs, 2 flashbulb holders, a screwdriver, and a Kalimar telephoto lens for the Polaroid completed the kit.  Oh, and there were 4 of the small tubes that hold the coater strips for the old b&w prints.

All of the items work, and I think I will keep at least the Polaroid 340.  It has a real rangefinder (as does the 450) and takes a single battery.  The close-up kit and self-timer are also keepers.  The 450 has a nicer Zeiss Rangefinder, but I'll need to check out the battery situation before I decide to keep it.  Polaroid made a plethora of models of the folding land cameras, and some are obviously better than others. The 340 lacks a tripod mount, but that is not a deal-breaker.
I was very interested in the photographs.  The Polaroids look they are from the mid to late 1980s, and the photos of the bartender and the waitress look like they are newer, perhaps 1990 or so. I wonder where they were taken?

 It's fun finding bags like this.  I cleaned everything up before I photographed it.  I have seen the Kodak cooler before, but this is a first time owning one. In the first photo, you can see a young man in one of those Papasan chairs and the Kodak bag is behind his shoulder.
The last two photos are at a different location, and are printed from 35 mm negatives. Perhaps from the Canonet 28?

A nice little find, and worth every penny!