Organised by the Camera and Image Collectors Society, the Sydney Camera Market is held twice or thrice a year. It is in this event that photographers, hobbyists, enthusiasts and collectors can find vintage cameras and lenses for cheap prices.
Other items that they sell: secondhand digital cameras (Canon, Nikon, Olympus, Pentax, Sony etc), lenses, flashes, polarizers, lens hoods and caps, bags, tripods, camera straps and magazines.
Other than finding "diamonds in the rough", this is a place where one can talk to people with the same interest for photography. Most of the stall owners are very accommodating in discussing buyers' question on gadgets and photography even if you are not buying from them.
The event is held from 10:00am to 3:00pm at one of the halls of the Ultimo Community Centre. The place is not that big so expect little room to move once you're inside. We arrived before 11am and there was a crowd already.
Our friend Jon was already there. He was the one who told us about this event and I was glad to see him. He helped us try out some vintage lenses via his camera.
Now for our great finds. We were able to buy a vintage Fujinon lens (55mm, f1.8). Haven't used this yet as I have to buy an M42 mount for my Canon camera. Test shots from this lens produced sharp images. Tag price on this little one was AUD$35.00 but the seller gave me a AUD$5.00 discount.
With the bargain I made from the Fujinon lens, I bought a cute lens hood for the lens only for AUD$3.00.
Our great find that day was a vintage Fujica camera (the grandfather of Fuji cameras) released in the early 1980s. The camera and lens were priced at AUD$42.00. My Husband asked the seller if we can buy it for AUD$35.00 and he gave it to us!!! What great bargain that was.
Our great find that day was a vintage Fujica camera (the grandfather of Fuji cameras) released in the early 1980s. The camera and lens were priced at AUD$42.00. My Husband asked the seller if we can buy it for AUD$35.00 and he gave it to us!!! What great bargain that was.
The next Sydney Camera Market is scheduled on 25 July 2010. Hope to see you there!
Here are some sample shots from our vintage Fujica. We just scanned the photos, no editing done so you can see actual shots.
Here's a full body shot. Notice the vignette on the side of the photograph.
Here's a more close-up shot. Notice the beautiful bokeh (eyeloveit!!!).
A silhouette shot. In the real photo (as in hard copy), the outlines are sharp and crisp.
To have this camera is a dream come true. Having to buy it at a very cheap price was a big bonus. No matter how digital everything are these days, using film cameras will always be love. I love the learning that goes with it, I love that you really have to think about settings because there's no take twos (there is, but you know what i mean), I love the romance of waiting for your photos to get developed (one day wait here in our suburb), the anticipation and wondering (and fear?? hehe) what your photos really look like and the joy of seeing some good photographs when they've been handed over to you.
The Husband and I have already bought a couple of coloured films and some black & white films. The Fujica will be one of our cameras when we cover events now.
