Having just slaved non stop for a few weeks getting a chapter of my
thesis finished, I gave myself a break and did the rounds of the local
camera stores and pawn shops. For once, I actually found something!
Indeed I came away with a near mint 35-70 f3.5-4.5 for A$215. The only
mark on it is a tiny little ding on the aperture ring, the glass is
perfect. I'd heard these things were small, but didn't realise exactly
how small that meant...I gave my 35-70/4 to my girlfriend last year, and
hadn't really missed it till I borrowed it back while we were in Vietnam
at Christmas, but since then I've been wanting one of my own to fit on
the camera.
I had a hard time choosing between that and a 35-70/3.6 in the same
shop. In the end, it was a combination of price and size that clinched
it (the 3.6 was $100 more, still a good price (both just below Skips
ebay average price - with full warranty from a professional repar shop).
The 3.6 was also optically and mechanically perfect (a tiny bit of play
in the zoom ring which I wouldn't have noticed were it not for Tom
Scales saying his felt strange) - zoom and focus were smooth as butter.
Cosmetically it had a few minor marks on it, like it had jumbled around
with other lenses in a camera bag, and the black felt in the back was
mouldy. They also had a 28-48/4, 135/3.5, 300/4.5, 200/4 etc.
One more standout item that I really lusted after, but could neither
justify nor afford: a 35/2.8 shift (as new with hard case (case not so
new)). Never seen one of these before, so I took it outside and had a
play with it. Great fun, but I'll hang out until a 24 shift comes my
way!
In other news, some not so great deals I found were places that wanted
$599 and $899 for a 35/2 and 28/2, $299 for a T32, $$850 for a user OM4
body, $499 for OM2 w 50/1.8 at a pawn shop.
Dylan - off to play with my new toy!
PS If anyone is after any of these items, I can point them in the
direction of the shop (or pick them up for interstate/overseas buyers)
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