20
Visited a camera swap meet in Portland and saw something that made me cringe
I was at the big monthly camera meet in Portland last weekend, checking out some old lenses. I saw a guy selling a beautiful Nikon F3, but when I picked it up, the film advance lever felt gritty and stuck. I asked him about it, and he just shrugged and said 'It's fine, just needs a little oil.' That's a classic sign of dried-up grease and worn parts inside. Has anyone else run into sellers passing off gear that clearly needs a full CLA as 'just a quick fix'?
3 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In3 Comments
gavine412mo ago
Oh man, "just needs a little oil" is such a red flag. I had a guy try to tell me a Pentax MX with a shutter that sounded like gravel was "just stiff from sitting." Bought it as a project and found three broken gears inside.
5
wesley_grant332mo ago
My buddy bought a "mint" Leica that had fungus growing behind the front element.
1
Point that lens at a bright light and you'll see it clear as day - fungus loves sitting between cemented elements where you can't even clean it. I always carry a little UV light when I'm buying older glass, shines right through and shows any haze or fungus that the seller's "mint" description conveniently left out. A lot of people don't realize that fungus can actually etch the coating permanently if it's been sitting long enough. My general rule is if I can't get a refund guarantee on a lens that might need professional cleaning, I walk away.
6