Browsing through thrift stores can be much like hunting for treasure, with sheer luck delivering surprising results.
One photographer got a dose of the lucky side of this recently when he stumbled upon roughly $1,500 worth of camera gear that cost him only $20.
In a Reddit post about his discovery titled “White Whale Found!” in the ThriftStoreHauls subreddit, the Redditor/photographer shows off a load of cameras and camera lenses that he’d snagged at a thrift store for just $20 after buying a heavy but otherwise ordinary camera bag.
These were a Nikon D5100 with 18-55mm lens that’s worth $about $600+ new or just over $200 used, a Canon EOS 20D camera with a used value of maybe $100, a Canon EF-S 10-18mm lens worth roughly $300 and a Canon 85mm ultrasonic lens, which is the priciest item in the lot at $500.
The above prices can vary depending on whether you buy these items used or new, so the value of this Redditor’s find is a bit subjective, but it’s easily at least a couple of hundred dollars above $1000.
Also, while these cameras and lenses aren’t exactly cutting edge pieces of modern photographic gear, they’re nothing to sneeze at, and grabbing them all for the price of a simple camera bag is downright wonderful.
In his comments for the post, he mentions, “I have some more Canon lenses from a camera that was stolen a few years ago, so I am happy to start playing with photography again,”
While it’s certainly odd that nobody among the store’s employees ever bothered to check why the camera bag was (as it must have been) so unusually heavy, it’s possible if the store gets lots of merchandise inflow and the staff was in a hurry to process it.
Other Reddit users on the ThriftStoreHauls subreddit were both happy for and envious of the user’s luck.
One of them mentioned, “I picked up a Polaroid autofocus 660 and a Polaroid Sun 600 yesterday at the thrift for $5 a piece, and I thought I got a good deal,” commenting on the exceptional quality of this particular find.
The camera gear found by this lucky guy is more than good enough to delve nicely into some very robust street photography at least.
Older DSLR cameras like the EOS 20D and the D5100 aren’t top shelf items, but they’re more than good enough for quality shooting if you use them with a keen eye.
Cases of unique and valuable finds in thrift stores and pawn shops happen often enough for these places to be worth exploring for any intrepid photographer.
For example, several years ago, another photographer encountered a Leica M2 camera in perfect condition, for which they paid just $5.
That puts even the Reddit post above to shame since the M2 continues to be worth well over $1,000 on the used camera market.
Images credit: Redditor Sferguson411
Credit : Source Post
