Ditch-ital
I don’t have a digital camera anymore. Someone in California has my digital camera. And you can purchase my final autofocus lens from Georgia.
No one stole my camera or lens; I decided to sell them. I actually managed to get $300 for my camera on eBay, which I thought was pretty good considering it’s a digital product that’s four years old now. The lens I sold to KEH for just over $200, which was probably less than I could have gotten otherwise, but I figured it would be best to have them take the lens and directly apply it towards the Leica.
The bad thing was that the Leica IIIc started squeaking soon after I received it. I found a similarly-priced IIIf (black dial) for only a few dollars more, and it’s fully CLA’ed and refurbished. Now all that remains while I wait is to bitch about all the waiting.
First off, I lament but understand the increased prices for shipping. Here’s a breakdown of all the shipping incidents that I will have paid for by the time this is all over:
- Shipping my camera out to California and buying insurance and tracking, USPS.
- Shipping my lens down to Georgia, and at least buying tracking, USPS.
- Shipping my first Leica from Georgia, FedEx.
- Shipping my first Leica back to Georgia, UPS.
- Shipping my second Leica from New England.
- Shipping my threadmount lenses from New York.
These used to cost less than ten dollars each, but now they cost somewhere between ten and twenty dollars.
Well, you interject, what about eBay? Doesn’t the buyer at least pay for shipping in that instance? Yes, dear reader. But I throw that cost away, since eBay’s 9% (!) selling fee pretty much eliminated that cash. Not to mention that my estimate for shipping came out to half of the real cost. Sorry, but I don’t own a scale that can determine most shipping weights.
While we’re on the subject of bitching about eBay, I was surprised to learn that upon being paid for my biggest-ticket item of the digital camera, I would not be allowed to access my funds for nearly a month. Apparently some time between the last sale I made on eBay and now, the policy for having your funds made available to you changed. EBay and PayPal now hang on to your money for 21 days, or 3 days after the postal service’s shoddy tracking system shows that it’s been delivered.
First off, I’ve always felt that eBay sales were a bit like the high-stakes sales of drugs and whatnot that you see in the movies. So much revolves around the fact that the exchange takes place at the exact same time – you give me the money, I give you the stuff. And if there’s any funny business, there’s a firefight. EBay has totally shattered that illusion of fairness, insisting that the buyer gets the stuff well before I get the money. I can understand not wanting to get bum items on the receiving end, but I think that eBay and Paypal just want an excuse to have my money in their coffers interest-free for however long they can try to claim is reasonable.
What is more aggravating is that this money isn’t going to end up as my personal profit. It’s going to fund the purchase of other goods and services, some of which I don’t want others to buy before I get the chance. Screw the cameras, how am I supposed to afford these shipping costs if all the money I had to sell stuff to obtain is tied up? Then of course, there is the pain of living without a particular camera for any period of time, which photographers (and especially us weirdo film photographers) will agree with me verges on debilitating.
Anyway, apparently this moratorium gets lifted once you sell enough shit (25 items) on eBay.
Now that that rant is out of my system, though, I’m back to being optimistic, for the follwoing reasons:
1) My Konica Auto S2 should be getting back from its repair journey soon, with a replaced shutter. I am planning on doing a Youtube review soon. It’s my favorite 35mm camera and not as well-known as, say, Hasselblads, Leicas, and Nikons, so a prime candidate for a review.
2) “Friend Of The Blog” Alex has been my first Camera Loan Program partner, so I expect to have a new camera in my hands some time soon, with an additional review to follow.
3) As I said before, I’m getting a Leica IIIf at some point hopefully before the end of the month, and it will be professionally CLA’ed and refurbished. That and lenses for just a few dollars more than my old digital kit. I don’t exactly break even, but I will spend under $100 getting a dream-level camera and ditching digital photography for good. It just feels good to get rid of gear that I don’t really use anymore, especially something as value-doomed as digital.
The irony is that I want to get a better digital camcorder/webcam setup for my increased activity on Youtube. By the way, do check me out: http://www.youtube.com/user/yeknom02/
candid
1/50s, f/2.5, 50mm, ISO 200
Candid shot of Andrew’s girlfriend at the Acoustics winter party. I don’t know if she’s curious, annoyed, or even sees my camera.
one way traffic
1/200 s, f/11, 190mm, ISO 400 – Taken on the corner of Beaver Ave. and Sparks St. in State College.
