The Philosophy Of The Sunday Photomarkets

This may seem an odd column to read on the website of a regular retailer - who also opens their doors of a Sunday - but stick with me here. I recently attended the re-opened Photomarkets, had a good time, and saw things. A train of thought led on from seeing some very unusual stuff offered for sale. Now, a short essay on the philosophy of the fair, the garage sale, and the flea market... a. Like Quentin Crisp's Great Dark Man, there is no Great Cheap Leica at second-hand markets. You can achieve cheap, great, or Leica but only one thing at a time. b. Spending a sunny Sunday morning wandering aisles of $ 50 lenses with a $ 5000 camera body strapped to you is either a life choice...or a symptom. c. There are more oddities in the camera game than there are at the bottom of the sea - and I mean the bits of equipment that various little makers have put out to catch a penny. Some are understandable; cheap cameras made after a country has been defeated in war in an attempt to either get some foreign currency or exact revenge upon the victors. Some are inexplicable; accessory lenses that severely hamper the cameras to which they are attached - again snatching optical defeat from the jaws of victory. In all cases someone had an idea, someone else paid for it to be made, and someone took on the uninviting task of selling it. And someone bought it new. Eventually it ended up as a second-hand table after disappointing every person in the chain...and by this time it takes on a life of its own. Like a rogue mine drifting on the sea lanes, it just wants its next brush with an unwary customer to explode yet again. Part of me wants to see it go up and part wants it taken off with tongs and decently buried. d. There are buyers and there are buyers...and some never buy. They say they might, they say they will, they say they have...but nothing they say has any significance. A charitable seller wishes them well...well away. A sentimental seller actually welcomes them as a reminder of times past...in some cases they have been saying the same thing for over two decades. e. Some people know. Two old Linhof cams sitting at the edge of my table attracted a buyer who carefully looked at their markings for their focal lengths. He knew exactly what they were, where they were needed, and how to fit them on. I was delighted to sell them for pennies to him, though the shade of Ron Frank would probably have given me the stink eye for doing so, No, on second thought, Ron would have beamed approval on a man who knew Linhof and who used it regularly. Ron was old school and he was well-schooled. And a final reminder - CE are open on Sunday and we stock some second-hand goods as well as all the new stuff.