Well this is quite a good story, a cracking story some might say.
When shopping in Arnold town centre I often pop into the charity shops looking for vintage lenses. Following lockdown most haven’t had any stock, but over the last two or three weeks I’ve noticed some shops are getting cameras and lenses again.
I went into Barnardo's and asked the lady on the desk if they had any cameras or lenses. To my surprise she said “Yes” and gave me a box full of cameras. Most were early low resolution digital cameras, but I did notice an OM10 SLR together with a Zuiko 50mm F1.8 vintage lens. The camera was a bit battered and scratched and the film advance lever and mirror were both stuck. The lens glass however looked in good condition, so I removed it from the body for further inspection. By this time a young lady was behind the counter so I started telling her how I collected lenses. I told her I was interested in the lens as the body appeared to be broken and asked her for a price. She gave me a price, to which I replied..
“I cannot pay that, it is not enough, it’s worth more than that”, so I offered her an increased price.
“Are you sure” she said
“Yes, I want to offer you a fair price”
So the deal was done.
“You might as well take the body too, if it’s broken, you might be able to do something with it”
“OK yes, I will take it”
I didn’t have a bag, so I put the camera and lens in an empty dog poo bag !!! (too much info’ Phil)
I thanked the young lady for her time and the lens and told her I would show her some pictures after I’d used it on my Sony, I said I might take her photo with it.
I met my wife and then went home to walk Ruby before lunch. After lunch I cleaned the lens and camera and searched some geeky forums to see if I could fix the camera body. I then attached the lens to my Sony A6000, did a few tests shots and decided to go and show the young lady (April is her name) in Barnardo's the lens on my camera. I put Ruby’s lead and harness on and we walked into the town centre to show April the lens. As we walked into the shop she immediately bonded with Ruby, making a big fuss of her, which of course Ruby loved.
I asked her if I could photograph her with the new lens and she said yes. She stood in a corner of the shop where they has just set up a Christmas display and I shot a few images of her. She was amused that Ruby was sniffing the pot pourri bags !
April had a rescue dog too , so we has quite a chit chat about dogs ! I said her green hair would look great on the photo. I asked her how long she had coloured her hair for “It changes every week, I’ve been colouring my hair for ages”
The lighting wasn’t that good in the shop, so I had to bump the ISO up a bit, I did benefit from a large window, but it was still a challenging shot for lens knocking on for 40 something years old.
I think the lens did OK.
Thank you for being stranger 236 April, it was lovely to meet you and Ruby thinks the same too !
A colourful lady with such a clean honest face . The coloured hair suits her. .As usual a great narrative . Reminds me ,I have only got rid of my 30+ yr old om 20 and a variety of lenses and filters for a few £ s ..all still in good condition .
I'm impressed she dyed her eyebrows as well as her hair - very colourful. Fun portrait and an interesting story.
I'm intrigued - when you post a photo you usually state which vintage lens you used; how do you decide which one (ones?) to take out with you and use?
Great shot and story. April is a beautiful young lady. I don't mind the colour of the hair and eyebrows though I would have preferred the eyebrows more blue ish. However, maybe I'm older than I think I am, I don't live the nose ring and the studs (?).
First what a great girl working in a charity shop....you don’t get many young ones volunteering although I know the odd supervisor gets paid.
The lens was a great buy.. charity shops are rich pickings ...Ruby will want to be going in that shop every time you go into town!
@happypat thanks Pat, i will be visiting the shop again
@jackies365 thanks jackie, the lens is a keeper :)
@casablanca thanks Casa, April's hair and 'brows are awesome :)
@sangwann dione thank you , April was lovely to meet
@dulciknit thanks alison . I have my fave' lenses. Two years in, I now only tend to buy prime lenses(I've bought some dud mid range zooms). From the primes, the Helios's and Industars (both Russian) tend to make regular appearances. As for the others, I do try to rotate them a bit and give them all an airing :)
I'm intrigued - when you post a photo you usually state which vintage lens you used; how do you decide which one (ones?) to take out with you and use?
The lens was a great buy.. charity shops are rich pickings ...Ruby will want to be going in that shop every time you go into town!
@jackies365 thanks jackie, the lens is a keeper :)
@casablanca thanks Casa, April's hair and 'brows are awesome :)
@sangwann dione thank you , April was lovely to meet
@dulciknit thanks alison . I have my fave' lenses. Two years in, I now only tend to buy prime lenses(I've bought some dud mid range zooms). From the primes, the Helios's and Industars (both Russian) tend to make regular appearances. As for the others, I do try to rotate them a bit and give them all an airing :)
@sdutoit thank you Sylvia
@annied cheers Annie
@photographycrazy fair value indeed :)
@beryl Ohhh Beryl your Olympus lenses would have been pretty awesome :)
@maggiemae thanks maggie, glad you like Aprils's style
@cocobella Merci Corinne , April was a lovely lady
@marlboromaam thanks MAggie , it was a hard photo to edit because of the tricky lighting
@bizziebeeme thanks Laura, your words are much appreciated