Just got back from NYC with a prize I've been looking for, and from a local
swap meet with a minor prize.
As some of you know (thanks for searching for me, Tomoko!), I've been
looking for a Zuiko 24 shift. I was willing to trade even an absolutely
LNIB OM-3Ti for one, but a list member (thanks, Buddy!) took the OM-3Ti off
my hands, so I had a $1k budget for my 24 shift. I had to be in NYC to
speak at a conference, so I made a list of NYC stores, plotted them on a
subway map, bought a week-long "go anywhere" subway and bus pass for $17,
and vowed to come home with a 24 shift in excellent condition within my
budget.
Unfortunately, Ken Hansen Photographic threw a wrench in my carefully laid
plans. I didn't even think he had used gear -- I got his name from Zörk,
the German maker of tilt/shift adaptors, which I wanted to look at. He was
also closest to the Times Square Marriot Marquis hotel where I was staying,
so he was my first stop.
This is not a storefront shop -- he's on the 18th floor -- and so his
prices may be different (not necessarily "better" or "worse") than other
shops. But I walked in the door, and quickly located the shelf of Oly gear,
and there it was: an "EX+" 24mm shift. It had some brassing on the filter
ring, and a barely noticable "cleaning mark" dead center on the front
element. It was marked $1050, but it was a slow day, and late on Monday
morning, and Ken wanted to make his first sale of the week. We bargained
down to $875. Gee, what was I going to do the rest of the week, with no
reason left to play hookey from the conference?
Ken has some other interesting stuff there -- a couple 18mm, a 16mm, a
135/4.5 macro, a 180/2 (Leica conversion), some fast wides, and the usual
assortment of not-so-fast lenses and 75-150 zooms. I was sorely tempted buy
the 135/4.5, but it had a deep scratch in the front element, about 3mm
long. Ken cleaned it, but I could still feel it with a fingernail -- it was
not a mere coating mark. The 180/2 was beautiful, but I couldn't
immediately justify $1900. It had been converted to Leica mount, but Ken
would convert it back to OM at that price.
One thing Ken told me shed light on the relative rarity of some OM items:
he said he does a thriving business in conversions. He said he has sold six
Zuiko 24 shift lenses to Nikon owners in the past year, after doing the
conversion. The only reason I got this one was because his technician was
on vacation. The 180/2 was converted for a Leica owner, who subsequently
backed out, losing his deposit. Of course, this may have been "sales talk,"
but he sounded sincere.
All told, be sure to check out Ken Hansen when in NYC -- friendly,
knowledgable folk in a low-pressure atmosphere. Be sure to visit on a rainy
Monday morning for some additional dickering advantage. My impression is
that everything there will come down at least 10% with a little friendly
banter. And if you're interested in esoteric Zuiko glass that may be in
demand for conversions, let him know what you're after, and he'll probably
find it.
Next stop: the NYC photo mecca: B&H. They have wonderful selection of most
non-Oly stuff, but very little OM stuff. I was able to look at the Gitzo
carbon and Velbon Carmagne tripods side-by-side. (The Gitzo seems to have a
bit better quality, but at about 20 0gher cost). But there was no OM gear
on display, despite their ads quoting prices for essentially all current
items.
The upstairs is the used department. I asked for some esoteric OM stuff,
but the salesman kept bringing me out slow wides and third-party zooms to
look at. I finally got out of there with a LNIB Stroboframe Vertaflip for
$20. This is a neat little cantilevered tripod bracket that instantly flips
your camera from portrait to landscape, which is something I've been
wanting for QuickTime VR panorama photography. (Unfortunately, it shifts
the nodal point when flipping. I'm going to have to drill and tap to make
it work "right.") I bought two Bogen 3270 quick release mounts for it. The
NYC sales tax of 7.5 0s a joy-killer, when I live 20 minutes from Camera
World of Oregon, where I pay no sales tax, so I didn't get a carbon tripod
that day, but their price on many items is still at least 7.5% below other
dealers.
Continuing with my subway map, despite having acquired my #1 item, I
visited Smile Photo. To contrast with the ultra-friendly Ken Hansen, they
didn't seem too interested in doing business. I waited and waited, while
the salesman took several phone calls. I asked him about used OM stuff, he
showed me a variety of 50/1.8, slow wides, and third-party zooms. I asked
about the 135/4.5 macro, and he went off, returning several minutes later
with a "demo" unit. I stopped it down and pushed the DOF preview, and it
stuck at minimum aperature, with oil visible all over the diaghram vanes.
He said he might have another, and several minutes later returned with one
that was no better. When I tried to bargain down based upon the cost of
repair, he said their prices were already discounted. I won't be going back
there. If you call them to buy "new" OM glass at their excellent advertised
prices, you'll be getting one of these oily lenses, no doubt.
Next stop, Camera Traders. They had the typical assortment of slow wides.
There was an overpriced 135/4.5, but nothing remarkable. The guy behind the
counter didn't know a thing about Olympus, including the fact that the
135/4.5 requires an extension of some kind -- when I asked to look through
it, he struggled in trying to mount it on an OM-2n, possibly damaging the
mirror in the process!
Finally, I checked out Cambridge. They didn't have much of interest, but
when I gave the salesman my list, he made a number of phone calls, and came
up with too-high prices for almost everything I was looking for, including
fast telephotos. (If you MUST have a 250/2 or 350/2.8, they led me to
believe Cambridge can get it for you, albeit above the Farrar high prices.)
He was very friendly, and had a disarming, low-key sales pitch: when I
admired a little Celestron C-90 on display, he said, "Maybe you can teach
me something about these," and brought out a couple other high-quality
mirrors to look at. It was a slow day, and we chatted quite a while about
the photo biz, and he didn't pressure me at all.
Yesterday, I went to an annual photo swap meet in North Portland, Oregon.
There was only some 30 tables or so -- typical mix of collectables, junk,
and some new stuff. No exotic Olympus stuff, but I did find a set of three
Vivitar auto-extension tubes for $40 -- talked down to $30. I've wanted a
set to complement the Olympus set I own, which uses different sizes, so now
I have 7mm, 12mm, 14mm, 20mm, 25mm, and 36mm tubes. A nice thing about the
Vivitar tubes -- the length lines up with the OM tube length, so if you
stack both sets, you can see the different sizes at a glance.
Overall opinions/comments: when in NYC, visit Ken Hansen, who had the most
unusual OM items. (Tell him I sent you!) Try to shop on a rainy week day
for the most attention and the best bargaining power. Buy an all-day or
all-week Metro card, or be prepared for at least $30 in cab fare. B&H is a
great spectacle, but the sales tax is probably more than shipping
out-of-state, or buying from CWO, who ships free on website orders. And
please don't buy that Zuiko 180/2 until I make Ken Hansen a bid on it! :-)
: Jan Steinman <mailto:jans@xxxxxxxxxxx>
: 19280 Rydman Court, West Linn, OR 97068-1331 USA
: +1.503.635.3229
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