[SpecialK]

I got another photobook from Adoramapix. First one was my NYC vacation. This one is Route 66 from California to Holbrook AZ.

I think I will do one from my Las Vegas-Yellowstone-Mt Rushmore trip.

The first one was "free" as part of a camera combo. Sort of addicting, now.

[Jean Poitiers]

Another thrift store score. For 2€ and with a new battery it works just fine.

It's not everyday that a Zeiss lens shows up ... and I will try to trade this one away at the next swap(s) for some nice SLR gear.

[eddie1960]

Another thrift store score. For 2€ and with a new battery it works just fine.

It's not everyday that a Zeiss lens shows up ... and I will try to trade this one away at the next swap(s) for some nice SLR gear.

the Terry Richardson camera, worth a fair bit more than 2 euro - at least 150 euro

[Jean Poitiers]

the Terry Richardson camera, worth a fair bit more than 2 euro - at least 150 euro

Yeah ... thanks. Didn't realize for Terry.

And there's a pretty reputable German eBay camera store seller that's asking 249€ for one (withOUT a case ) !

I really, really love my thrift store at times.

[Boris_Akunin]

Another thrift store score. For 2€ and with a new battery it works just fine.

It's not everyday that a Zeiss lens shows up ... and I will try to trade this one away at the next swap(s) for some nice SLR gear.

That's a great find, the T4/T5 is a gem! It may only have point & shoot controls but the lens punches way above it's weight (comparable to the Contax T2 & Nikon 35Ti).
I found a completely beat-up one for 10€ some time ago (sold it for just under 100€). If you want to get rid of it, sell it to a hipster with too much money rather than swapping it.

Or keep it. (there's still one left in my family that I can borrow, I wouldn't have sold mine otherwise)
There's a flickr group, if you're interested: https://www.flickr.com/groups/yashica_t4_t5/pool/


My 18-135WR has arrived (looks to be in full working order):



And I stocked up on wine glasses (IKEA, 1€ a piece) so I don't have to break out my expensive ones all the time:



I had forgotten the infuriating idiocy of IKEA... I think I've had my fill for the next couple of years.
(I could have have had the glasses shipped to me, it would have been totally worth the 5,90€ for shipping...)

At least the glasses are pretty good, not too dissimilar from my favourites.
It's a good shape for an allround glass ("HEDERLIG" 201.548.69, in case someone wants to know)
6 small I.N.A.O.* tasting glasses should arrive tomorrow and then I'm all set.

To keep the wine snobbery in check, I'll try and "aerate" some of my new Spanish Reds with a 2€ milk frother...
(Nathan Myhrvold calls it "hyperdecanting" and uses a blender, dipping a milk frother into the glass for a few seconds should do something similar...)

*Institut national de l'origine et de la qualité - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


EDIT: While I'm at it:



I need to stop picking up more wine, I've got more than enough Grenachas and Monastrells to try already...

[aurele]

Another thrift store score. For 2€ and with a new battery it works just fine.

It's not everyday that a Zeiss lens shows up ... and I will try to trade this one away at the next swap(s) for some nice SLR gear.

Quite a nice find ! This one get high praised on street photography website.

I was wondering, will you go to Bievre this year ?

[Jean Poitiers]

Quite a nice find ! This one get high praised on street photography website.

I was wondering, will you go to Bievre this year ?

Thanks Boris for the link ... and aurèle, I probably will not be going to Bièvres this year. But, that could change ...

I really need to stay in Poitiers to get some "stuff" done the week before and into that weekend. Next year, definitely.

Cheers, J

[Boris_Akunin]

Those INAO glasses are rather cute...

[aurele]

Thanks Boris for the link ... and aurèle, I probably will not be going to Bièvres this year. But, that could change ...

I really need to stay in Poitiers to get some "stuff" done the week before and into that weekend. Next year, definitely.

Cheers, J

To be honest i would like to go to see it at least once. But on the other hand, i'm pretty sure this will end very badly for my wallet

[malinku]

Picked up a Super Ricohflex for $25. So I don't have to lug my Mamiya C33 out every time I want to shoot some 6X6.

[Jean Poitiers]

To be honest i would like to go to see it at least once. But on the other hand, i'm pretty sure this will end very badly for my wallet

If not this year, then next year with me for sure.

I can keep your wallet in my pocket ... for safe keeping ...

[magkelly]

Somebody must have wanted this girl pretty darned bad. There were half a dozen people bidding against me for her. I have the other two dolls in this series. I've always wanted this one. This series of dolls they are just gorgeous and they'll fit very nicely into my Alex Fairchild Ford doll collection dressed in modern clothes. Ella, she sells for like $150-200 most of the time. She's been way out of my price range from the first. I only got the other two because of sheer dumb luck pretty much. I never thought I'd get her. She's usually priced 2X-3X as much as Belle and Bianca (Snow White) WHEN you see her. Right now she's $169 on Amazon and $150 on Ebay.

There just aren't many of them around. Ella and her Disney Princess sisters are part of a very limited, Disney/MA collaboration. There were only 300 of each doll ever made. Of the 3 dolls she's by far the hardest to find and right now because the new live Disney Cinderella is out she's been commanding some near crazy prices. I saw one for like $269 right when the movie was released, but they took it back down again to retail once they realized she wasn't going to go for that. I think originally they were about $150 a pop. I've seen doll people pay $200 for them though and I don't know of too many who have managed to get the complete set.

That pricing is unusual for 2nd market Alexander 16" dolls. Unless you have money to burn and buy them when they are released, and most Alex Fairchild Ford fans I know don't, you wait and buy them a couple of years down the road for $50 or less. Only the Oz, GWTW, and Disney 16" dolls tend to retain their value and remain pricey as time goes on. Very rarely does an "Alex" doll, and by that I mean a 16" doll with one of the Alex fashion doll line's head sculpts appreciate a lot in price. Alex has her devotees but she's not been as popular as some fashion dolls are and you can usually get her fairly cheaply if you just wait a while for whatever doll you're after. I've always liked that line of dolls and I do pick them up on Amazon and at Tuesday Morning when I can get one for $50 or less. Doesn't happen often, but once in a while I get lucky. One of my friends did actually on Amazon around Christmas. He sent me 3 of the Desperate Housewives series dolls, same doll, that he actually picked up for like $20 a pop. I kept one for the collection, used the other two to upgrade and articulate a couple of my older Alex girls, handed off the heads to a couple of ladies on my doll board who wanted them. I can pretty much guarantee that when I tell them what Ella cost they will be envious, as in green with!

Why? Because Ella, she's costing me less than $50 , grin.

http://www.amazon.com/Madame-Alexander-Dolls-Cinderella-Favorites/dp/B00171X...%22+cinderella

and here is Belle...

Amazon.com: Madame Alexander Dolls Belle, 16", Disney Favorites Doll Limited Edition - 300 Piece: Toys & Games

and Bianca...

Amazon.com: Madame Alexander Snow White, 16", Disney Favorites Doll Limited Edition - 300 Piece: Toys & Games

Belle is actually the only brownette Sienna Evans (a character in the Alex line) they have made I think. Hair down she's a beautiful change from the usual blond. Bianca looks nothing like this with her hair down. Her hair is actually raven black not dark brown. She is the Amanda Fairchild sculpt and very striking indeed. I changed the eye color on mine from brown to green because as used as Scarlett O'Hara that same doll has green eyes and they really pop the doll. I wanted mine to look more like that. One of the reasons I wanted the Ella so bad is because she has butter yellow hair and it's an odd color, one I've never seen on a MA Alex type doll. I'm not planning on selling mine so I just might mess with her looks a bit too, make her eyes a more intense blue maybe. I like to custom my dolls a bit. When I have this one and I'm done redressing her too I'll probably take pics of them all just for fun...

Alexandra Fairchild Ford is kind of based on Audrey Hepburn and the character she played in Sabrina. (A favorite film of mine. I like both versions.) There are several tribute dolls done with her looking more like AH in various costumes from the film. Madame Alexander she was a big Hepburn fan apparently back in her day..

This is a flickr group for Alex and her friends, if you're interested in a further look. Probably not, but just in case. I find her and the Sabrina association interesting. I've always liked Hepburn as a person and as an actress herself. I like that I have a doll that somewhat resembles her. Note, the "new" Alex as restyled by Jason Wu looks absolutely nothing like her at all. I consider her to be a totally different character and I only have one of those. I don't like them nearly as much. The heavy lidded dolls you see here, that's the Wu Alex. She's definitely not my thing...

https://www.flickr.com/groups/1933546@N23/pool/

[magkelly]

and today I won this for, get this, $9!!!!

I am on a roll, and into burning away my money this month obviously, cough. Well, at least I'm not breaking the bank, right? Honestly, I just had to have it for some reason. This little camera pretty much called out to me and said "Buy me!" I can hardly quibble over $9 plus a few to ship. Minolta XG-SE, 45MM Rokkor 1:2 (Yeah, that means I have two now, sue me!) 135mm 1:2.8 Sears MC lens, original Minolta XG-SE special edition bag, I think, 4 rolls of gosh awfully old Kodak film, a Vivitar 2000 flash which is also a duplicate for me as I already own one of those, and a hippie strap....

Hopefully it will work because this is a good Minolta model from what I understand. It's black. It's got a split screen and it's nice and large. There's no tacky plastic grip, unlike with most of the later models, and it's the old Minolta logo which for some odd reason I tend to prefer. I don't really need the 135mm lens so I'm thinking I may just put the flash, the 50, the 135 and the XG-M on CL and see what I can get for them. Maybe not. We'll see, but the 45's and this camera I will keep. Mostly I want the 45's for my M43 kit, but I might like to shoot now and again with this.

It's a bit brassed but that's okay, I can deal with that so long as it works okay. I was expecting a lot more actually. It's not a model you see very often. The 45mm can command $30-40 sometimes on it's own. It's kind of cute in a beat up sort of way, I think. The XG-SE was only made for a year and it was apparently pretty much an XG-7 but with a newer and better viewscreen.

Basically I did GOOD...

[Kerrowdown]

It's just too much to walk round pushing or even walking behind a mower any more...

A new thunder comes to the glen, grass cutting now a breeze, looking for other fields to go cut.

[stormtech]

It's just too much to walk round pushing or even walking behind a mower any more...

A new thunder comes to the glen, grass cutting now a breeze, looking for other fields to go cut.

That's once sleek looking tractor! It looks to even have independent front suspension.