that's all garbage
the journal of Michael Werneburg
twenty-seven years and one million words
I went down to Henry's today to look at some used lenses. They've re-opened the site that was briefly their 'school' as a clearance centre. They had kinds of crud in there. Including two examples of the very model I was looking for (but unfortunately, the 'entry-level' version that no longer really serves a purpose) for $60/each. They also had things like old -style leather camera bags (the guy wanted $6!) and trinkets like the reversing ring I bought last Summer in Vancouver. I paid something like $30-40 for it out there. They had them for $2 at this Henry's clearance thing.
I asked the guy if they still bought used manual-focus gear. He said that they did, at the main store. That shop had been so busy I decided not to bother on a Saturday, and went into Downtown Camera instead. The guy was going to 'maybe' give me $60 for the three lenses I wanted to price for potential sale, but he asked his manager as the latter passed.
And the manager said, "That's all garbage, I don't want it. No one wants that stuff anymore." The guy I was dealing with seemed to think that this would hurt my feelings and tried to console me "It doesn't mean that there's anything wrong with it...", but I'd been expecting that response (the average age of the lenses is probably within drinking/voting range). I guess I'll be finding the stuff in storage from time to time for the rest of my life.