Being new to camera collecting (I began in November 2015) I had not been to a camera show. I knew how much I enjoyed gun shows when I was collecting fire arms back in the 70’s and 80’s and how much I learned from fellow collectors. So I was looking forward to going to a camera show. That opportunity came when I found a show that was being held in Kent, Washington on the 9th of April.

I asked my son-in-law Joe if he would like to drive down to Kent with me and he said he would. So off we went. What a great time we had! I got a whole new slant on prices. That was probably the most important lesson: people want too much for their old camera gear because they look at it with fondness and memory. But on the open market, a lot of this stuff is little more than land fill.

Joe and I were walking around with cameras in every pocket, a full camera bag, and still more we wanted. We made two trips to the car to off load our treasures. Then we went out for a great dinner and the drive back to Vancouver. It was great fun and a learning experience.

I was so impressed by the show that I took no pictures. That is strange for me because I usually shoot everything.

The next show I found was right here in Vancouver on the 24th of April. We had such a good time in Kent that Joe was eager to come with me again. This time I rented a table to sell some of the extra gear I had picked up along the way. And again, we had a great time.

 

This was our table after about an hour at the show. We started out with the table covered with gear but you can see that we had sold a lot and there were bare spots showing up on the table. The display case on the left I built just for this show.

Well, once again we had a great time! When you get together with people that like the same things that you do the atmosphere is really pleasant. Everyone is on the same page and we all have something to discuss with everyone else.

The show here in Vancouver, Burnaby, actually, which is part of Greater Vancouver, was smaller that the one in Kent but every bit as much fun. It was great having Joe with me because that meant I could get away from my table and cruise the show looking for good stuff. And I did find lots of stuff. One thing which I was very happy to find was a Canon F-1. It did show signs of use but it appeared to be fully functional and a great candidate for a film “walk about” camera.

That’s Joe standing at our table obviously enjoying himself.

This is a general scene on the floor of the show. Our table is in the lower center with Joe talking to a customer.

And this is me at our table. Actually it was Joe who stood there most of the day while I got around to talk to all of the other vendors.