Bines Bargain Basement Photography

Olympus 35 ED. Might as well start with the one in the background to this blog (which you can't actually see, but never mind, it's in the picture above!)  The Olympus 35 ED. A Rangefinder, and the first one I got that actually worked, though there's a story about that. I got it for £10 on eBay in September 2017, and the item  description mentioned that the shutter didn't work.looking at the picture in the listing, I noticed that the self timer switch seemed to be down - having done (as I always do) a Google search for the ED, I found a bunch of posts on various discussion boards stating that all that was needed was a fresh battery - one this was put in, the self timer switch would activate; having activated, the camera would then work.  It needed the battery to activate it though. I bought the camera and ordered a battery.  Hey Presto, it worked, and the ED has been a reliable little camera from that day to this. It's built to the standard at the time O...

About me. I'm Paul Bines. I'm in my early 50's. I collect hobbies. I used to podcast about trading cards and the Edwardian author E.F.Benson and about artists, now I collect cheap old cameras and, where possible, use them. This blog is devoted to that - posting the highs and lows of buying cheap old cameras, usually from eBay, sometimes from charity shops and very occasionally, received as gifts from friends and family.  I'll post pictures of the cameras, as well as pictures taken ON the cameras (when I've been able to), and offer my thoughts on the cameras themselves. Where I get a DOA, I'll post about that. (and, trust me, I've had more than a few!) My background is in IT, but this isn't my first go at photography - I used to collect Kodak Brownie cameras back in the 1980's, when they were cheap and plentiful, and all the various formats of film were easily purchasable from the local chemist or supermarket.  The price of the cameras has go...