Vintage Cameras

Out of context: Reply #9

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    A few years ago I was in Afghanistan and walked into a photography store. These are small photo booth / shops littered throughout Herat. The idea is you go in and get a photo taken, and they do a touch-up job or a simple passport photo which they also insist on touching up.

    Getting back to the point...

    In the store window of this particular one I walked into, they had a range of vintage cameras. From what I saw there were a few recognizable brands such as Pentax, Olympus and Nikon. The others I wasn't too familiar with. Having said that, I'm not exactly a camera historian.

    I asked the boy in the shop if they were for sale and how much he'd like for them. He told me they didn't work and they were relics from long before the communist revolution. This meant they had to be approximately pre 1975. The cameras were in reasonably good condition. They belonged to his father who had died shortly after. I told him I didn’t mind if they didn’t work and would be willing to take them. He insisted that the cameras were useless and couldn’t comprehend why somebody would want to pay money for them.

    No amount of haggling could persuade him. I walked away empty handed.

    • Why wouldn't he just give them to you? Did they have sentimental value to him?Jaline
    • None at all. He didn't seem to care they were his fathers. He just acted as though I was an idiot for wanting them. I guess he was just a jerk. I bet he could've used the money too.Invalid

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