"Shutterbug" repair shop and old format graveyard at National Camera in Golden Valley.

Steve Meyer runs the "Shutterbug" shop at National Camera.  I stopped in to see him this week -- had been told they might buy some old, at-one-time very spendy SLR gear that had been gathering dust in our basement. We had a collection of Pentax bodies, Takumar lenses, Tamron lenses, 35mm Olympus point-and-shoots, even a Nikon APC which Nancy and I took with us on a vacation in Spain more than a decade ago.  Damn right: we knew our equipment was precious and priceless, and likely worth a fortune -- even in this digital era. Wrong.  Very few folks want a K 1000 or Spotmatic body these days.  And the one possibly-valuable zoom lens had grown some mildew inside, and wouldn't bring in resale what it would cost to clean and repair.  I was crushed when Steve offered me ****** for the whole deal. How could I tell my wife how little the kit was worth when much of the gear had been hers?  I moaned and groaned, hemmed and hawed, and said, OK. I'll take it. That was two days ago and I doubt we'll ever miss what we sold at pennies on the dollar. 

How can you NOT love this bulletin board at "Shutterbug"?  The history represented by the brands.  The B + W enlargements,  The tribute to Norma Jean.  And if that didn't bring enough joy, then shelves-full of Voitlanders, Rolliflexes, Retinas, Zeiss lenses, large format Mamiyas, and lens caps from a bunch of European and Asian cameras you've never heard of, would certainly elicit oohs and aahs from the aficionado. This is a must-see little corner of history, whether you plan to sell any old gear, or simply want to be awed and inspired. Do it.