A solution to the Yashica GX battery problem!

I've noticed I get a bunch of hits from people looking for batteries for the Yashica Electro 35 GX. As you know from my previous post, they are hard to find, so you will need some kind of adapter or hack to use current batteries. Tonight I found one on ebay that I'm thinking of picking up. It looks pretty cool

I stole this pic from the auction, but seeing as I am giving them free advertising, I can't see them complaining! The fix i have now is fine. But these are a nice solution to a common problem with these older yashica rangefinders.

Sneaky Sneaky

Today I decided to head out to some op shops I don't get to check out during the week. There is one little one in belmont that I think most people don't know is there. It's old school and the prices are really cheap. they usually have some cool clothes for low prices, and the prices are set instead of jumping up and down for how "valuable" the people working there think something is. Plus all the paperbacks are around 50c each, which is getting rarer now. I had a look around and found these Nikes in pretty much new condition. They look like they have been worn about once. I don't usually buy shoes if they look too worn in.

They didn't have a tag on them so I went and asked one of the women in the store. She looked at them and said "for those? $5." This is why little op shops can be good! These would have been $15-20 at least at a big salvos store. Yet another pair of shoes. The way I'm going, I wont have to buy shoes new at full price for a loooong time.

RUBBISH!

I was having a read of this article about op shops and people leaving rubbish. I notice it a lot at the op shops I go to, and i think the reason people do it might be because they have the mindset the op shop just sells rubbish anyway. People who don't go to op shops always seem to have this view! Or it might be they just think their crappy pine furniture is actually nice!

There was an op shop bin near the train station where I used to live. I used to look at what people had left there from time to time and sometimes steal things (gasp!) like stray cards and bits of rubbish to use in collages.

One night I was heading off to a party when I saw a some open suitcases with paperwork in them. I knew this wouldn't be stuff the op shop would take, so I had a look. There were old letter, birthday cards and photo albums. I don't know why someone would throw this stuff away? It was all very 80s. There were also some random mix tapes, I took a few to the party and we danced around to them. I think I took a few photos and things too, I don't know if I still have them. In a way I wish the op shop would sell that type of stuff, even old photos. It would be awesome to use for art projects!

Buy Nothing New!!

I am participating in Buy Nothing New Month. I already love op shopping and all things second hand, so it shouldn't be too much of a stretch. but I do still buy new things quite often, especially online! So I will have to watch what I buy.

I should use it as an excuse to post to this blog more, shouldn't I? I am currently cleaning my place up at home, so here is a pic of my lounge.The only "bought new" things in this picture are the vacuum, the laptop, the bookcase and the xbox (oh, and the set top box!). The couch is second hand, the tv is second hand (ex store tv, those ones you see in clothing shops playing music videos) the cameras the books, the cushions, the coffee table and shag rug. The speakers under the tv were free. even the coasters on the coffee table. I would guess at least 80% of the stuff in my house has been found at op shops or given to me. This blog was meant to be to show everything I find. But as you can see, its a big job!

Yesterday I bought one of those little hooks that can fit over the top of doors, so I decided to put some of my bag collection on it so they arent just hanging off door handles or lying on the ground!

I realised after I took the photo that everything in the pic is from the op shop. I love the op shop for finding bags. I love all things aztec/tribal and I like real leather, too. I know leather is dead cows and that's bad, but vintage leather to me is ok, because if a cow ided to make something nice then we should try to get as much use out of it as possible! PU bags feel so throw away and cheap to me. The leather satchel in the photo is really thick and sturdy, i think I'll be able to keep it for life. The shirt is a levis shirt I found for $5.

The other interesting thing about this pic is all this stuff came from the same few shops in the same area (Geelong) just over the last few years. You don't have to go nuts and travel across the state or country to be a good op shopper (but you can if you want!). I think its just about going out every week. I'm probably lucky in that I can see a trend coming, because I need to know what's in fashion for my job. So I know what stuff to look out for. But this is really my taste anyway. I don't buy to sell (though I do want to one day) but I think even if you do, it makes sense to buy what you like and what interests you. Its harder to know if something's a dud if its something you aren't passionate about already.

If you're jealous of my stuff, go out there and get shopping! I'm going to try to post my finds more during this month, so stay tuned.

Not Old or Junk, but Pretty Cool!

This is up there with some of my best finds. I rocked up to my local salvos and had a look around, got to the shoe section and noticed a whole pile of vans that looked new. I had a closer look and noticed many had small things wrong with them, but they were pretty good and priced between $20-25 a pair. There were heaps in my size, and seeing I had been considering buying a new pair of vans for awhile, i decided to stock up. Usually vans authentics are about $90-100 a pair so that's why I'd been holding off, I had considered buying some from ebay but with the dollar jumping around I'd bee waiting for a high point to save the most money.

I went a little crazy and ended up buying 6 pairs! But this was $135 in total - usually I'd get one pair and a little left over for that money. This means I'm set for the next 12 months at least when it comes to shoes. I even called some guys down from work to grab a few pairs up, they have bigger feet and there were a few pairs in sizes 10-12.

I mentioned before a few had little things wrong. One pair had a small tear near the ankle that I sewed up, another had one of the lace rivets loose, and another had a small part of the sole coming off. A bit of shoe glue fixed them up and they look good as new. The rate canvas shoes wear out, all these imperfection were problems that would come up after a few wears anyway!

This is proof to the people who wont shop at op shops - you are missing out! Its not all "dead people's clothes" as some people still seem to think. You can get new stuff at a big discount. A percentage of the stock in most op shops will come from corporate donations. Seconds, samples, stock they couldn't sell. You can find some really good bargains. These shoes came from Melbourne apparently, by the look for the box markings I have a suspicion they were from Glue. Floor stock that people try on, or sits out on the shelf, and maybe some returns. The plus side is, this money is going to charity, so it's even better than an outlet store.

Once you POP...

I found this little guy at the local Vinnies last week. I already have a red one, but it would be cool to find all the colours these came in. The Konica pop came out in the 80s in a bunch of colours - beating the imac to the punch at least a decade early. They have that cool shiny plastic 80s look, I think they are cute, I wish cameras now were designed with a bit more fun. There's no reason a consumer digital p&s can't look like this.

Anyway, this one for $4 and came with a cae and the original documentation. Score! I might give it a go this summer, seems like a summer camera. Thought with the flash it might be a good one to take out partying one night, too!




Here's a few links for more info on this camera :

The camerapedia article

A flickr group with some example pics. not a bad little camera.

Yashica Electro 35 GX - $5 find!

Hi Guys, long time no see. I decided to revive this blog, due to my ongoing obsession with op shopping, and junk collecting in general. I keep thinking about it, and these days, 90% of my stuff is secondhand, so I have a lot of material! Here we go...

I picked this camera up at the local "tip". Well, not that kind of tip. Down where I live we don't have hard rubbish collection, so instead the council runs hard rubbish tips and charge you a few bucks to dump things that wont fit in the bin. Just like normal hard rubbish, some stuff is still good, or still useful, so there is a store attached to the front filled with all kinds of random bits and pieces. Furniture, bikes, video games, old tvs, records, beer bottles, signs, etc. I would say everything but the kitchen sink, but they have those, too.

Anyway, this place is right near my work, so after picking my car up from being stranded after a work party, I decided to go have a look, as I hadn't been in awhile. I saw a little black camera case in the display case along with a bunch of digital cameras and projectors and the usual junk.
I thought it looked suitably cool andretro so I wrenched it out and had a look.
A cure little yashica electro. I didnt know what i had found really, I don't know much about yashicas or rangefinders, but it was in very nice condition and all cleared the basic checks I've learned to do before buying (shutter fires, no broken off bits, no fungus, case opens and closes ok, light seals ok) I decided to grab it. The only puzzling thing was the weird battery compartment, but knowing the internet, there would be a workaround out there somewhere.

As soon as I got home I asked the internet what I had found. Ebay said it was something worth a fair bit, and the rest of the internet said it was a great camera, so I started getting excited. I like things whether or not they turn out to be worth a lot, but there is something extra gratifying about realising you have grabbed a real bargain. Here's a few more pics.

clean viewfinder!

I took it to my boyfriend to have a look at, he knows WAY more about cameras than me, and has a bit more experience getting old ones working again. It turned out the batteries can't be bought anymore, but you can make or buy a hack to fit into the battery compartment to fit newer batteries at a similar voltage. My bf spent an hour or so swearing, cutting up and drilling doweling, and experimenting, until he came up with this solution
The doweling is drilled through the middle with a metal spring pushed through to reach the connectors. Not pretty, but it works great! Yay!! This helped me discover my favourite thing about this camera..

light up film counter. So hi tech!

I will put up some pics when I've put a roll through. So far the only thing that doesnt work is the underexposure bulb. I might get it fixed/serviced at some point if I end up loving it.
If you want some more detailed into on this camera and its specifics, here are a few links :

Photoethnography page on the GX

Cameraquest page

A great blog post with photo examples