Pawnshops rock

[payn817]

You can get some good deals. Today I got a 70-210 f4, and a 28 f2.8, with cases, all caps, and a huge bag for $100.00. Now if I can just find something to shoot. They are Minoltas, but this place has about 50 lenses( all mounts), and all of them are 50%off their marked prices for christmas..

[srobb]

I got turned off on them several years ago. Was going to get back into it and found a deal on Canon with lens for $90. Then I turned around about 2 weeks after getting it and spent almost that much again to have it worked on. It still has not worked. I could get a few shots out of it then the mirror would lock up on it and I could not get it down. Even after having it worked on.

[another view]

Pawnshops used to be a better deal before the internet was around - now everybody knows what everything is worth...

I haven't been in one for years, but one of my favorite basses (as in bass guitar) was a pawnshop score in '88. I agree that you'll need to be very careful when dealing with them - assume it's as-is and that you know a lot more about what you're buying than the seller does.