Sell to Us · Cameras & Optics

Sell the camera bag that has not been opened since film.

Free visit · cash offers · no obligation

Film’s revival turned closets into camera shops: the Leica a father carried through Europe, the Nikon system a career was shot on, the Rolleiflex nobody was allowed to touch. Working film cameras and the glass that goes with them are worth real money again, and the differences between models are exactly the kind of detail we live for.

We buy individual cameras and complete systems across Southern California: bodies, lenses, finders, meters, and the bags of accessories that traveled with them. Everything is checked and explained in front of you, and paid for on the spot.


Cameras and glass we look for

Leica

Screw mount through M bodies, lenses above all, and the boxes and papers that complete them.

Nikon and Canon systems

F through F3 era especially, rangefinders, and fast professional glass.

Medium format

Hasselblad, Rolleiflex, Mamiya: the studio and wedding kits of working decades.

Folders and oddities

Early Kodak, stereo cameras, subminiatures, and the strange corners of the cabinet.

Accessories and archives

Lenses, meters, tripods, darkroom gear, and slide archives with the cameras that made them.

Do not test the shutter with your thumb on the lens

A quick honesty about condition: haze, fungus, and sticky shutters matter, but they are repairable and priced accordingly; what destroys value is amateur cleaning. Do not unscrew elements, do not wipe coated glass with whatever is handy, and do not force a stuck advance. Bring us the bag exactly as it slept. We make camera calls across all of Southern California and bundle them with estate visits weekly.

Inside Old 44 Vintage: racks of vintage t-shirts and denim under the shop's signage wall
The shop floor at Old 44 Vintage, San Juan Capistrano.

A Recent Find

A 1940s Levi’s Type 1 jacket, sold to us by a former dealer who knew exactly what he had. We paid $12,000 in cash, the same day.


How it works

01

Call or text photos.

A real conversation about what you have, no pressure to sell.

02

We come to you.

We look at everything, at your pace. We know what we're seeing.

03

Cash offer, same visit.

A fair price on the spot, or a full estate sale run for you.


Common questions

The camera seems broken. Worth anything?

Often, yes. Leica and Nikon bodies are routinely serviced back to life, and even parts cameras sell. The lens is frequently worth more than the body either way.

How can I tell if a lens is one of the valuable ones?

The engraving tells the story: name, focal length, maximum aperture, and serial. Photograph the front ring and we can usually price it within the hour.

Do you buy darkroom equipment and film?

Enlargers and quality darkroom gear selectively, expired film yes: the film revival made sealed old stock genuinely sellable.

How do I tell haze from fungus inside a lens without taking it apart?

Hold the lens up and shine a small light through it from the back while you look through the front. Haze reads as an even milky veil across the whole element, like breath on glass. Fungus reads as fine branching threads or a spidery web spreading out from a point, and it usually sits on an inner surface. Both are common in a bag that has sat for decades, both are repairable, and neither is a reason to skip having the lens looked at. Do not unscrew anything to get a better view.

The bag is dusty and the leather case smells musty. Should I clean everything up first?

No. Bring it exactly as it slept. Wiping coated glass with a shirt or a household cleaner leaves fine scratches that a technician cannot undo, and dressing or oiling old leather can darken it and blur the stamped markings that identify a case or strap. Dust and must cost nothing to deal with. A polished lens with swirl marks costs money that cannot be put back.

One call. We’ll take itfrom there.

(949) 449-1255

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Mon-Sat 6 am-8 pm · Sun 8 am-5 pm

A real person answers seven days a week, weekends included. Photos sent today are usually answered the same day.

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