Good find at Goodwill

There's a well-worn path that I follow to the local Goodwill store a few times each week. Most days I don't find anything useful or significant. Occasionally, I come across a real gem like that Rollei 35 that didn't work, but for two bucks, who cares? I bought the Olympus OM1 and the XA2 there as well.

But yesterday, I found this:

Yep, a Canon 75-300mm lens for $50. The price is in the upper left corner. I took it out of the box and looked it over carefully, finding nothing wrong. But I don't have a Canon DSLR. The only Canons I have are an ancient rangefinder and that A590IS. But a friend has a Canon DSLR, so I sent him a text message about the lens.

He was only a few blocks away and he was definitely interested. He stopped by the house to pick up a camera body, then drove to the Goodwill where we tested the lens. Minutes later, he walked out with it.

A Google search said the lens is a "mediocre" performer. Remember, though, that this comes from people who probably don't have to pay for the lenses they use and test. So what may be a mid-level unit to them can be perfectly usable for us mere plebeians. Sure, it's not an f2.8 zoom, but then again, it's compact and lightweight.

Goodwill offers a seven day return policy, so I recommended running it through its paces for the next couple of days.

And if I get the chance, I'll borrow the camera for a few days to tinker with it myself!

Startling discovery in the Goodwill Store

I habitually stop in the local Goodwill store to look for old cameras, old books, old coffee makers, etc. 'Old' seems to be key. I found this Star Trek Barbie and Ken on display right inside the front door. I've never seen one of these previously, and as a dyed-in-the-wool geek, I just had to take a photo of it. Not buy it, mind you. I'm not that crazy.

The store manager saw me and said that photography isn't allowed in the store. That's OK. It's private property and they can call the shots. At least she didn't demand that I delete the images.

And on reflection, it's a disturbing image. Look carefully and you'll notice that Captain James Tiberius Kirk and Ken are holding hands! I wonder if Barbie knows. For that matter, I wonder if Spock knows. He can do that Vulcan mind meld thing, after all.

Anyway, I'm proud that our local Goodwill shop can be so open and progressive by putting something like this on display. This is Oklahoma, you know.