That camera shop in Portland had mold on every lens they sold

I stopped by this vintage camera store on Hawthorne last Saturday... thought I'd found a goldmine with all those old Canons in the window. But when I asked to look at a 50mm f/1.4, the glass had this fuzzy haze inside - mold, plain as day. Checked three more lenses from their shelf and every single one had it too. The guy behind the counter just shrugged and said 'that's patina'... you believe that? Has anyone else run into shops passing off damaged gear as 'character'?

2 comments

2 Comments

grant.felix13h ago

Wait, the health department shut him down for mold spores in the ventilation? That's wild. I mean, I knew people get weird about "patina" but that's taking it to a whole other level.

seanjackson14h ago

Knew a guy back in New England who ran a little camera shop out of his basement, swore up and down that a slight haze on a lens "added warmth to the image." He tried to sell me a 35mm with so much fungus inside it looked like a terrarium. When I passed, he got all huffy and said I was missing out on "vintage character." Last I heard the city health department shut him down for mold spores in the ventilation system. Some people really believe their own hype about damaged gear.