There was once a time where I would gladly test out cameras from a local camera shop. It felt like a good deal: the owner would hand me a camera to play with, I would make a roll of photos and hand it back to them.

I think they hoped that I would then offer purchase the camera, but I never did. I was having enough luck with eBay (for a fraction of what they would charge) that it didn’t seem necessary.

I did purchase a whole lot of film from them though. And their coordination for processing. The photos above were from a test of Zorki 4K with a 50mm Jupiter that I already owned. I might not care for rangefinders, but I *do* like the results from the Jupiters.

As time went on, their shifting business needs meant that weren’t really meeting *my* needs any longer, so I eventually began to drift away. I began purchasing my film from a number of other businesses (mostly in other cities), using another lab (in another city), and eventually learning to do my own development and scanning.

Sometimes I feel a little bad about it – just sort of evaporating as I did -, but I have also not seen the need to return.

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