Around 2000 there were deals to be had on eBay.. Somewhere in the last 20 years or so the Lomography fad and general internet consciousness about soviet "copy"

Around 2000 there were deals to be had on eBay.. Somewhere in the last 20 years or so the Lomography fad and general internet consciousness about soviet "copy" cameras got ahead of the value. Even then I usually had to buy 2 cameras to cobble together 1 good working camera, but at least they were cheap. Since then there's been enough people marking them up beyond their value or recycling the same broken cameras over and over. Lenses may be a better bet as there are less moving parts and they are to some degree more easily re-adjusted by a competent repair person.