Tony Kemplen on the.Leidolf Lordomat

A camera made in Germany in the early 1950s and discovered at a charity shop

The days of finding interesting cameras in charity shops seem to have faded away, so it was a few years ago that I spotted this one. In an inexplicable, yet surprisingly common way, the camera was displayed in its closed case behind glass, with the price label invisible. Maybe it’s a deliberate policy to discourage all but the most determined purchasers, as it means you have to ask for the item to be removed from the case to be identified and priced. Opening the case revealed it to be a Leidolf Lordomat priced at £9.99. Seasoned charity shop browsers will probably spot that this was a branch of Oxfam, who steadfastly stick to the £n.99p price format, a practice which most other shops seem to have abandoned.