I had blogged about my attending the ProLab auction in Seattle back in April of 2008. I have done photography for about 50 years and was able to pick up a couple of fun pieces (more and photos a the link above).
When I used to live in Boston (before moving out to Seattle), I was very much into filmmaking (still regret selling my Bolex H-16 REX-2 with electric motor drive and 12-120 Angenieux lens) and did a little bit of work with other people when I first moved out here. The lab to use was Alpha-Cine.
I had mentioned auctions before -- I really love to go to auctions held by the James G. Murphy Auction Company. This is a family-run business on their third generation. They run a good clean auction and are a lot of fun. They do not employ shills and it is pure theater to watch two or three people who really really want a $10,000 piece of equipment being played by the auctioneer.
I check their listings page every few days to see the upcoming auctions and it was a moment of shock to see Alpha Cine slated for early December:
