# Nostalgia



## Actor (Jul 20, 2009)

I used to own one of these

Sears 35/RF BLACK-VIntage Compact rangefinder camera - eBay (item 290330776777 end time Jul-21-09 19:04:05 PDT)

It was a wonderful camera.  Cost me about $60 in the 1970s.  Something a student could afford.  I don't know what ever happened to it.

I'd love to buy this one just for nostalgia but I think the guy's asking price is way out of line.  I mean every one of my SLRs is worth $50 or less if you go by what they're bringing on eBay.  If no one buys it and he offers it for a more reasonable price I'll bid.

It has the Sears logo on it.  Anyone have any idea who the manufacturer was?


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## Mitica100 (Jul 21, 2009)

It is made by Ricoh, I believe. In any case, stay away from that seller, IMHO he overprices everything. There are going to be more, that's for sure.

Pretty compact camera, good lens.


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## c.cloudwalker (Jul 21, 2009)

That guy is a joke. 8.5 rating. Thank god for the pictures. Let's not even talk about the price :lmao:


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## willma88 (Jul 21, 2009)

Ebay only is good for a bargain/specialty. The camera on the guys store is a little expensive, im sure there would be other places to find the camera?


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## Actor (Jul 21, 2009)

willma88 said:


> Ebay only is good for a bargain/specialty. The camera on the guys store is a little expensive, im sure there would be other places to find the camera?



I don't know. I've been kind of keeping my eye out for one for the last few years and this is the first time it's popped up. I'd like to have one but I'm not going to pay an outrageous price for one. I'd rather buy film.



c.cloudwalker said:


> That guy is a joke. 8.5 rating. Thank god for the pictures. Let's not even talk about the price :lmao:



Where do you find the 8.5 rating?  And what does an 8.5 rating mean?  His feedback is 92% positive out of some 2000 in the last year.  You can't please everyone.


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## compur (Jul 21, 2009)

You can find the same camera from other sellers for a lot less.


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## Battou (Jul 21, 2009)

I've seen those bad boys in better condition for five USD.....I don't care howmuch he slashes off that price tag, Get one from a different source. find a better condition and buy that one.


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## Actor (Jul 21, 2009)

Mitica100 said:


> It is made by Ricoh, I believe. In any case, stay away from that seller, IMHO he overprices everything. There are going to be more, that's for sure.
> 
> Pretty compact camera, good lens.



The Ricoh 500G looks like it could be the same camera.  There are two for sale on eBay now, both from this same seller and both similarly overpriced. 

I assume that when you say "There are going to be more" you mean more from this same seller!


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## Battou (Jul 21, 2009)

Actor said:


> I assume that when you say "There are going to be more" you mean more from this same seller!



Not sure if you are being sarcastic or not but, what he means is that it's a camera that only holds value to select collectors, so nine times out of ten when some one cleans out their attic, garadge or closet and finds one, it'll hit the auction block.


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## Mitica100 (Jul 21, 2009)

Actor said:


> The Ricoh 500G looks like it could be the same camera.



That is correct!


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## compur (Jul 21, 2009)

The Sears camera and the 500G do look like they could very well be the 
same camera. If that's true, make sure that the light seal foam on the 
camera's film door is in good condition before buying one. 

The 500G has a lot of foam on the door and when it goes bad (as it almost
surely has by now) it makes a real mess. It's quite a project to replace it.


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## c.cloudwalker (Jul 21, 2009)

Actor said:


> Where do you find the 8.5 rating?  And what does an 8.5 rating mean?  His feedback is 92% positive out of some 2000 in the last year.  You can't please everyone.



Towards the end of his description of the item: "This item is in OK shape, superficial wear, everything is functioning 
and in working order, fair inside and out, I would rate it a 8½ 
This is a NICE piece, and it is priced to sell !"


8.5 out of 10. To me, it should be in better condition then what the photos are showing.

As for his feedback rating (which is 99.2 % positive btw) you need to look at what it is he is selling, why people are buying such things, etc.

For example, your case (and I don't mean anything bad by this): you are willing to consider this purchase because it is a memory item. Most of us are willing to be more lenient when it comes to memories and this guy may well be taking advantage of that.

As some people have pointed out, it looks like a Ricoh. Very possible even though I don't know Ricoh enough to say the same thing without doing a bit of research. Ricoh made cameras for everybody and their brother before they actually put cameras on the market under their own name when, I guess, they realized that their cameras were plenty good enough to sell under the Ricoh brand.

If you look around, you can probably find the exact same camera (if it is a Ricoh, that is) under other names. Montgomery Ward was one of their clients for example. Or so my memory tells me 

What it comes down to I think is what YOU are willing to spend on a memory. And that, only you can answer this question. You seem to have misgivings about this one... As a guy in his fifties, all I can add to finish this is: keep in mind that our memories are often deceiving. We seem to remember a lot of things as better than they actually were.


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## Actor (Jul 21, 2009)

Battou said:


> Actor said:
> 
> 
> > I assume that when you say "There are going to be more" you mean more from this same seller!
> ...



"Sarcastic" seems a little strong, but I do find it humorous.  I'm a little weird.


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## Battou (Jul 23, 2009)

Actor said:


> Battou said:
> 
> 
> > Actor said:
> ...



Yeah, but I've seen serious inqueries like that, the only indication it was not serious was the smiley, but better safe than sorry :thumbup:


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