I really like it when I find a camera at a thrift shop that I’d never heard of before.
(this photo was taken with another 2017 thrift shop find: my Yashica T4)
I’ll set the scene for you:
I was making my weekly thrift shop run and about to call it quits when I saw saw this camera on a shelf in the paltry electronics section of a particular store that usually doesn’t yield many “finds.” It was so tiny that I couldn’t believe it was actually a rangefinder, even if “rf” was part of its name!
But it was $6.59. I decided that I really didn’t need to buy the camera since I’d spent $3 here and there on random point and shoot cameras throughout the course of 2017 and was feeling pretty guilty about that. Like, had I not bought those silly cameras, I could have this one. So, I left it.
I left the store, drove down the road to go home, regret set in, and I turned back around to get the camera.
Success!!
It even came with its original case, with the stylized “SR” ( Sears and Roebuck) butterfly logo. I accidentally shot case upside down though, so I inverted the logo separately so you could see it 😀
Some of Sears 35rf’s specs:
- Rangefinder focusing (.9m/3ft – infinity)
- 40mm f/2.8 lens
- Shutter-priority auto exposure and manual exposure
- Shutter speed range from 1/500s-1/8s, plus Bulb
- Aperture range of f/2.8-f/16
In a move thoroughly unlike me, I immediately set about replacing the foam light seals. They were such a gunky mess that I figured I might as well get it over with.
In the meantime, I found out a little about the camera. It’s a rebranded Ricoh rangefinder (500 series.)
I shot a very quick test roll to see if I had done an okay job with the seals and if everything was functioning well mechanically too. I got it developed right away (also unusual for me as of late.)
I shared these on Flickr and Instagram (because I wasn’t sure when I’d put together a blog post for it here!) But hey, everything looked fine for the light seals and the camera seemed to be functioning fine!
(Shot on Fuji Superia 400)
I fell in love with this camera as soon as I saw the results from my test roll. I even took it on family vacation with me a few weeks after I got it. Here are some of the photos from that trip that I originally shared on my blog post about our vacation.
(Shot on Fuji Superia 400)
When I got home from vacation, I finished up the roll of Kodak Ektachrome 320T that I’d started shooting on vacay. Here are some of those photos (and these haven’t been shown anywhere before now!)
(Shot on expired Kodak Ektachrome 320T, cross-processed)
Then, I loaded the camera with the roll of JCH Streetpan I’d been holding onto for awhile. The results made me turn into the heart eyes emoji!
(I also haven’t shared any of these photos online previously 😉 )
(Shot on JCH Streetpan 400)
I LOVE the Sears 35rf. I cannot believe I was blessed to find it that day in a thrift shop that rarely yields any scores. The camera’s lens is nice and sharp, it’s little (though not so lightweight since it’s mostly made of metal,) and it’s now a prized member of my camera collection <3