Artster Loc: Venice, FL

Cleaning out the attic we came across Dad’s old 35MM camera. It must be 40 years old, or more. It’s a Sears T.L.S. Single-Lens Reflex film camera with 4 lenses; Sears 28mm, 55mm, 105mm and a Vivitar 2x Tele-Converter. Does anyone know if this outfit has any value, or know of anyone who would be interested in owning it? Please contact me; awhillman@verizon.net Thanks

Wingpilot Loc: Wasilla. Ak

Googled it. It's an SLR made by Ricoh for Sears. I don't know anything about it other than that, but Ricoh made decent cameras back then.

Artster Loc: Venice, FL

Thanks

BebuLamar

It's actually about 50 years old. I don't know the value but I think about $100 for the entire set.

AndyH Loc: Massachusetts and New Hampshire

Agree. It’s a Ricoh. Not good, not awful. Pentax screw mount in its early form.

Sears is not exactly a collectible brand. A hundred bucks might be pushing it.

Andy

Leitz Loc: Solms

It might be worth the price of post, unless you're mailing it out of state.

Don W-37 Loc: Bangkok, Thailand

I owned that camera (or a similar Sears model) back in about 1963 or so. I was station at NAS Barbers Point, Hawaii. Not many retail choices in those days, plus Sears would give us poor sailors a charge account. I shot slide film and got some decent photos with it. Couldn't afford Nikon in those days! 😊

ELNikkor

That was my first SLR! Shot some great photos with it and a Vivitar 200mm f3.5. My friend had it in his canoe when he capsized in the Peace River in Florida. Nikons have served me well ever since.

RLSeipleSr Loc: North of Boston

... eBay has them for around $100.00 with only one lens ...

Bob S

Festus Loc: North Dakota

I bought one with 5 lens, a flash, filters and other accessories about 5 years ago for $25. It all came in a Tamarac bag. The bag was worth more than the gear.

throughrhettseyes Loc: Rowlett, TX

I bought a similar set from a estate sale for $25.00. It included a Nikon F2, 50mm, 35mm, 70-210mm and a antique leather camera case and strap.

uhb1980q

If it has the top viewer as well as the eye level viewer, it is a Ricoh TLS 401. If it has just the eye level its a TLS. Back in the Dark Ages, I had the black 401 with a Ricoh 1.2 lens. I absolutely loved the top level viewer. It weighed as much as a battleship! I lugged it all over Europe in 1970 with the prime lens and a 200mm Tameron (I think) which also weighed a ton. After that I switched to an Olympus OM2 which was half the weight. I now use a Sony a6300. I have adaptors for to old Olympus lenses which I sometimes mess around with in manual mode. I gave the Ricoh stuff to a niece who used it in a photo class in the 80s.

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

It's actually over 50 years old... was introduced in 1967.

As others have noted, it's a relabeled Ricoh camera and lenses (except for the Vivitar teleconverter)... made by Ricoh for Sears. Re-branding like this was common in the 1950s and 1960s, especially among Japanese manufacturers who were largely unknown in the U.S. Working in partnership with a well-known brand such as Sears helped them reach an additional marketplace.

This was pretty common practice back then.... Many Wards cameras were Konica (made by Konishiroku, at that time). And many Canon models sold under the Bell & Howell name. There were a lot of other examples of this.

It appears the Sears TLS and Ricoh Singlex TLS use standard 42mm screwmount lenses, which were also used by Practika, Pentax and others. As a result, there are likely a lot of different vintage lenses usable on that camera.

Cameras from that era used a now-unavailable 1.35 volt mercury battery just to power the meter. It's not necessary for the operation of the camera, only provides power to the metering system. I think the TLS uses a 675 size battery, which are easily found in Zinc Air (hearing aid) that are short-lived, but work well. There are also Silver Oxide SR44 and similar sizes that will work and are much longer-lived, but have a higher voltage (typically 1.5V) that will tend to skew the meter a bit. This often can be compensated simply skewing the ASA setting an equal amount (same as ISO now). For example, if you discover the camera's meter reads 2/3 stop low with the modern batteries, set the ASA 2/3 stop higher than the film being used, and the reading will be pretty close to correct. It might also be possible to have the light meter re-calibrated to use the Silver Oxide, but that would probably cost more to have done, than the camera is worth.

The TLS uses a Copal Square shutter, which is the predecessor to what's used in most DSLRs today. Developed as a joint project by Copal, Konishiroku (and largely based upon their own High Syncrho shutter design), and Mamiya... the Copal Square was first used in a Nikkorex built by Mamiya. It's a very reliable and durable shutter using metal blades and running vertically, allowing faster shutter speeds and a flash sync than was possible with earlier types of shutter (often more fragile cloth, running horizontally). I wouldn't be at all surprised if that camera's shutter is still accurate and working well today, the Copal Square are so reliable and durable. The shutter and the rest of the camera mechanism might benefit from a professional cleaning and re-lubrication. The camera's light seals also may need replacement, after all these years. This work also will likely cost more than the camera is worth... but may be needed to make it usable.

Sorry to say, but unfortunately great old rock solid SLRs like that just don't have much value today. If you search eBay you'll see quite a few of Sears TLS selling... they aren't rare. And if you narrow your search to "sold" items, you'll see that a nice one with one lens rarely brings more than about $35. Other TLS with additional lenses and other accessories sometimes sell for as much as $75... to about $100 tops. Black body cameras bring a little more money than chrome.

You might want to keep it for nostalgia's sake... maybe enjoy using it yourself a bit! Old school!

http://mattsclassiccameras.com/slr/sears-tls-ricoh-singlex-tls/

http://camera-wiki.org/wiki/Ricoh_Singlex_TLS

http://vintagecameralab.com/ricoh-singlex-tls/

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=sears+TLS++camera&_sacat=0&LH_Sold=1&LH_Complete=1

User manual is available here: http://www.butkus.org/chinon/sears/sears_tls/sears_tls.htm

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

Not really a comparable camera... the F2 is much more sophisticated and "pro-oriented" than a Sears/Ricoh TLS. The F2 was Nikon's top of the line and a very serious 1971 upgrade to the successful Nikon F (1959 to 1973). Nikon F2 production continued until 1980, when it was replaced by the Nikon F3.

AND you got a real bargain price! F2 normally sell for upwards of $100. In addition, Nikkor F-mount lenses are largely still usable on DSLRs, too. Modern digital Nikons still use the same basic mount. This has kept Nikkor values higher, too, compared to m42 screwmount (although m42 are easily adapted and used similarly on modern Pentax, Canon and Sony DSLRs or mirrorless cameras). F2 have much higher specification shutter (titanium, 1/2000 top speed), have interchangeable viewfinders (metered Photomic, Sports, a rather rare Waist Level and simple, compact, un-metered Eyelevel) and can be fitted with motor drive or auto winder. The Nikkor lens system was and still is much more extensive, including a number of specialized and pro-quality options. Many other accessories for the F2 were available, too... such as 14 different focus screens, two different bulk film roll backs (250 frames and 750 frames), as well.

I have a pair of F2 in my collection... A chrome one with Sports finder DA-1 and an earlier MD-2 motor drive, and a black body with metered Photomic finder DP-2, AS-1 flash connector and later MD-3 motor drive. I've got AI/AIS Nikkor 24mm f/2.8, 35mm f/2, 50mm f/1.4, 55mm Micro, 105mm f/2.5 and 135mm f/2.8 for use on them, as well as several zooms and a few other lenses.

shelty Loc: Medford, OR

Nice to put up on a shelf and look at. I know of several that have done that.