1981-1982 Sears Camera Catalog (Page 2): Yupper. 1st camera; Nikon EM w/50mm lens. Then FM. Added a 28mm and a 70-210mm zoom along with a 2x tele. Used them horse camping in the...

whatdat Loc: Del Valle, Tx.

Yupper. 1st camera; Nikon EM w/50mm lens. Then FM. Added a 28mm and a 70-210mm zoom along with a 2x tele. Used them horse camping in the mountains. Had pics processed as slides. Came out pretty good. Still got them somewhere in the storage unit. Seems I had a harness setup to carry both cameras while riding, too.

Bill 45

Very interesting history of cameras. Golden age of SLR film cameras. Some of the camera in the Sears's catalog I have in my camera collection.
Canon AE-1 Program
Nikon EM
Pentax ME Super
Three Pentax K-1000: One I got second hand back in 1982, still working in 2023. Another Pentax K-1000 change so one can use M-42 lens. Third one made in Hong Kong
All cameras listed put a roll of film in them and down the road you go.

trackmag

In the early 1980s I owned a key piece of real estate near downtown Fort Worth. Some guys approached me about putting a Fotomat booth on it in the parking lot of my office. I thought about it for a long time. $1,200 a month for the rest of my life. Like another social security check maybe. And I could just walk out there and get my film processed overnight. On the advice of my brother Tom, I did not do the deal . . . and boy was he right once again. In two years the one-hour processing in drug stores buried the photo mats. And then the digital cameras buried the photo services at drug stores. Life goes on . . . and I do not miss the cost of the film and the cost of the processing. Although I do miss the quality of true photography from those old cameras and film.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Morry wrote:

I think Sears could of been the "Amazon" of today . . . but I guess they did not see it that way.

If you lived on the western frontier in the late 1890s of the US, Sears was the Amazon of the day. Wiki says: by 1894, the Sears catalog had grown to 322 pages. Through the 1980s, Sears was still the largest retailer in the United States.

DHooch

I purchased a Pentax ME Super, new, and still have it. With the 40mm "Pancake" lens, I could put the combo in my pants pocket because it was so small. I took thousands of slides with it and it never failed me. Loved that camera!

lamiaceae Loc: San Luis Obispo County, CA

DHooch wrote:

I purchased a Pentax ME Super, new, and still have it. With the 40mm "Pancake" lens, I could put the combo in my pants pocket because it was so small. I took thousands of slides with it and it never failed me. Loved that camera!

lamiaceae Loc: San Luis Obispo County, CA

Bill 45 wrote:

Very interesting history of cameras. Golden age of SLR film cameras. Some of the camera in the Sears's catalog I have in my camera collection.
Canon AE-1 Program
Nikon EM
Pentax ME Super
Three Pentax K-1000: One I got second hand back in 1982, still working in 2023. Another Pentax K-1000 change so one can use M-42 lens. Third one made in Hong Kong
All cameras listed put a roll of film in them and down the road you go.

larryepage Loc: North Texas area

CHG_CANON wrote:

If you lived on the western frontier in the late 1890s of the US, Sears was the Amazon of the day. Wiki says: by 1894, the Sears catalog had grown to 322 pages. Through the 1980s, Sears was still the largest retailer in the United States.

Sears owned one of the most widely recognized clear-channel radio stations for a few years in the mid-1920s. WLS, an acronym for "World's Largest Store" (the Sears motto) could be received at night in 38 states.

KimF Loc: West Central Minnesota

yds0066 wrote:

I was going through some old boxes. and this was in one of them.
This was over 40 years ago and thought it might be enjoyed.

Love this! My parents owned a Sears catalog store for over 20 years. I remember they had quite a few specialty catalogs as well as their "big books". We did most of our shopping through the catalog. My first nice camera was the Canon AE-1 Program. I got it for my high school graduation. Thank you for the walk down memory lane!

rlv567 Loc: Baguio City, Philippines

yds0066 wrote:

I was going through some old boxes. and this was in one of them.
This was over 40 years ago and thought it might be enjoyed.

I had a Pentax Spotmatic - which was stolen out of my apartment in downtown LA, and replaced with a K-1000. Good cameras!!!

Loren - in Beautiful Baguio City

StanMac Loc: Tennessee

It seems the Pentax cameras that held their value better than the others was the K1000 and LX. I've seen K1000s listed north of $100 and LXs over of $500.

Stan

BebuLamar

StanMac wrote:

It seems the Pentax cameras that held their value better than the others was the K1000 and LX. I've seen K1000s listed north of $100 and LXs over of $500.

Stan

I wouldn't pay much for the K1000 but I know people are paying more for the K1000 than the higher end KX and KM. Also they would pay peanut for the ME.

campyboy1 Loc: vancouver Washington

I miss Sears and the good old days of shopping in their stores and catalogs they had just about anything you needed or wanted then Kmart came along and bought them out and things went downhill from there.

BebuLamar

campyboy1 wrote:

I miss Sears and the good old days of shopping in their stores and catalogs they had just about anything you needed or wanted then Kmart came along and bought them out and things went downhill from there.

They went downhill that's why they are sold to Kmart which also went downhill before they bought Sears.

josquin1 Loc: Massachusetts

great to see this. My 1st camera was a Miranda 35mm which was really very good. Then I moved up to the Canon F1 in 1975 which I still have use today when i get nostalgic.