Ricoh

Ricoh Ricohmatic 44

Ricoh Ricohmatic 44

The Ricoh Ricohmatic 44 is a compact twin lens reflex camera designed by the Riken Optical Company (now Ricoh) for 4x4cm exposures on 127 film. Like several of its contemporaries, the Ricohmatic 44’s color schemes (aside from this example’s grey-blue on beige, the camera also came in dark grey on beige and creme on beige) deviate from the standard black and silver palette in favor of something a bit more playful to set it apart from its larger, more serious 6x6cm siblings.

Ansco Anscomark M

The Ansco Anscomark M is an unusual 35mm interchangeable lens rangefinder manufactured for Ansco by Riken Optical Co., Ltd. (better known as Ricoh). A small percentage of the cameras produced were also sold as the Ricoh 999.

Ricoh Singlex TLS

The Ricoh Singlex TLS is an MMM (metal, mechanical, manual) single lens reflex camera introduced by Ricoh in 1967. In addition to selling this camera under the Ricoh name, it was also rebranded for sale in France as the Interflex 7L5 and in the United States as the Sears TLS and the K-Mart Focal TLX at their respective discount department stores.

Ansco Memo II Automatic

The Ansco Memo II Automatic is a 35mm half-frame camera introduced in 1967 by Ansco. The Memo II Automatic and the Ansco Memo Automatic from 1963 are actually the same exact camera, just re-released to reflect the name change from Ansco to General Aniline & Film (GAF). In turn, both cameras are rebadged versions of the Ricoh Auto Half and were manufactured by Ricoh for sale by Ansco. The Memo Automatic from 1963 is not to be confused with the original Ansco Memo, a 35mm half-frame box camera from 1927.

Ricoh AF-60D

The Ricoh AF-60D is the data back equipped variant of the AF-60, one of half a dozen or so consumer grade autofocus point-and-shoot cameras introduced by Ricoh in the mid to late 1980s. This particular AF-60D—which was purchased by my father when I was a kid—has the distinction of being the first camera I have ever used. I remember going into my parents’ bedroom and digging the Ricoh out of my dad’s sock drawer. I remember looking through its viewfinder at the mirror and putting my finger on the shutter button like I had seen my dad do so many times. A click and whirr later, I ran away giggling.

Sears 2.8 / Easi-Load

The Sears 2.8 / Easi-Load is a rebranded Ricoh 126-C EE, a fixed-lens viewfinder camera designed for Kodak’s now-obsolete 126 film cartridge. It features a 43mm f/2.8 Rikenon lens with a minimum focus distance of three feet. Like many 126 cameras of this era, the Easi-Load has no integrated flash and must rely on top-mounted flash cubes, plastic rotating cubes that have four single-use flash bulbs good for four exposures. Other notable features include an interesting “atomic” Sears and Roebuck logo next to the viewfinder, nicely recessed film advance lever, and a threaded shutter button to accept a soft release or shutter release cable.