Sears Camera and Lenses (someone explain it to me...)

[Todd Martin]

I'm curious...what's the deal with "Sears" labled camera gear?

I've heard tell of using Sears lenses with old Canon gear (AE-1). Did
some (all) the Sears cameras use the Canon FD lens mount? Are they just
some cheap Canon rip-offs? Or did Canon make them with a Sears label?

Please, won't one of you veterans help answer my newbie question?

Todd Martin

[Chuck Hoffman]

Cheap Canon ripoffs? Hmmmmm. You may have something there.

Sears had its house brand of photo gear (made by Pentax, I believe) and
carried lenses in several mounts, as did Best (Albinar) and others. The
Sears stuff was "consumer grade" and not all that good, as I recall.

[David Jacobson]

In article <32BAB6...@pacbell.com>,

Chuck Hoffman <d4c...@pacbell.com> wrote:
>Sears had its house brand of photo gear (made by Pentax, I believe) and

>carried lenses in several mounts, ...

The Sears photo line was called "Tower". Their slide projector of the
early 1960s was the same as the Anscomatic, presumably made by Ansco.

-- David Jacobson

[Christopher G Mullin]

Todd Martin (to...@decagon.com) wrote:
: I'm curious...what's the deal with "Sears" labled camera gear?

Sears never actually made cameras. Over the years, they relabeled stuff
ranging from the Nicca and Asahiflex (among many others) in the early
50's, through various other German and Japanese cameras in the late 50's
and 60's as "Tower."

Around the late 60's Sears abanconed the Tower brand name they'd been
using for many years, and just started calling their stuff "Sears."
The Sears SLR cameras that you see most often are actually Ricoh
SLRs, with Pentax bayonet mount. At the same time you could buy these
cameras, from Sears, you could buy (usually for more money) cameras from
Canon, nikon, etc., and sometimes real Canon and Nikon brand lenses to go
with them.

: I've heard tell of using Sears lenses with old Canon gear (AE-1). Did

: some (all) the Sears cameras use the Canon FD lens mount? Are they just
: some cheap Canon rip-offs? Or did Canon make them with a Sears label?

Sears also sold Sears lenses, in Canon, Minolta, Pentax, Pentax, and Nikon
mounts. They were among the first to import Samyang lenses from Korea
and put their own brand name on them. They also got lenses from many
other sources-- mostly (I suspect) buying whatever was cheapest. Canon
never made lenses for Sears, I'm sure, and Sears never sold a Sears brand
SLR that took a Canon mount.

: Please, won't one of you veterans help answer my newbie question?

: Todd Martin

[Dmsimmons]

I agree with one of the replies that have been shared, I have seen many
different cameras sold with either the Sears brand name or a model name
that Sears used to give the product some credence. I've seen cameras sold
through Sears from manufactures such as Mamiya, Ricoh and Chinon. As well
as equipment that must have been made by the same contracting company that
has produced for other name brand distributors such as Vivitar. Sears
doesn't manufacture any thing. The contract equipment to be purchased in
bulk to be wharehoused and sold in high enough quantities to put their
name on the product. Not an unheard of practice. But it does make it
confusing when the product reaches the used market.

Although I don't remember them ever sell a camera with their name on it,
JC Penny sold a line of lenses and flashes. K-Mart has the Focal
products. I also agree that these products are good consumer grade
products, but as a used piece of equipment they are difficult to establish
prices for.

[GLMeador]

dmsi...@aol.com (Dmsimmons) wrote:
Date: 23 Dec 1996 19:02:29 GMT
Message-ID: <19961223190...@ladder01.news.aol.com>

>Although I don't remember them ever sell a camera with their name on it,
>JC Penny sold a line of lenses and flashes. K-Mart has the Focal
>products. I also agree that these products are good consumer grade
>products

In the mid-to-late 1970's, JCPenney and KMart both sold Minolta SRT series
of cameras especially designated for those stores. JCP's Minolta SRT-SC
and KM's SRT-MC (or is it the other way around?) were the same models.
These bodies were somewhat of a mix between the SRT 100 and the 101. In
about the same time period, the Petri brand offered an SLR with the M42
screw thread, a departure from their uncommon bayonet mount. This camera
survived for a while in the guise of a black body Focal SLR.

Gary L. Meador

[CaptGrumps]

I bought a Tower 8mm camera from Sears in 1958--has three rurret lens and
was
made by Bell & Howell--also bought 8mm projector from them later in early
1960
and bellieve it was a Revere--still have them and they work.

Doug