I picked up this camera at Savers for $3.99, all wrapped in a plastic bag with its flash, original lens cap, and a PC cord. At first glance, I mistakenly thought it was a trashcam — that is, a cheap plastic 35mm jobbie with a few rudimentary settings and a shitty lens. I bought it under that assumption, because I like the variability of trashcams. (File under: Life is like a box of chocolates)
When I realized what I’d actually bought, I was over the moon: a Sears-branded Ricoh rangefinder. It had gummy seals (and lots of them) and needed a battery, but the shutter appeared to work. I just needed to get it clean and tested. Knowing my love of rangefinders, I expected that this might end up on my film camera short-list, so I was excited to get going on it.
I picked up this late ’80s – early ‘90s fixed focus point-and-shoot at Goodwill for a few bucks late last summer. Since discovering that my son’s generic blue 35mm camera actually takes pretty cool and hipstery pictures, I decided to take a chance on romance and start picking up some more point-and-shoot and “trashcam” models.
