fallow nova
The photo at the end of the topic shows my Sigma Mark 1, another of the many camera models that had their origins in Ricoh, Cosina and Chinon cameras.
In the case of the Sigma Mark 1, the blueprints of the Ricoh Singlex TLS were bought directly from Ricoh in order to bring the very first Sigma camera, the Sigma Mark 1, onto the market.
However, there are many very similar cameras that were distributed worldwide through licensing agreements with other camera manufacturers such as Sigma, relabelling on the American market through photo retailers such as Sears or Kmart, or relabelling on the European market through photo retailers such as Revue or Porst.
I have searched a little more intensively and listed all models I could find. They all have a metal curtain shutter, an on/off switch for TTL metering on the right-hand side next to the lens mount when you look at the camera from the front, the setting dial for ASA/ISO and the shutter speeds on the left-hand side of the lens mount and they all have the M42 screw mount.
And yes, for those unfamiliar with such cameras, the dial for ASA/ISO and shutter speeds is on the front left of the lens mount, not on top of the camera as would be usual.
As far as I know, there are two battery variants for these cameras. The most common were 1.35 volt mercury button cell batteries and for some cameras, such as the Sigma Mark 1, today's 1.5 volt LR9 button cell batteries. As the 1.35 volt mercury variant is now banned in most countries or is no longer manufactured, you should get a suitable metal adapter into which smaller 1.35 volt button cell batteries can be inserted, which are now used for hearing aids. These are called Wein Cell batteries. Please pay attention to the voltage.
The cameras themselves can be operated completely mechanically, except for the camera's internal light meter, which only works with batteries. Everything else works without batteries.
The shutter speeds range from bulb to one second to 1/1000 second.
