Different Ricoh 500's ?

[AK66]

First of all, I want to say HELLO and Thank you to this great forum and it's generous members since this is my first post here. I was lurking for some time since I bought my first rangefinder from the well-known big auction site and looks like the the bug is caught.
Ok, I recently came into possession of these two nice Ricoh 500s:

My question is: what is the difference between them? I mean, I can see the obvious differences, like the flat and stepped top plate, of course, and different rangefinder structure. Also, the flat one has a MFX lever switch, while the stepped one does it by the ring on the lens.
I'm curious which one is considered "better" or what made the company to change the design while keeping the same name. I suspect that the flat one is older because it has a four-digit serial# while the stepped one has five-digit.
I did a search and there are not that much information about this rangefinder, especially the stepped one. Mostly 500G comes up.
BTW, those two are in the great working condition, even the shutter on 1sec. is exactly 1sec.! The only exception is the stepped one completely lost the coating on the semi-transparent mirror in the rangefinder, probably due to excessive cleaning, so the rangefinder actually became a viewfinder.
I'm going to load some film in the flat one and will post the result.

 

[farlymac]

Your high top model is definitely a later version with an improved viewfinder, giving more eye relief being the main reason for the change. It may even have parralax correction. Another model with a faster lens is the 'Five-One-Nine' (it's actually spelled out like that on the camera), as it has a maximum aperture of 1.9, but looks like the flat-top model you have. These are said to be fine cameras ( mine needs some shutter work, so I haven't shot it yet), with an excellent lens. I like the trigger winder on the bottom, the focusing levers, and the clean look.

You may be able to get a mirror from another camera, like a Yashica, to replace the one in your later model. Yours is the first one I have seen with the larger viewfinder.

PF

 

[AK66]

Thanks, farlymac! Yes, it does have a moving parallax correction. I like the bottom trigger too, I never realized how convenient it is, until I actually tried it. Thanks for the tip, I actually have a couple of donor cameras - Yashica G and Hi-matic 9. I'll see if I can "transplant" the mirror.

 

[Nikon Bob]

Welcome to the forum. I have one like your flat top model and it is a capable and well built camera. I was not even aware of your stepped top model's existence. You just added to the knowledge base. You can buy beam splitter mirror glass at Anchor/Edmund Optics, not sure of the exact name, and cut it yourself to fit. If you do a search on RFF there should be several threads on that. Have fun.

Bob

 

[btgc]

Hi here, and your Ricohs are fine cameras to start with. When I started with my Five-One-Nine, I were surprised to see how many variations Ricoh has produced.

 

[Brian Legge]

I tried a Ricoh 500 briefly. The camera has a brilliant lens. Ergonomically, I prefer very small cameras so I didn't hold on to it but the lens made it hard to pass on.

I hope you enjoy yours!

 

[AK66]

Thanks, guys, for your replies and welcoming! The link posted by btgc is really interesting. I was really surprised too how many models there are. Looks like they don't have a picture of the flat-topped 500 that I have, but there are some other models that look exactly like it. Amazing!
I had a chance to shoot a roll with it over the weekend and I like it a lot. Especially the bottom-winder and focusing with two fingers. The shutter is amazingly quiet. And the lens looks pretty sharp!

There are more pictures in my sig link.

Happy Memorial Day and God bless our Veterans!