More Ricoh....XR-2 this time

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Finished first roll in XR-2....what can I say....my first SLR after having RF's before. SLR from that era is loud ! And in this camera it fits right. Sound of shutter is very different from in-lens leaf shutter, and I told it's loud ? What I like ? How it's built, how it lies in hands. Sound makes it like a machine gun, I think this is what mostly attracts people to SLR - yeah, that's a real camera. True evil SLR 😉
OK, short techbits:
Exposure is either AE, aperture is seen in VF (small look-out window) or manual - speeds can be selected from 4s to 1/1000. Needle in VF shows metered speed, also in manual mode. Runs on two "modern" SR44/S76 cells, mine on arrival had CR1/3N lithium cell inside. Right, Pentax K-mount.

I like bright VF (ah, that's with Rikenon XR 50mm lens) and focusing is sweet - I especially like method similar to one used in RF's. For now I think SLR is good w/ wide and tele lenses as for normal focal length there are RF's, fixed lens RF's. Mirror slap and camera shake makes it a bit tricky to use, but I love how it's designed, how it's thought through. I love package, complete with DOF preview, which I got for reasonable price. What's done: cleaned, replaced light seals, worked a bit controls - there were needle jiggling, I suppose owner were smoker and nicotine deposited on contacts. Now works like a charm. Odour were removed with "paper wrap" method. Hope to use it well.

here's a sample pic, and ironically, it's taken exactly with normal lens 🙂

http://flickr.com/photos/17767363@N00/2268950996/

 

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Two years later 🙂
I have adopted SLRs mostly for wide-angle lenses. 40-50mm range I like somehow better shot by RF. There are fine normal SLR lenses, and must admit - split image and micro prism focusing means nicely complement each other. Sure, with wide lenses scale focusing works just fine, especially when powered by plenty of light and/or fast film.

Year ago lens release lever broke off, now I have to use nail to make a proper grip. In later Ricoh SLR models this part is redesigned to receive pressure directly on, not on lever, sticking out.

While I like program bodies like XR-P and XR-X for their grips, 1/2000 top speed and TTL flash support, XR-2 still is special to me. Comfortable VF is great, and loud mirror slap is factor of choice when I want to get gestalt after each exposure. Clack, and me and you know I made exposure. Or just go for a walk with wide-angle lens.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/17767363@N00/3768093317/