Now what ...?

[oftheherd]

Well, I recently purchased a Ricoh "35" Deluxe for the princely price of $15.00. Supposedly the shutter didn't work. It actually seems to work fine, but the lens focus is jammed tight. I suspect just gunk that needs to be cleaned alone with the rest of the camera. The film in it appears to be vintage Fuji as it has a lime green cassette. Of course, the focus isn't really a problem as long as all my photos are at a distance of 4 feet.

Here is the camera.

 

[oftheherd]

Of course with the film advance on the bottom and the fact that the back drops down to load/unload film, it needs a different method of connecting to the camera. That is simply accomplished by a mating of the advance lever with the sprocket that has the film teeth. I am not sure yet, but I guess the silver part on the take up spool allows insertion of the film leader and that spool rotates in such a manner as to reverse curl the film as on my Fujica ST 901.

Here is the insides.

 

[oftheherd]

Of course, as I mentioned, it advances with a lever on the bottom. There is a lever attached to the advance lever that allows it to curl around the lens, or to be dropped down so it can be advanced with the left hand thumb. The advance requires it to be advanced to the stop, then advanced again just a little to cock the shutter (?). There is a stop to keep the lever return spring from moving the lever outside the confines of the body. That is on the outside of the body as can be seen.

 

[oftheherd]

Interestingly, at least for me, since I am not used ot this kind of camera, you must turn both knobs on the bottom to unlock the back. I don't know if that is common for cameras that open this way or not.

Another oddity, for me at least, is that the film rewind release is on the upper back of the body. A button on the upper back slides to the right to release the film for rewinding. I have not tried it with film yet, but it appears it might have to be held continually to rewind, and might act as a way to take multiple exposues.

Now for the question; is anyone familiar with this camera? Is it worth a CLA? If so, where is a dood or the best place?

 

[bmattock]

I am familiar with the descendants of this camera, and they have always been one of my favorites - not least of which for their oddity.

The camera you have begat the Ricoh 500, which is documented pretty well on Karen Nakamura's excellent website:

http://www.photoethnography.com/ClassicCameras/Ricoh500.html

I have a 500, and am not satisfied with the quality of the images - to me, the lens is not sharp enough and lacks contrast - I believe Karen felt the same way.

However, the 500 in turn begat the Five One Nine (spelled out like that, not "519" as one might expect), and that has a most excellent lens - nearly the last of the Ricoh bottom-winding cameras, and the best of them.

Interestingly, I have found several variants of the 500, all called 500 but looking distinctly different (frame shape slightly changed - smooth top vs stepped top - the 'step' being upwards of an inch!). I also have several models that supposedly do not exist - a 519M (they went back to numerics, huh!), which is a Five One Nine with a BEWI meter, and a 520, which is a plastic shadow of the Five One Nine, obviously the last of the line.

I love all of them for their shape and individuality - they broke the rules, eh? The 500 I have, despite having a disappointing lens (actually not bad for the era, just bad compared to the very sharp and contrasty Five One Nine) has the best viewfinder and one of the best rangefinder patches of ANY of my classic fixed-lens rangefinders. Sadly, much better than my Five One Nines, which have the superior lens, dang it.

I enjoy the 'wings' on the lens barrel that allow for focusing with either hand, very convenient.

The Ricoh 500G is a black compact fixed-lense rangefinder and is not of this line, although it is a classic in its own right.

In answer to your question - if it were mine, I would not invest much in repairing it, as the lens was not reputed to be all that. However, this is a camera that I might very well attempt to repair on my own. I have replaced a top plate on one of my Five One Nines by myself, and it seems to be pretty easy to work on. The rewind knob on top unscrews - stick something in the arms that hold the film cartridge below and then turn - comes right off - and there is no rewind lever to remove, so three or four screws and you've got it off. By the way, you're right that you have to hold the rewind while you crank the lever. And beware, it is fairly easy to turn both bottom knobs and open the bottom while the film's still in there. The 'two knobs' thing is more often seen in old folding MF cameras, seldom in 35's.

I hope you find this reply useful! I think it is a great and interesting series by Ricoh, sadly neglected as a collectible item, and very innovative!

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks

PS - for a CLA, I do not have personal knowledge, but you might contact Mark Hama in Atlanta. This is kind of his sort of stuff. He's primarily a Yashica guy, but I believe he works on these.

 

[Pherdinand]

"Interestingly, at least for me, since I am not used ot this kind of camera, you must turn both knobs on the bottom to unlock the back. I don't know if that is common for cameras that open this way or not."

Oftheherd - the contax rangefinders (not the G but the old manual ones) also use this system. Not very handy, i have to say🙂

 

[oftheherd]

Thanks for the replies. One of the best parts of this forum is the knowledge of the members and the willingness to share that knowledge.

I may indeed try to fix this myself. It will make an interesting camera to use from time to time. Actually, I may contact Mark Hama. I am just worried as I have seen him offer older cameras for sale and I worry they are ones the owners abandoned due to the cost of repair.

 

[bmattock]

I have only heard good things about Mark, and have not read anywhere that he is overpriced - but I understand what you mean. For what it may be worth, I have had several cameras CLA'd but not by him, and I've ended up paying around $100 to $125. Of course, I made the mistake of dropping mine off locally when I lived in Albuquerque, and they just shipped them off somewhere else, so I am sure I paid a healthy markup.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks

 

[bmattock]

Oh, FYI - you can generate some unusual torque on that lever on the bottom - my first roll of film, I actually cranked too hard on the last shot on the roll and broke the film off the spool inside the film cartridge. Lost the roll trying something experimental and dumb to get it to rewind. So don't crank too hard on the last couple of frames!

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks

 

[rover]

Actually, I may contact Mark Hama. I am just worried as I have seen him offer older cameras for sale and I worry they are ones the owners abandoned due to the cost of repair.

I just sent my Yashica Mat to Mark for a CLA and repair last week. I sent him an email and he replied immediately. We had about 5 messages back and forth in the period of a couple hours. The cost he quoted was pretty reasonable I think. Considering his apparent expertise, I think I made a good decision. I guess I know better when the camera is back in my hands.

 

[nwcanonman]

Bill,
Don't feel bad about cranking through that last frame and pulling it out of the spool. I did the same thing last month with a Zorki 4K (sigh), really p*##ed me off too ~ ; - )