Ricoh 500 RF anyone ?

[javabean]

Hi all,


I bought a Ricoh 500 G rangefinder for 1 euro yesterday, and wondered if anyone here has experience with this camera. The light meter seems to be OK, the rest looks severely worn, but working. Lens (40mm/f2.8) is clean and shows no damage. The viewfinder has a small dot in the center, that functions as focussing area. For 1 euro, its quite a bargain 🙂

Cheers,

javabean.

 

[Ducky]

That's a nice camera. There has been some discussion about it in the forum. I have the Sears 35rf which is the same camera but marketed through Sears. It takes great pictures.
You'll need a battery to get the meter working. I used a size 357.
Good luck.

 

[oscroft]

Hi Javabean,

The 500RF is almost the same as the 500G, which I have and really like - it's a bit of a favourite on this forum. Hope you enjoy yours 😀

 

[Didier]

I have a Ricoh 500 GX, black, bought for 1.- franc from swiss online auction house (Ricardo). It has a 2.8/40mm lens, manual and automatic mode. The CdS meter, located in the front of the lens, is not accurate though I've changed the battery. But it's possible my replacement PX675 was half down when I bought it. Will try another. The body feels compact and solid. The slightly barrel distorted viewfinder shows the metering needle and manual mode on or not. The yellow RF spot is quite small and the eye must be in the centre of the finder to see it. The very thin manual aperture/A ring is unergonomic. OK if you use Auto only but annoying in manual mode. All in all more a showcase item than a shooter like Konica Auto S3, Canonet GIII-17 or Olympus RC.
Didier

 

[alcaraban]

I have a silver 500G, buyed several years ago for 50 Eur. I use it with negative and without battery, as a P&S in mode "manual A priority" and "brain lightmeter": as Didier said, the A ring is rather thin, so I change more often shutter speed than aperture, that I usually leave set to f/8 or f/11 (focusing somewhere between the 3m and 10m marks) for daylight, wide open for low light shots.

Currently my always-with-me-camera.

Amazingly, mine's faulty frame counter began to work after the 8-10 first rolls.

 

[javabean]

Thanks for the feedback guys. I've shot my first roll with it and can say i am quite happy with it 🙂 Lightmeter works, and timer seems ok too. I noticed there is no depth of field stripes on the lens, and the frame counter hangs on 36. Very compact camera and even with automatic exposure.

Here is a sample shot :

Cheers,

javabean.

 

[dazedgonebye]

I agree they gave up a bit of ergonomic goodness for size, but I still think they're fine shooters.
Certainly I've had to make greater compromises with other cameras.

 

[IgalSc]

I'm running thru my first roll now on my Ricoh 500 RF
So far (still haven't seen the results, but still) I love this camera
The only thing I'm missing is a lens cap
What is the size of it?

 

[Armoured]

I'm running thru my first roll now on my Ricoh 500 RF
So far (still haven't seen the results, but still) I love this camera
The only thing I'm missing is a lens cap
What is the size of it?

It takes a 46mm. A vented hood on it looks very nice.

 

[Armoured]

I'm running thru my first roll now on my Ricoh 500 RF
So far (still haven't seen the results, but still) I love this camera
The only thing I'm missing is a lens cap
What is the size of it?

It takes a 46mm. A vented hood on it looks very nice.