Yksisarvinen
Newbie
First of all I want to say Hi! to everyone on RFF. I've been lurking around these forums for a long while, but have never participated in any threads. I like the atmosphere of this forum and the general passion people share here. I myself have been a photog for a while now and still consider myself a novice both in the art and the culture. I have collected cameras for about 7 years now, and more cameras have gone through my hands that I care to admit. I've shot medium format and still do(and actually like the results more than my from 35mm shots), My SLR manufacturer of choice is Nikon, for the intuitive design, rugged quality and beautiful lenses. But my heart has always had a place for rangefinder cameras. And currently more than often I tend to take one of my rangefinder cameras with me rather than my SLR, even though it has a very small footprint.
The reason I decided to finally write something on this forum is that I quite simply need some help. My current user RF is a Voitländer Vitomatic IIb, a beautiful device, rivaling the built quality of the M:s (some might say). The camera has everything I need even the selenium meter works rather accurately. The cameras footprint is tiny, the viewfinder is a gorgeous 1:1, it has a deliciously silent leaf-shutter, every aspect of the little thing oozes quality and utilitarianism. I love it. But. I have large hands and more than sometimes I fell that my grip on the camera is not sure and fast. The lens on the vitomatic is a Color-Skopar 50mm F:2.8, wich consistently gives nice results both on BW film and Color negatives. On to the tale of the Ricoh F-O-N.
I acquired the Ricoh for the reasonable price of 20euros, the camera is in minty condition, except for the leaf-shutter and the focusing ring. When I acquired the camera, it had sticky blades but no oil showing on them, so as per usual I started to exercise the cocking lever and shutter release. And actually got the camera to work for a while, although sometimes the shutter blades stuck. I decided to leave the camera be, and send it to a repair-shop for a CLA. The camera stood in a cabinet for a few days and when I decided to send it for the CLA I shot off a few blank frames just to confirm that the shutter stuck sometimes. Well, the shutter stuck, and it stuck good this time. I cant cock the shutter(it's in mid stroke) and the focusing ring jammed at the same time. Now it moves just a bit, compared to the smooth and buttery actuation it had a couple of days before. I rang the repair shop and asked how much would they charge to unjam the focusing ring and unjam the shutter. The quota was 120e plus shipping. That's too steep for me, at least at the time. I would try to fix the shutter myself, I've done it a couple of times on some Voigtländers, but I am not familiar with the Seikosha MXL shutter. I found some service manuals on the net and also some other enthusiasts repair project documented with pictures. But I still do not feel confident enough to try it myself.
The Ricoh fits my hands perfectly, it has a lens that is closer to my preferred focal length and a brighter maximum aperture F1.9. On the downside, the viewfinder is tiny(at least compared to the Vitomatic II). The thing I want to know is: Is there any sense in repairing the Ricoh? It is very difficult to find good High Resolution scans of negatives taken with the F-O-N. To my knowledge the camera is actually quite uncommon and rather exotic.
So please could someone give some insight on the quality of the camera, the quality of the lens and the feasibility of the repair. Does anyone know any vintage camera repair shops in the UK, Germany or Sweden, capable of repairing an Seikosha MXL shutter for a reasonable price.
As soon as I held the Ricoh in my hands, I fell in love the design and built quality.
I thank you all in advance for any advice on this matter. I myself come from Russia but have been living in Finland for the last 22 years, I apologize for my possible inadequate English language skills.
- Dennis
Here's the Vitomatic
The reason I decided to finally write something on this forum is that I quite simply need some help. My current user RF is a Voitländer Vitomatic IIb, a beautiful device, rivaling the built quality of the M:s (some might say). The camera has everything I need even the selenium meter works rather accurately. The cameras footprint is tiny, the viewfinder is a gorgeous 1:1, it has a deliciously silent leaf-shutter, every aspect of the little thing oozes quality and utilitarianism. I love it. But. I have large hands and more than sometimes I fell that my grip on the camera is not sure and fast. The lens on the vitomatic is a Color-Skopar 50mm F:2.8, wich consistently gives nice results both on BW film and Color negatives. On to the tale of the Ricoh F-O-N.
I acquired the Ricoh for the reasonable price of 20euros, the camera is in minty condition, except for the leaf-shutter and the focusing ring. When I acquired the camera, it had sticky blades but no oil showing on them, so as per usual I started to exercise the cocking lever and shutter release. And actually got the camera to work for a while, although sometimes the shutter blades stuck. I decided to leave the camera be, and send it to a repair-shop for a CLA. The camera stood in a cabinet for a few days and when I decided to send it for the CLA I shot off a few blank frames just to confirm that the shutter stuck sometimes. Well, the shutter stuck, and it stuck good this time. I cant cock the shutter(it's in mid stroke) and the focusing ring jammed at the same time. Now it moves just a bit, compared to the smooth and buttery actuation it had a couple of days before. I rang the repair shop and asked how much would they charge to unjam the focusing ring and unjam the shutter. The quota was 120e plus shipping. That's too steep for me, at least at the time. I would try to fix the shutter myself, I've done it a couple of times on some Voigtländers, but I am not familiar with the Seikosha MXL shutter. I found some service manuals on the net and also some other enthusiasts repair project documented with pictures. But I still do not feel confident enough to try it myself.
The Ricoh fits my hands perfectly, it has a lens that is closer to my preferred focal length and a brighter maximum aperture F1.9. On the downside, the viewfinder is tiny(at least compared to the Vitomatic II). The thing I want to know is: Is there any sense in repairing the Ricoh? It is very difficult to find good High Resolution scans of negatives taken with the F-O-N. To my knowledge the camera is actually quite uncommon and rather exotic.
So please could someone give some insight on the quality of the camera, the quality of the lens and the feasibility of the repair. Does anyone know any vintage camera repair shops in the UK, Germany or Sweden, capable of repairing an Seikosha MXL shutter for a reasonable price.
As soon as I held the Ricoh in my hands, I fell in love the design and built quality.
I thank you all in advance for any advice on this matter. I myself come from Russia but have been living in Finland for the last 22 years, I apologize for my possible inadequate English language skills.
- Dennis
Here's the Vitomatic
