Was this a good deal?

[Stavrogin]

Hi!

I'm looking to get in to film photography and as such I've been looking for a camera to start out.

I managed to find a Olympus XA (new in box) for $70, and a Ricoh 800EES (new in box) for $40 (I heard the Ricoh is rare?). I'm not looking to sell necessarily, just curious if I spent too much money on these cameras. 🙂

Thanks 🙂

 

[sreed2006]

That is a good deal on the Olympus XA. Did it come with a flash? There is a trick to focusing the XA quickly and accurately. Use your left thumb to move the focus lever, with your left hand fingers wrapped over the camera top. Seems odd at first, but really is the best way.

A word of advice: keep the boxes.

 

[David Hughes]

Hi,

Welcome aboard. The XA in a box with everything sounds a bargain but I know nothing about the Ricoh.

The acid test will be your first roll of film and, a little advice, use SR44's not LR 44's. They probably tell you that in the manual but might not as SR44's might not have existed when the XA first appeared.

And, when you fancy something bigger with interchangeable lenses and so on, keep the XA as a pocket camera that you can carry anywhere.

Regards, David

 

[Stavrogin]

That is a good deal on the Olympus XA. Did it come with a flash? There is a trick to focusing the XA quickly and accurately. Use your left thumb to move the focus lever, with your left hand fingers wrapped over the camera top. Seems odd at first, but really is the best way.

A word of advice: keep the boxes.

It didn't come with a flash unfortunately, but everything else came with it, including the strap, manual, etc still in their plastic bags. Thanks for the advice on focusing, I'll definitely try it!

Hi,

Welcome aboard. The XA in a box with everything sounds a bargain but I know nothing about the Ricoh.

The acid test will be your first roll of film and, a little advice, use SR44's not LR 44's. They probably tell you that in the manual but might not as SR44's might not have existed when the XA first appeared.

And, when you fancy something bigger with interchangeable lenses and so on, keep the XA as a pocket camera that you can carry anywhere.

Regards, David

Thanks for the advice! I bought SR44's 🙂

The XA is in absolute mint condition. It even has that "new smell". 🙂

 

[gavinlg]

Damn you cleaned up with that XA price. One of the best compact cameras ever.

 

[tunalegs]

I'm not familiar with that particular Ricoh, but it looks pretty similar to the Ricoh 35 ZF that I have. I paid $20 for that one, unboxed but in excellent shape.

 

[Arbitrarium]

I know the Ricoh 800 has, as you might guess, a faster shutter at 800th sec. Aside from that I believe it's the same as a 500G. Shame there's no double exposure switch like the 500GX.

Is the 800 metal or plastic? I think the Ricoh 500s swapped between the two and it's hard to tell from photos.

Anywho, sounds like a good price to me for each of them. Great find

 

[Stavrogin]

Damn you cleaned up with that XA price. One of the best compact cameras ever.

I'm really happy I found it! 🙂

I'm not familiar with that particular Ricoh, but it looks pretty similar to the Ricoh 35 ZF that I have. I paid $20 for that one, unboxed but in excellent shape.

I know the Ricoh 800 has, as you might guess, a faster shutter at 800th sec. Aside from that I believe it's the same as a 500G. Shame there's no double exposure switch like the 500GX.

Is the 800 metal or plastic? I think the Ricoh 500s swapped between the two and it's hard to tell from photos.

Anywho, sounds like a good price to me for each of them. Great find

All right! The 800 is metal. I guess I'll try and sell it and see what I can get for it. I'll probably not use it anyway.

Shooting my first roll of film ever on my XA right now. Hopefully it'll come out OK. 🙂

 

[Ko.Fe.]

With XA you'll know it right away if it works or doesn't. No film is needed.
Good luck wit Ricoh 800 re-sell. On previous Friday I paid 85 CAD just for used without lens cap Olympus Trip 35. Not because it is worth it, but because it is from local camera store.

 

[Stavrogin]

With XA you'll know it right away if it works or doesn't. No film is needed.
Good luck wit Ricoh 800 re-sell. On previous Friday I paid 85 CAD just for used without lens cap Olympus Trip 35. Not because it is worth it, but because it is from local camera store.

The light seal on the XA seems to have eroded somewhat, so maybe there is some light leakage. We'll see. 🙂