[Suleeto]

I just got this RICOH XR500 off of Ebay for $30USD shipped, from Japan:



After installing batteries, the light meter works. Shutter is smooth at all speeds. Timer works. Slowly lol but not terribly so. The VF has some artifacts on it... I don't know how easy it is to clean. I cleaned the mirror and the Fresnel screen on the underside of the pentaprism, but that didn't get rid of the debris. Not sure how that gets cleaned. Obviously that won't affect film images, just bothers my OCD.

I threw on this spare M 50mm f2 which I felt was a good match-up. Added a new neck strap. And bought some cheap Fuji 400 color film to throw in.

Body feels stout, seems like a polycarbonate (or was it just plastic back then?) shell over a steel frame. I think it's a handsome, classic looking shooter in black.

Anyone else have a Ricoh K-mount camera? How do you feel about them?

[eagle1]

I have a nice XR2 and lenses which I'll probably never part with. The XR series are very dependable camera's!

[Suleeto]

I wouldn't mind finding one of the Rikenon 50's..... I know only one or two of the versions is multicoated but not sure which ones.

[boriscleto]

I wouldn't mind finding one of the Rikenon 50's..... I know only one or two of the versions is multicoated but not sure which ones.

Shopgoodwill.com usually has several at any given time. Look for them branded as Sears as well. One of the Sears 50/1.7s is a Chinon, but the rest are Ricoh.

Just make sure the listing has a good photo of the front of the lens. Sometimes lenses from shopgoodwill show up looking more like a Petri dish...

An example listing.

shopgoodwill.com - #25800152 - Ricoh XR500 35mm Camera w/Tele Converter+50mmLens - 11/27/2015 10:43:08 AM

And another...

shopgoodwill.com - #25801805 - Vintage Ricoh XR-2 Film Camera - 11/27/2015 11:39:30 AM

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Last edited by boriscleto; 11-25-2015 at 11:47 AM.

[Suleeto]

I don't want a whole camera LOL... just the LENS

I have this XR500 and an ME so I'd say I have good balance of SLR film body choices between those two. I just wanted the Rikenon lens to match with the Ricoh body. A bit of nostalgic interest I suppose. I'm sure in the meantime the M 50 f2 will shoot just fine on the XR500.

[boriscleto]

I don't want a whole camera LOL... just the LENS

Which is why you get a better deal when you buy the lens attached to a camera body. The lens comes up on its own, or with another lens/lenses, though not as often as the Pentax 50/2.

[tim60]

I just got this RICOH XR500 off of Ebay for $30USD shipped, from Japan:


Anyone else have a Ricoh K-mount camera? How do you feel about them?

I got ripped off! I paid $215 in 1978 for one of them. With TVM it would be over $1000 now, at 10%.

Mine came from Japan too, but bought it at Andres', a long since gone camera shop in a building that got demolished and replaced by some tall building. I got the Rikenon 50/2. My brother has it now.

I liked it, the best I could afford at the time. Two years later, after a lucrative summer job, I replaced it with an MX and then very rarely used it.

[stevebrot]

I have a XR-2s and two XR7. The are my "go to" film bodies. I also have a couple XR Rikenon 50/2 and Rikenon-P 50/2. Both models are very sharp and worth shooting with, though I don't believe either is multi-coated. I generally use my Pentax-M 50/1.7 instead.


Steve

[Suleeto]

My M 50 1.7 is married to the ME

Yeah I will just have to hunt around on Ebay because I don't want a third SLR film body right now. I need to buy a second APS-C DSLR body next as a backup for my primary DSLR.

Hey side note... do any of you know how to remove the debris in the VF?



I cleaned the mirror and dusted off the fresnel lens screen under the prism, but the debris is still in the view. I figure it's between the screen and the prism. On my K-30 the screen is easy to pop out but I don't see how to do that with this camera.

[boriscleto]

Looks like bits of mirror foam. Probably very sticky.

[Suleeto]

Well the foam mirror bumper is pretty much destroyed so that would make sense. But it isn't on the outer surface of the fresnel screen.

[ChrisPlatt]

My first K-mount body was a Sears KS1000, aka Ricoh XR-1s.
I sold it and went on to acquire various Pentax K-mount bodies.

In an apparent fit of nostalgia I recently purchased on eBay a
clean used Sears KS1000 and sent it to Eric Hendrickson for CLA.

It's all mechanical and quite similar to my favorite Pentax, the KX.
It's not as well-made as the KX and the meter is not as good,
but it does have the capability to use an inexpensive power winder.

Chris

[monochrome]

I just came across a Rikenon P 50/1.4 (not the XR 50/2, but nice nonetheless) and I'd like to try it with an automatic RIcoh film camera - but there seems to be little internet info on Ricoh camera models. which series is equivalent to Pentax 'A' cameras?

[boriscleto]

I just came across a Rikenon P 50/1.4 (not the XR 50/2, but nice nonetheless) and I'd like to try it with an automatic RIcoh film camera - but there seems to be little internet info on Ricoh camera models. which series is equivalent to Pentax 'A' cameras?

This is one of the few sources of info on Ricoh cameras.

The Unofficial Guide to Ricoh SLR Cameras and Rikenon Lenses

The P function was introduced with the XR-P in 1984. The cameras listed with Pentax K/R mount support P.

Camera-wiki.org has some info too.

Ricoh - Camera-wiki.org - The free camera encyclopedia

[Hinomaru]

K-Mount Ricoh KR-5 Super II was manufactured by Cosina (1993). Fully mechanical - needing battery only for metering. Shutter speeds of 1/2000 to 1 second, plus B.
Flash sync at 1/125th of a second. Three LEDs inside the viewfinder for adjusting exposure - having full open aperture TTL exposure metering.







Rick