[Cuthbert]

Got another rare Soviet lens in K mount for my LX:



I wish I could get the Volna f1.4 but they are as rare as white flies while the f1.2s are much like unicorns.

[Jonathan Mac]

I just bought this handsome machine from a gentleman in my neighbourhood, with the 50mm f/1.7 (which is the same as the one I already had) for €30. He was the original owner and has obviously taken great care of it, it seems to work perfectly.

When he bought it (late 60s??), he walked over the mountains from Catalunya to Andorra and back to get the camera cheaper and avoid customs.


IMGP0726 by Jonathan MacDonald, on Flickr


IMGP0728 by Jonathan MacDonald, on Flickr

[LesDMess]

I just bought this handsome machine from a gentleman in my neighbourhood, with the 50mm f/1.7 (which is the same as the one I already had) for €30. He was the original owner and has obviously taken great care of it, it seems to work perfectly.

When he bought it (late 60s??), he walked over the mountains from Catalunya to Andorra and back to get the camera cheaper and avoid customs.

Don't you just love acquiring gear from original owners - particularly those who took good care of them! The stories that go along with them are a great bonus too!

[BigMackCam]

I just bought this handsome machine from a gentleman in my neighbourhood, with the 50mm f/1.7 (which is the same as the one I already had) for €30. He was the original owner and has obviously taken great care of it, it seems to work perfectly.

When he bought it (late 60s??), he walked over the mountains from Catalunya to Andorra and back to get the camera cheaper and avoid customs.

Beautiful condition, a great story and a very good price. Nice catch!

[Jonathan Mac]

Don't you just love acquiring gear from original owners - particularly those who took good care of them! The stories that go along with them are a great bonus too!

I kept thinking he was going to change his mind due to his sentimental connection with the camera...

I don't think I have any other camera of this vintage that's aged so well, it really is beautiful. I don't know if the black Minoltas are rarer than the chrome ones (as they often are with Pentax).

[WPRESTO]

The second one is a Rikenon 50mm f1.4 XR, also very beautiful lens, definitely bigger and more conventional in its design:
At the moment it's on my LX but I am expecting a XR2S...I'm curious to see how it compares with my Pentax 1.4s.

Not sure it it was precisely the same version, but I had a Rikenon 50mm f1.4 when I was using two Ricoh XRM bodies. It was one of the most beautifully finished lenses I've ever handled. The focus action was absolutely perfect - butter smooth with no hint of looseness. However, the IQ was disappointing. I never found it as satisfactory at any aperture as the f1.4 Takumar on my Spotmatic.

[From1980]

It was common among reviewers at the time to admire the Rikenon 50mm f/2 as the gem of Ricoh's 3 standards. The 50 f/1.4 and 50 f/1.7 were not in much demand. It was common practice in the store where I worked to sell the Ricoh XR1(s) and XR2(s) bodies paired with the SMC Pentax M 50 f/1.7 which was a far better optic but similar in price to the Rikenon. This combo seemed to be driven by the demand for a well priced and featured K-mount auto camera which the Pentax lineup was lacking. Ricoh XR2 and later XR2s filled the void left by Pentax between the all auto ME and, for most, the out of reach LX. Also, the manual XR1 (and XR1s) were less expensive alternatives to Pentax's MX. A couple of other Ricoh features lacking on the Pentax bodies were the 1/125 flash synch speed and easy multi-exposure button.

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Last edited by From1980; 07-03-2016 at 06:29 AM. Reason: grammar

[WPRESTO]

I don't know if you are familiar with the XR M, but at the time I purchased one, then a second, it seemed to me the most feature-laden manual-focus body on the market, with numerous very clever features. Spot & averaging, auto film handling, single or multi-exposure, program exposures, built-in intervalometer, tiny little flash that clipped on the side (SFAIK, no SLR at the time had a built-in pop-up flash), electronic cable release (otherwise- I think - only available on Contax at the time) with an optional, dandy, tiny little radio-remote trigger operated by button cells (I still have this, it will work perfectly on any new Pentax body but you must turn off AF as the mini-plug has only two contacts). The viewfinder had a display along the bottom that showed essentially every setting, more viewfinder data than any other SLR body at the time, all operated by AA batteries.

[stevebrot]

I don't know if the black Minoltas are rarer than the chrome ones (as they often are with Pentax).

Depends on the model. I have to say, however, that yours is the first black SRT 101 I have seen.


Steve

[stevebrot]

I don't know if you are familiar with the XR M, but at the time I purchased one, then a second, it seemed to me the most feature-laden manual-focus body on the market, with numerous very clever features. Spot & averaging, auto film handling, single or multi-exposure, program exposures, built-in intervalometer, tiny little flash that clipped on the side (SFAIK, no SLR at the time had a built-in pop-up flash), electronic cable release (otherwise- I think - only available on Contax at the time) with an optional, dandy, tiny little radio-remote trigger operated by button cells (I still have this, it will work perfectly on any new Pentax body but you must turn off AF as the mini-plug has only two contacts). The viewfinder had a display along the bottom that showed essentially every setting, more viewfinder data than any other SLR body at the time, all operated by AA batteries.

I am completely unfamiliar with the XR M. It sounds like a fascinating camera. Do you have photos?


Steve

[LesDMess]

I kept thinking he was going to change his mind due to his sentimental connection with the camera...

I don't think I have any other camera of this vintage that's aged so well, it really is beautiful. I don't know if the black Minoltas are rarer than the chrome ones (as they often are with Pentax).

Good for you that he didn't change his mind!

I definitely agree that an older black bodied camera in this cosmetic condition is not common. I wonder if it is the $5 - $10 premium for a black version or that it would have to be special ordered?

[Jonathan Mac]

I don't know if you are familiar with the XR M, but at the time I purchased one, then a second, it seemed to me the most feature-laden manual-focus body on the market, with numerous very clever features. Spot & averaging, auto film handling, single or multi-exposure, program exposures, built-in intervalometer, tiny little flash that clipped on the side (SFAIK, no SLR at the time had a built-in pop-up flash), electronic cable release (otherwise- I think - only available on Contax at the time) with an optional, dandy, tiny little radio-remote trigger operated by button cells (I still have this, it will work perfectly on any new Pentax body but you must turn off AF as the mini-plug has only two contacts). The viewfinder had a display along the bottom that showed essentially every setting, more viewfinder data than any other SLR body at the time, all operated by AA batteries.

I am completely unfamiliar with the XR M. It sounds like a fascinating camera. Do you have photos?


Steve

I bought an XR-M a couple of months ago. I found it in a second-hand shop and had never heard of it but as it was €25 and I wanted the Sigma 28/2.8 attached, I bought it. Later research revealed it to be the top-of-the line model and after running a couple of rolls through it, I have to say it's a really great camera and I love using it. They seem to be quite rare, as I think they were the last camera with which Ricoh really tried to win market share. After that AF came in and Ricoh settled to just producing more budget-friendly models with fewer features.

Here's mine:


Ricoh XR-M, top of the line in 1987. With a Sigma mini-wide 28mm f/2.8. by Jonathan MacDonald, on Flickr

[WPRESTO]

I am completely unfamiliar with the XR M. It sounds like a fascinating camera. Do you have photos?


Steve

Photos of the camera? No, but someone just posted a single image below - - oops, above. You can see the attachments on the non-grip side for the tiny flash unit. The radio remote release? No photos of the devices but I'll dig them out and post an image. Pictures taken with the camera? Yes, but hard to figure our which among the tens of thousands of chromes and Kodacolors were for sure taken with one of those camera. The only ones that I know definitely were taken with an XR M is a sequence of a monarch butterfly, caterpillar going into chrysalis, and adult butterfly emerging from chrysalis. Tried to image the latter by using the intervalometer feature overnight when I thought the adult was about to emerge, and wound up with 36 chromes of the chrysalis. Next time I stayed up watching it. It started to break out and emerge about 3AM.

[From1980]

Although I had left the camera store by 1987 I was familiar with the later Ricoh lineup. First the XR-7 (my favorite, and I still have a couple) then the XR-M were exceptionally featured models at great prices compared to many others. By '87 the XR-M and the other Ricohs were using the P mount to enable program mode and that proved incompatible with all the K mount bodies and lenses I was always dedicated to. The Rikenon lenses I referred to earlier were the K mount models from 1978 and the next several years. Later Ricoh K and P models seem to change quite a bit in build and possibly optically also and I am not familiar with those particulars.

[kneemeister]

I think the build quality went way down after the KR-30sp, XR-10, and XR-P. The Chinon CP-7 is a much beter built camera than the XR-M or XR-10m and more intuitive to use. What is nice about the CP-7 or CP-5's is that they do Program mode on any K mount lens, M, A, P, etc. they just measuere the light at the smallest apature and calculate from there. IE, just set the lens at 22 or 16 etc. and the camera figures it out. I am currently running a roll of Kentmere 100 thru my Sears KSX-P (Chinon CP-5) It is very simular to the XR-P and uses AAA batteries or if you have the winder on it, the AA batteries in it.

My biggest complaint about my Ricohs of the 80's is hard to read indicators in low light and Mirrors were installed with double sided sticky tape, I have had more than one KR30 or XR-P get the mirror stuck up because the mirror has slipped forward and got stuck on the bumper lip, eassly fixed by carefully pealing off the mirror and cleaning the old tape and replaceing it.

The P lens work fine on the older manual Pentaxs just not in program mode, and the Pin is rounded on most of the Rikenon lens so they will not usually get stuck on KAF cameras. The strange lens is the thrid party KR mount with Pentax contacts and the Ricoh Pin.