22-04-17
I couldn’t resist, it was on that auction site at a £1.00. starting bid, but the postage was £5.00. (a bit steep) No one else bid so it was mine. I have always liked Ricoh cameras and this was a model I hadn’t seen before. It has a dual lens (35mm & 55mm) rather than a zoom, the flash can be turned off by a flicking a slider, there’s an infinity button and the viewfinder cover acts as the on/off switch. The camera is quite small and easily fits in a coat pocket, and an added bonus is that it takes two standard AA batteries.
Loaded it up with £1.00 a roll Agfa Vista 200asa and took it out with me on my walks to town.
Natural Green (35mm)
The light was quite tricky for this shot, sun and shade. I have found Agfa Vista 200 has a slight magenta cast, but the Ricoh coped well with the lighting conditions.
Brightening Up The Park (35mm)
More tricky lighting.
Pegs & Finials (55mm)
Having recently bought a Nikon TW zoom 35-70 and then donated it to a charity shop because of the really slow autofocus I didn’t know what to expect from the Ricoh, I needn’t have worried, it has one of the quickest autofocus systems of all of my compact cameras.
The film was developed by a local high street photo store, and scanned in by me on my Nikon Coolscan as near to neutral as I could get, with some contrast and sharpening adjustments in Lightroom to get rid of the digital fug.
I especially like the litter bin picture. Have fun with new camera. What a bargain!!!
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Thank you Helen. :>)
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You went “old school” back to film! I didn’t know film was even still available to buy.
I too like the photo of the garbage can … the combination of green fence with blue bin. It came out really well.
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Thank You Joanne, film is making a bit of a comeback at the moment, I like the simplicity of film cameras. I guess it’s because I grew up with it (giving my age away) :>)
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That makes two of us 🙂
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:>))
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Wow! What a bargain, noticed you were “trying it out” on the previous post as I work my way back through your recent activity. I have a Ricoh GR1S that I need to remember to take out with me more often. I think I’m half way through a film that has been in there for a couple of years or more. Yes, I need to buy some fresh developer and get that film finished off and developed 🙂 You also tickled my nostalgia nerve with mention of the magenta cast on the Agfa film. I seem to remember finding that on every Agfa film I tried back in the day 🙂
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The Ricoh GR1S is a much sought after camera, have you seen the auction prices lately. I really like shooting with film cameras, mostly to do with my age but I like the simplicity. The Shotmaster really surprised me with the quality it produces.
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Blimey, I hadn’t looked for a while. I know it’s a great camera from experience and I knew it had a good reputation and sold well. This one belonged to my dad so there’s no way I’d sell it but I do need to put it to better use than I do. With the size of the thing I could take it along anywhere without noticing. I think it needs a new battery in it so I’m going to sort that out and get it in my camera bag 🙂
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I have a Minox “A” made pre war in Riga that my aunt gave me (half my family are Latvian), and I would never part with it. There are some interesting new films around this year, and Kodak are bringing back Ektachrome.
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Yes and I plan to get some Ektachrome, I’m quite excited about that. I tend to shoot B&W film because I love B&W anyway but also for ease of processing it myself. Yes, I could do colour at home but it’s more temperature sensitive. The Minox A – isn’t that a tiny “spy camera”? Or am I thinking of something else entirely? (Although a quick Google seems to confirm my suspicion).
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Yes it’s the tiny spy cam with a stainless steel body as seen in many a movie :>) it needs a service but film is hard to get, a place in Europe still sells B&W and colour, but it’s expensive. I always preferred slide film but there aren’t many places processing it at the moment, K&S was my go to place.
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In the decade or so immediately Before Digital I mainly shot Fuji slide film, Provia and some Velvia when I was able to treat myself. It’s great to see films coming back into existence like the Ektachrome – if gives me hope that others might return too. Digital certainly has advantages but I liken the feeling of shooting film to the satisfaction I can get from baking my own bread. I also love shooting with my old Rolleiflex – not a battery in sight, everything is mechanical or chemical. Humm, yes, too many cameras for my own good…
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I have a Rolleiflex that I was lucky enough to be able to buy for £5.00 when I worked at GEC at Whetstone, a few years ago I had it CLA’d but haven’t used it since, think it needs a workout. I’m the same, far too many cameras (if that’s possible) :>)
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Hehe, I don’t think it is possible really, but I do feel guilt that some od mine don’t get a run out that often.
Erm, hope you don’t mind me posting a link in here to my “old blog”. It was more of a general purpose blog that I used to keep but it covers the time that I
bought my Rolleiflex. £5 is an absolute bargain for one. I think I paid around £80 for ‘Helmut’ and he is in rather a sorry state – but he works!
https://squonky.wordpress.com/2011/04/09/rolleiflex-automat-k4b/
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Please go ahead. The Rollei came with a pistol grip, Rolleinars 1 &11 and a weird fisheye lens (non rollei)
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