Ricoh Shotmaster Ultra Dual #3

I was just congratulating myself last week for going about four years without having a cold or flu, so foolish. Friday the throat started to feel sore, got a really annoying dry cough, and an aching head, so I have now got Man Flu. At least I’ve got a film to process if I’m going to have to stay indoors, and some old negs I’d like to scan. 

I wondered if the Ricoh Shotmaster would be any good for street photography, I’m never sure about autofocus cameras when shooting from the hip. There was a continental market in the town a few weeks ago, the weather was good so I thought I would give it a try.

Face In The Crowd

What You Doing

I was pleasantly surprised, I’m sure the bright light helped as the camera would have stopped down to give a good depth of field.

My Nurse Maid ! (Mimi)

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Ricoh Shotmaster Ultra Dual #2

The Last Real Department Store Closes

35mm lens Setting

55mm lens Setting
This was the last real traditional department store in the city and has now sadly closed. I used to shop there for greetings cards and kitchen bits bobs, the staff were really friendly and helpful. The store was first opened in 1880, it was called Joseph Johnson & Co. (Some interesting History) This seems to be the story in a lot of countries around the world. I believe it’s going to become apartments, no surprise there.

Victoria Park Gateway

35mm lens Setting
On a brighter note the the gates and stonework to Victoria park (not far from where I live) have been restored and look really good. They have also completely rebuilt the car park, I was a bit dismayed at first because they cut down a lot of trees, but have replanted with more than there were before.   

Ricoh Shotmaster Ultra Dual #1

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.