Rangefinder Newbie (Ricoh 500 RF)

[tase]

Well, hello all you awesome photographers out there!

For a couple of months now, I've been looking for one of those old Rangefinders so many people are ravishing about. At first I was totally into the Canonet QL 1.7 GIII which seems to be like one hell of a good camera. So what did I do? I started looking for one on ebay and every other actioning-site I knew. But well, I think everyone out there (at least guys from europe) know the problem with looking for a Canonet on the Internet these days - the prices are just...far beyond something you could call reasonable.
So I saw that people got awesome old rangefinders for like under 40 bucks and so I set myself a limit - not to spend more than 50 bucks. I realized after a while that in that case a Canonet would just be more or less impossible to get - that's when I started to look for comparible cameras.
Now the next problem I encountered (and please correct me if I'm wrong) was that really most of all these fixed-lens rangefinders only have some kind of automatic-exposure system.
Since I definitely wanted a camera with either only manual exposure control or at least the option to do so - the search just got a little harder.

But finally - I found a rangefinder fitting all my needs - the Ricoh 500 series, and in my case the Ricoh 500 RF.
Not only does it have optional manual exposure settings but also a quite good lens and is sold for a reasonable price (even in europe).

So yeah - since during my whole search the rangefinderforum was always a good help to find out which cameras produce which results and from which ones to better keep my hands off - I just had to sign up and share this with all you guys.

So here it goes - my new old Ricoh 500 RF:

[p.giannakis]

I had the 500G and I regret having sold it. The Rikenon is a fantastic lens !
Here are some pictures taken with it.

[p.giannakis]

Oh, by the way, welcome to RFF, I see it's your first post! Nice to have you here and I hope you'll enjoy this forum.

[btgc]

500RF has metered manual mode - something overhyped Canonet misses. Sub-f2 lens alone isn't worth those prices people pay, but that just my opinion. In fact, it's good that good part of bidders are concentrating on a few overhyped models, leaving some good cameras available to others.

[tase]

@p.giannakis Thanks for the welcome - and great shots you did there.

@btgc HELL YES! I didn't know that until I saw it within trying the first shots. As you said - very very few fixed-lens rangefinders have this feature and I gotta say - I wouldn't want to miss it.

[konicaman]

Hi Tase and welcome to this nice and friendly forum - I am sure you are going to like it here.

The Ricohs are very fine little cameras. Had a 500G some years ago; really regretted selling it, but I was lucky to find one very cheap at a garage sale the other day. Running a film through it at the moment to test.

And please go ahead and ask if you have any questions.

[konicaman]

Ohh and BTW: the Ricoh is pretty straight forward, but should you need a manual, you can find it here:
http://butkus.org/chinon/ricoh/ricoh...icoh_500rf.htm

[defconfunk]

I'm new to this whole RF thing too. My wants were pretty similar to yours - I wanted a full manual fixed lense RF at a budget price. Once you decide on full exposure control (wait, you want to control both your aperature and shutter speed, that's crazy talk) the list of possible cameras really thins out.

I like the look of your Ricoh. It looks tiny! (which is a good ting as far as I'm concerned).

Have fun with it