Ricoh KR-5 SUPER II Film Camera

If you put a gun to my head and make me choose...I'll take my chances with this camera. One of these has been my "old reliable" for 17 years. Mechanical shutter means it works without batteries, wich are just for the meter; red and green lights like a traffic signal tell you if your settings are about right or not. It's the simplicity of this camera that to me, allows it to compete with more advanced "do everything for u" cameras. A great alternative to Pentax K - 1000, and quite often a better bargain here on ebay.

I am amazed that nobody mentions the plastic top and bottom plates! In fact I have read reviews where the author stated these were all metal, which is untrue. The back plate is mostly metal as are some of the subcomponents, but the rest is an uninspiring 2mm thick (and thinner) polycarbonate. (Older Ricoh's are indeed tanks.) Now I know this saves on weight but let's be honest and let the potential buyer know the facts so they can make up their own minds.

It is a good manual camera; it does not have shutter speed or aperture priority, but recommends a manner of using the meter that mimics those functions. (As in; set the shutter speed where you want it and move the aperture ring until the meter oks the exposure, mimicking shutter priority. Or setting the aperture ring to the aperture you want to shoot and then manually turning the shutter speed dial until you have the correct exposure, mimicking aperture priority.) But not only are you setting both the aperture and shutter speeds manually, you are not given the aperture settings or shutter speed settings in the viewfinder; so you must 'pull' back on the camera and look at the settings to assure either a potentially wobbly shutter speed or a potentially too shallow depth of field meaning the whole process has to continue!

It is a fair camera for the experienced photographer, Ricoh lenses are made by a third party lens manufacturer who can do a fair job with the coatings at times, but not up to Pentax Canon or Nikon quality (or even Minolta for that matter.) My lens has a double failure to coat imperfection on the very edge that is noticeable to the naked eye.

All in all it appears to me like Ricoh quality control which was usually excellent, underwent a revamping during this time period and you may want to actually look at one closely before purchasing one of these.

The 1/2000th shutter speed is nice, the camera is light small and simple, it has a center weighted meter and with a Pentax K-mount lens can take fine pictures! And these Ricoh KR-5 SUPER II's can be had for a song!

However I feel it is not in the class of a Pentax K-1000 at all, and in fact can be frustrating for a novice who may encounter quality issues with too slow shutter speeds or too shallow a depth of field rendering a poor quality appearance in finished photos! If you are looking for a precision made tank with a fine quality lens (as are most who shop for a 35mm SLR,) I feel you'll do better looking elsewhere.