Wednesday 1 May 2013

Ricoh 500ME | ROLL ONE - Kodacolor VR 200, expired in the 90s

Ricoh 500ME? Yes. New camera for the collection. After looking for it and spending many hours on eBay, after so many lost bids and unsuccessful attempts, we felt so lucky when a seller sent a message to us telling that the winner of the camera rejected it, and we were the second highest bid, so the camera was ours.
The 500ME looks almost identical to the 35FM, except for some details like the multiple exposure button, the shutter locker or the shutter speed ring on the lens. Apart from that, the 500ME is a true rangefinder camera, which means you have to focus by matching two images on the viewfinder. Instead, the 35FM is a zone focus camera, where you have to guess the distance to the subject and adjust the focusing ring in consequence.
We found the 500ME a far better camera than the 35FM, although you have to spend some time at the beginning to get familiar with the focusing system. And, by the way, how cool is the multiple exposure thing? No more overlapped pictures!
The first roll we shot with it was a Kodacolor VR200 which our friend at the lab gave us for free. It was expired sometime in the 90s, but we don't know exactly when.
We hope you like the pictures!

Old lamp
Beady Eye t-shirt
Sombras
I'm yours
(double exposure)
Strange double