Ricoh 500

[Doug T.]

Hi!

Well, I found another one for cheap!
I got this Ricoh at a barn sale for 7.50 US Dollars because the film advance was broken. I took the back cover off and found a nasty old roll of film in there that must have been at least 20 years old.
It hadn't been rewound, so I did that, screwed the film advance back on to where it belongs, and brought the camera back to life!!



Here's the top.....



I'll give it a good cleaning next. Maybe even run some film through it

Doug

[Stephen]

I have an earlier flat top model Ricoh 500, 1957, same below the waist as yours, the Riken 45mm F2.8 lens was good on these 1950's Japanese made cameras.
The rapid bottom wind on does jam occasionally by reputation, mine is OK. It has the curious Seikosha EV shutter, the apertures are connected to Shutter speeds in the same way as many German cameras using the Compur EV.
The only change they made was the bigger, as per your example, viewfinder.

Stephen.

[33dollars]

Something to watch out for on these Ricoh 500 / 519 bottom winders is the tiny screws inside the back bottom plate.
They come loose with use & are easy to loose. Just make sure they are all done up when you reload. Av fun.