Ricoh Singlex II

I picked up this Ricoh Singlex II 35mm SLR at a local thrift store. It was dusty, including significant dust embedded around the edges of the Rikenon 50mm f2 lens - so much to the point that I feared the chances of fungus damage was almost a certainty, which would render the lens unusable. But I was pleasantly surprised to find everything cleaned up VERY nicely - in fact, I consider this camera to be in near mint condition. It still had the plastic hot shoe protector.

The camera without the lens weighs a bit shy of 1 lb. 12 oz. Shutter speeds are from 1/1000th down to 1 second plus bulb; ASA/ISO is from 25 to 1600; lens mount is an M42 Pentax screwmount. There is a dial surrounding the film rewind crank with settings for color, b&w, or empty - just to be used as a reminder to the photographer as to what is loaded. You activate the meter along with a depth of field preview by pushing in the button on the front of the camera next to the lens (seen in the photo). The placement of that button felt a bit awkward to me and took a bit of getting used to, but other than that, the camera feels intuitive and comfortable to shoot with.

My first test roll through the camera was a roll of Kodak BW400CN and I was extremely pleased with the results.

Right: Roger on our futon chair.

View a gallery of Ricoh Singlex II sample images at d2gallery.com.