RICOH R1: LETS TALK ABOUT ANOTHER POINT AND SHOOT
NOVEMBER 4 2022
Let’s talk about another point and shoot because why not. I have a lot anyway. This point and shoot is the Ricoh R1, which I was incredibly lucky to snag at the thrift store for only $5. And yeah, I’m actually not joking as most of you would think. I’m pretty sure I have a picture with the price tag on it if you’re really doubting. But anyway, this camera, it’s pretty good I guess. The photos from it aren’t really anything special, BUT it makes up for that in size. This camera is TINY.
It’s about the same height and width as a roll of film, it’s impressive that a roll will fit in there and that it works about as good as any other point and shoot. You can easily fit this camera in your front pocket and pretty much carry it everywhere with you.
The size alone is reason enough to get this camera and alays have it with you, but another thing that I love is the lens. It has a 30mm f3.5 on it. f3.5 isn’t fast but it’s not the reason I love the lens. I love how wide it is. I’m not a huge fan of 35mm and most of my point and shoots boast that focal length, I much prefer 28mm and the closer a lens is to that the better, so having one that's 30mm is fantastic.
I also think it helps a ton with a point and shoot to capture more of a scene/moment since that is usually what I’m using a point and shoots for anyway.
The camera also has a panorama and wide panorama mode. I think I’ve only used the panorama mode once and never the wide mode, it wasn’t anything special, it just cropped the actual film strip with some blinders to make a panoramic aspect ratio. Apparently, the wide panorama mode turns the lens into a 24mm f8, it still uses the blinders, but it does give you the option for a wider field of view which is nice, I guess. However, I've never really used either. I pretty much leave the camera in the normal 30mm lens mode and that’s perfect for me.
This shot is pretty much my one attempt with the pano mode:
Alright, now that we’ve talked about thef orm factor and lens let’s talk about why the photos from this camera aren’t anything special. The photos themselves are fine, the colors look nice and the flash does a great job, but there’s not as much pop or sharpness in the images that would draw you in.
The R1 does a good enough job but it’s not the first camera that I would reach for if that makes sense. I keep it for its size, and I like to bring it with me when I want a film camera but don’t want anything obvious (I'm serious I can have this and my iPhone in the same pocket and they both fit fine). But when I use it I know it’s primarily just to capture a scene or a moment or an event and not necessarily for impressive images.
And lastly, I should mention one of the big reasons why it is lower on my list of go to cameras. It has this weird design quirk where the lens will extend (maybe to confirm focus) and then take the picture after the shutter is pressed. Pressing the shutter seems to initiate the lens and then the shutter fires a few moments after. This delay is really annoying for taking photos with action or trying to catch split seconds. I have no idea why the camera was designed like this but it’s a pretty big negative in my opinion.
I’ll try to show you in this gif, but essentially there’s a delay from when you press the shutter button to when the shutter actually fires which is quite frustrating to deal with and hard to account for.
But all in all it’s a fun camera to have and has a lot of good uses. Mine is starting to show it's age though :(, the screen doesn’t work and I’ve noticed the rewind and film advance electronics are starting to slow. I really hope it doesn’t die because I do enjoy using it but it is definitely a second or third tier camera in my growing collection of point and shoots.
Well that’s it for now. Thank you so much for reading!
