Ricohflex

[brmill26]

Hello film guys, I thought I'd let yall know I've officially joined your ranks. I bought a ~1956 Ricohflex Dia for $60 on eBay. Amazingly, it appears to be in mint exterior and working condition! If you're familiar with these cameras, this appears to be one of the "transition" models that doesn't seems to fall exactly in any of the model lines I can find on the web. The name plate says "Ricohflex" but focusing is the duo-lever system. The shutter is a Citizen MXV up to 1/400. The lenses are the less desirable Riconar 3.5 3 element design. So best I can tell, it is a "New Dia" model from 1956, but whatever the case, everything on it seems to function perfectly. I'm using my XTi and the 19-35mm lens as my meter.

I went by a local camera store/lab looking for Velvia 100, but they didn't have any in 120, so I ended up getting some Kodak E100VS. As I understand slide film isn't very flexible, this should definitely tell me if the shutter speeds are correct or not!

Anyway, I thought yall would like to know there's someone else out there who still thinks film is cool. Being a younger one, I've never really shot film before (discounting 1 roll through my dad's Minolta SLR), so this is my first real foray. I'm looking forward to it, b/c film simply has a different "look" and character that digital simply cannot reproduce. And the square medium format is different as well.

I do have one question - whenever I get this roll developed, I have the option of getting a CD with prints or simply getting the CD alone. Now a days, do you guys simply print from the digital files of your film, or do you still use the actual slide or negative to print from? I don't have a scanner, so it will either be done by the lab or sent somewhere.

Here are some pics of the camera:






Oh, and I have a question about this as well, if anyone knows. Does the setting on this dial actually affect anything in the camera? I ask because I can't figure out whether to use the inside marks or the outside ones!

[photophorous]

Congrats on the new camera. Looks pretty cool.

Whether or not you can print from the CD files depends on the quality of the scans they're making. Considering how big that piece of film is, even a 1200 DPI scan would be plenty to make a small print, which you would treat just like a digital camera file. Real optical prints from slides are possible, but there's no need to do that unless you have a really nice image and you're real particular about getting the absolute best print. I wouldn't bother with prints if I were you, because they'll probably just make digital prints unless you pay extra. And, you'll need to view the slides directly to get a decent idea of how they're exposed because the scans and prints will be tweaked by software anyway.

And to answer your second question about the ASA numbers on the focus knob. Unless your camera has a built in light meter, nothing matters except shutter speed, aperture, and focus. I don't think any cameras in 1956 had a built in meter, but I could be wrong. The ASA dial is probably just a reminder to help you remember what speed film is in the camera.

Good luck, have fun, and let us see some results when you can. :thumbsup:

Paul

[brmill26]

Thanks for the comments, Paul. I don't know at what resolution they scan (yet), but I was thinking along the same lines - I'll probably just get the digital version and if I have a really good photo I can worry about having it printed later. On the ASA dial, that was my understanding as well (that since it's full manual it doesn't do anything), but I was unable to confirm that via internet searches. Very helpful information, thank you!

[danic]

Congrats on the purchase. Can't wait to see the results.

You'll have to get into B&W for sure!