Ricoh Wide … some cleaning

Tools: Spanner wrench, screw drivers, pointy tweezers

When I first worked on this camera it had a shutter tripping problem, which I fixed, but I did not record what I did before putting it all back together … and then ended up on the mantel.

Sooo, I decided to take it apart again just to show you stuff.

Take your spanner wrench and remove the outter ring.

Then you can take the inner cover off.

Now unscrew the shutter speed dial and remove it.

Unscrew the front lens group.

 

Take your pointy tweezers and turn the locking dial, then you can rotate the shutter cover to align the notches.

Remove the speed cam.

Now you can see the shutter in all its glory.

Note that the shutter cocking ring is spring loaded to will want to pop out.

 

Now cleaning the view/rangefinder

Open the film back and secure the rewind arm from the inside … then unscrew the rewind knob.

Use the tweezers again to unscrew the film speed cover screw and pull off the plates. Then unscrew and remove the plate holding the winding arm. Remove the arm.

Remove the three screws, around the sides, that secure the top cover. Using the tweezers again, unscrew the rewind knob cup. Remove the flash shoe … then pull off the top cover.

The Ricoh Wide -2.4-

There were many many fixed lens rangefinder cameras that came out over the past 100 years, but not many with a wide angle lens. Cameras with wider than 45mm focal length lenses started appearing from 1949.

The Ricoh Wide was one of these, it is also known as the Ricoh Wide 24 or 2.4 … and no, it did not have a 24mm lens. It was made in 1958 or possibly 1960, not sure exactly as I have seen reference to both dates.

  The Ricoh Wide was a 35mm format coupled rangefinder camera with an S Konimar 35mm f/2.4, and a Seikosha MXL shutter. This lens was made by Nitto Kogaku (they started optics working in conjunction with Nikon and then started their own lenses … and they are still in business today). The camera designed is also shared with the Ricoh 300 which used a Riken 45mm f/2.8 lens.

 

Riken !! Ricoh – some history

The current company that we know of as Ricoh started out as Rikagaku Kogyo, which then spit off to become Riken Kankoshi Co. Ltd. in 1936 under the leadership of Kiyoshi Ichimura. Initial products … paper, sensitized paper. In 1937 they started distribution of Olympic cameras made by Asahi Bussan. In 1938 the company name changed to Riken Kōgaku Kōgyō K.K. and started developing their own cameras and lenses. The company continued to evolve into other types of products, distribution of other cameras through subsidiaries. After WWII was the start of their real push into the camera market … then they all merged to became the Ricoh we know of today in 1963.

Riken No. 1 was sold in 1939 named as Gokoku (not Okoku) it was a 127 format camera, but with the looks of a Barnack camera … even with a collapsable lens, and a fake rewind knob. The Richol models continued this design, and then they start making cameras of all kinds like the Ricohflex TLR (1950), 35mm rangefinders, SLR’s and todays digital cameras (oh, and they are pretty big in the photocopier business) … not to mention their acquisition of Pentax.

My first encounter with Ricoh was when I got a job at Japan Camera. They had Ricoh SLR cameras everywhere, which was different than the other camera stores … I soon found out that Japan Camera was the exclusive Canadian distributor of Ricoh.

When I had a Diacord L for a bit (fixed a sticky shutter) and I found the IQ of the Rikenon lens was really good. I got rid of it as I was not too keen on the knob winding, but I think I would replace my Minolta Autocord for a Ricohmatic 225 if I could ever find one without an over-inflated price.

eBay … Autocord.

Hmm, was just hunting eBay for Minolta Autocords … I don’t know why I keep looking for these cameras … and I notice that the price has been really jacked up.

I just saw one that commented on a fugly one that it has great patina ? Really ? It really is need of a thorough CLA … and it has the classic bent focus knob … way too much $$$ for a starting price.

I wonder if this has anything to do with my blog … hmmm, maybe I am thinking too highly of myself … but I do constantly see that my Autocord posts are still the most actively viewed ones.

Yes, it is a great camera … but not worth that much (that some of these people are asking), its almost like Rollei prices.

FYI: for those that want a great TLR, you should hunt for a Ricoh Ricohmatic 225 … it has a great lens and can still be found cheap (most of the time). I still keep my eye out for one with the Color-Back 225 35mm film adapter kit.