When Ricoh announced they are working on a new film camera we didn’t know if it is going to be a half frame shooter. Like many of you I assumed it will be a 35mm full frame camera but all of us were surprised when they did the first reveal. I was disappointed that it was going to be a half frame camera and yet I pre-ordered one…
The order was filled surprisingly quick! Unboxing a brand new film camera is something I had not experienced in my life until this point. The new cameras that I’ve owned and shot with in the late 90’s were either my parents’ or I bought them off the black market in India and came in bubble wraps or unmarked cardboard boxes just like when you buy used cameras from eBay today.
When I put in the first roll - a roll of Portra 400, I overshot the first frame counter (because the winder is so fucking small!) but it does not matter much because I had plenty of shots left to shoot. Zone focusing took a bit to get used to, the first 10-15 shots came out blurry but once I was in the “zone” it became a second nature.
It is a beautiful camera!
Although light, the camera feels premium in hand, well most of it besides the lens that feels like straight out of a Holga system. The shooting experience was fluid and pretty satisfying but it is not for Mrinabh. The things I didn’t like outweigh the things that I loved.
Things I loved about it:
Form factor
Ease of use: From loading film to shooting to rewinding the film.
Things I didn’t like about it:
Uneven frame spacing: I expect better from a 500 dollar half frame non-tomography camera
Not very “visible” frame-lines especially in bright outdoors
The format: Half frame is definitely not for me
Lack of manual controls
This was my first half-frame camera and I hope it will not be the last one.
