Ricohflex Model VI

Posted on July 17, 2009

So even though I am pretty broke these days, I still managed to get my hands on this old school baby earlier this week for a completely ridiculous price (say, the price of a couple drinks at your friendly neighborhood pub). What’s outrageous is not what I paid for it, but the amount of money it will cost to actually use it. Oh well. There are worst things to blow a 20$ bill on these days I guess…

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View through the viewfinder… so crisp and clear, it actually makes my knees weak.

Apparently, it’s not a bad camera at all, though it’s still not worth a fortune even 60 years later. Most of the reviews I’ve read are talking about a stiff focus, which is also the case with mine, though not a major problem. This model was made in 1953 and was originally geared towards the general public. So it’s never been a “professional” camera, even though back in those days, mostly privileged families could afford such a sweet little jewel since I believe cameras were a luxury item even for a while after the release of this one.

When I showed up at the store, I asked the guy for prices for other models, of which the cheapest 6×6 was 120$. When I asked about this one, the guy said it was broken and he didn’t have time to fiddle around with it to figure out how to heal it. After I asked him to take it out of the glass case, he realized that the shutter wasn’t broken, but that it needed to be cranked a bit in order to “unlock”… but at that point, it was too late, he had already quoted me the price “as is”. After I paid for it, I almost ran out of the store feeling like a thief, in total and utter disbelief for the unrealistic price I had paid for it. I’m a lucky gal…

For the photo nerds: photos shot with Vivitar Series 1 Macro lens, 70/210mm, 1:3,5 mounted on my Nikon D50.