arhphotographic

Having slingshot around the sun and gone into time warp we find ourselves coming to rest in the latter years of the 1980’s with the Ricoh XR-X

The review of the Ricoh XR-X(M) that appeared in the March 1988 issue of Popular photography, found here, ended by saying the following:

” The Ricoh XR-M is a highly advanced, finely tuned master of almost all photographic possibilities, lacking only the added convenience of automatic lens focusing….With its wide range of features, from manual exposure control to electronic automation, the XR-M is a particularly excellent camera for the adventurously experimental; but it’s also a good choice for beginning photographers who seek a 35mm SLR with which to learn the craft of photography” 😮Ooooh

I acquired my working XR-X with a Rikenon P 35-70mm zoom lens, pictured above, for very little money on that well known auction site. It has clearly seen some use in its time and yet despite its very plastic construction has held up really well.

Looking at the top plate of the camera reveals its late 1980’s origins, from its reasonably bright LCD to its button controls that activate the myriad functions of this camera.

The slider below the shutter button allows you to choose from three ‘advanced’ program modes. P for program mode; PD for times when you want the greatest depth of view like when taking landscapes; PA for action shots. The lens aperture has to be locked in the P position for these modes to work. In addition the camera has a metered manual mode and aperture priority mode. The aperture is moved off P and onto the user selected aperture for these two modes to work. Finally there is a ‘TV’ mode for those times when you want to take a photos of ……. whatever is on your tv screen.

The camera strap lugs are situated above and below each other on the same side of the camera, which is a little unusual, rather like a point and shoot camera.

The viewfinder information that sits along the bottom of the screen automatically lights up when the camera ‘feels’ like activating it. I found it very sporadic and it wasn’t always there when I needed it. However pressing the depth of field preview button activated it when I did want it.

On the left you can see the slider to change the metering mode from average, spot and the unique automatic backlight control. This Auto BLC metering mode appears to be a cross between the other two and in which the camera will analyse the scene and meter accordingly. This was definitely worth trying.

Lifting the plastic door reveals….

Four function buttons who’s options can be selected in conjuction with the up/down buttons located on the other side of the camera. I would much rather there be a wheel than a button but in the case of the Ricoh XR-X it works really well.

On the side of the camera, where the film door opens, there is an auto exposure lock button. In addition there is a field of view preview button that also activates the viewfinder illumination as mentioned earlier. What is that slider on the side of the camera?

Another door, this time to the flash synch port for the Speedlite PX

This clips onto the camera and draws its power from the cameras four AA batteries.

The plastic clip that keeps the flash closed is broken on mine and so it is always powered On

The orange button in the image above is the film door release. You can also see the manual film rewind button for mid film roll rewind. When a film is finished, the camera will automatically rewind the film back into the canister.

On the top right of the camera there is a remote control socket. Above this is the button for controlling how the camera advances the film. Continuous or Single frame advance.

But, I hear you say, where is the left hand shutter button? Can’t you see it?

It is the SELF timer button! It can be configured to 0 with no delay and so becomes the second shutter release. Useful or Gimmick? I found out, in a rather unusual way, that it could be really useful. I hadn’t gone far on a country walk, when I was greeted by the view in the image below. I set up my tripod, as is my custom for these kind of images only to find that I had left my tripod base at home on another camera😩 As I rested the camera in the jaws of the tripod, where the base sits, I discovered that using the self timer to actuate the shutter meant I could keep the camera still, rather than try to use the usual shutter button. This would almost certainly have led to some movement and a blurred image.

I initially thought that I would struggle with just the single lens, albeit a 35-70mm zoom. It’s a little soft for my liking but not unpleasantly so. In fact I quite like how images have come out.

The camera accepts the Ricoh version of the K lens mount.

With the image above, I would have dialled in some negative exposure compensation to allow for pointing the camera into the sun. The Ricoh XR-X has -4 to +4 exposure compensation. However, since the XR-X has it, I switched the metering mode to the AUTO BLC since the trees were ..well backlit. It really works😯 The image is well exposed.

Another example of AUTO BLC in operation in the image above

The rain on my car windscreen has been transformed into a kind of Monet-esq image, below.

The camera with lens and four AA batteries weights just over 1 1/2 lbs or 700 grams. While it may look a little clunky I found it sat comfortably in the hand during the duration of my morning walk. I look forward to taking this “finely tuned master of almost all photographic possibilities” out another time and trying more of its features.

But now it’s time to beam me up Scotty!🚀