What to go for when you can't afford Pentax

Shooting Adox HR-50 in a Ricoh KR-10. Developed in 510-Pyro

[sputumtube]

I bought my KR10 in 1982 and it's performed without issue (never even had a CLA) ever since. I still have it (and use it) to this day. I since added a KR5 (which I keep in the car 'just in case') and a KR10 Super both of which also work well. The Pentax K-mount lenses are a huge bonus too. Like you said, the diagonal split image prism is genius. Never understood why other manufacturers didn't copy this feature as it's much easier to use. Worth noting that Ricoh now owns Pentax..!!

[pouchboy]

You are a wonderful photographer. Love these pics. Ricoh 35mm cameras are definitely underrated.

[petervanderkruk]

I have a Ricoh XR-M and am very happy with it.

[jimgraves]

Ricoh SLR's are great cameras. Cheap and cheerful, they do everything a manual focus slr needs to do.

[diegoscopia]

I love the results you got with it, seems like a nice combination of film developer and lens. The Ricohs, the Chinons and the Cosinas are all nice cameras that are still working well after all these years. A cool advantage of the K mount as well is you can get an M42 adapter that sits flush and use them without problem on stop down metering mode.

[reptilespantoso]

Great! I started with a KR-5 my grandfather gave me.

[travelobs]

The history of Ricoh and Pentax is an interesting one. It is possible that Ricoh cameras had a wider following in Japan than in some other countries. Another thing is that now one can buy most old SLR cameras for a few euros or dollars, except for real collector's items. The results of your test is also interesting, IMO a Pentax would have produced a very similar result.

[jeremyrichards]

Impressive results and a nice camera that has slipped under the radar of the more prominent makes.

[photonfantastic]

Excellent photos with perfect exposures. You have dealt admirably with overcast skies, which is something that I have never been able to do.

[iainmc]

Ricoh always had a reputation for top quality glass. I've only got one, a compact but its solid and it does the job.

[flyonwall]

When I was a kid, I was fortunate enough to have a mini bike. My father was happy when I asked him if I could sell the mini bike and get an SLR. I was eying a Richo. However, the camera store was having a clearance sale, and I went with a Petri FTE. The Petri came with a 55mm f1.7 lens. Six months later, Petri went out of business. I still kept my eyes on Richo. Unfortunately, I lost the Petri years later when I was fleeing a bad relationship. The only Pentax I have ever owned is an Auto 110 Super.

[danienelphoto]

I did a review on the Ricoh KR-5 Super on my channel, and I love it.... and I am a Pentax fan!

[AndrewWaltonPhotography]

Looks a decent SLR Keith, the images turned out well.

[markielinhart]

Nice images mate, they’re lovely I recently sold my Pentax MG, the budget ME. What I didn’t realise when I bought it was that it worked in aperture priority, something I use to this day on digital cameras✌️🇦🇺#bnwrules

[MacShintersbane]

Picked up a Ricoh XR2-s last year, along with some other kit. Nice little camera and doesn't, to my hands, feel any cheaper made than the OM-1 I've been using for decades.

[sdhute]

I have a Pentax MX and a chinon cm5 the chinon uses the Pentax K mount. I’ve been using my chinon more then my Pentax Mx

[nocturnal]

Go for Lumix full frame S5ii lens deal combos which is a superior modern camera system and cheaper than what is now a niche DSLR system. I had Pentax from 2012 and sold all the digital era gear to pay for the new camera system. I had F*, DA* and Limited lenses so all the good stuff BTW 😊

You can get the older FF S5 used for about £700 in UK

[quiteenough]

Nikon F-301 is also decent camera imo, and it's usually at around $20-40 usd, but I was in real need of mirror lock-up and double exposure functions so I was able to find Nikon F4 for a bargain price. My fully mechanical experience is my Kiev-4a which I found for $15 usd, but it's a rangefinder and when buying better to look up for models before 1974 - first two digits of serial number on the top of the camera indicates the year of production, also it's definitely better to buy only film tested Kievs, also also usual Jupiter-8 lens has a better bokeh than Jupiter-8m lens, so it's better to search for Kiev-4a with Jupiter-8 without "m" on the lens inscriptions.

[kevinthephotographer]

I love Adox HR-50 and am almost through a bulk roll. May I ask what developer you used? I’ve only used Adox HRDEV which is recommended by Adox to tame the contrast with HR50; you have achieved a good range of tones with whatever developer you used.