Ricohflex VII Twin Lens Reflex Camera
Photo thanks to Joel Alpers
[email protected]
Ricohflex VII camera, takes 120 film, 80mm f/3.5 lenses. Shutter speeds of 'B', 1/25, 1/50, and 1/100, apertures from f/3.5 - f/16. Mechanically excellent, cosmetically vg-exc.
Ricoh VII TLR camera showing 35mm options
Special thanks to Harold M. Merklinger for sharing this photo!
[Ed. note: special thanks to Harold M. Merklinger for sharing these notes, photos, and observations...] Date: Mon, 14 Jan 2002 From: "Harold M. Merklinger" [email protected] To: Robert Monaghan [email protected] Subject: Ricohflex VII (35) and Bessas Bob, I have a Ricohflex VII set up for 35 mm film. I didn't see this option mentioned in any of your references. When I purchased this camera I thought it must have been made specifically for 35mm. The points that made me think this were: the leather case says "For 35 mm FILM", the wind knob has the necessary 35 mm exposure counter, the focusing hood has an (eyelevel) frame line for the 35mm format, the ground glass is marked for the 35mm format, and there's no typical (for many cameras - don't know about the Ricoh line) sticker saying to use 120 film. Closer inspection and consultation of your references suggests, however, that this camera could easily be converted back to 120 with the appropriate insert. I believe the wind knob would serve the purpose - the 35mm wind stop is in the insert. And I see the 35mm frame line in the hood is standard. One curious observation is that there is no factory-provided index marker on the body itself for the exposure counter, although there is on the leather case. A previous owner has scratched one on the edge of the back, though it's not in the same place as the index mark on the case. I'll probably put this on my "Unusual cameras" page, but I would welcome any comments before I do - I'm not all that familiar with the Ricoh line. I'll attach a composite photo of the camera, as well as photos of 2 Bessa IIs, (a Heliar and an Apo-Lanthar) a Bessa RF and a Perkeo E. There are 4 files: "BessaII.jpg", "BessaRF.jpg", "PerkeoE.jpg" and "RicohVII-35.jpg". (I know I'm not helping with your new 35 MB limit!) Regards! - Harold -- Harold M. Merklinger [email protected] Home phone: 902-461-1873 http://www.trenholm.org/hmmerk/
