Ricoh KR-5

The KR-5 is one of a series of SLRs for 35mm film made by Ricoh, all accepting K-mount lenses. (Later models include the KR-5 Super, KR-5 Super II, etc.) The original KR-5 was introduced in 1978, and in some markets it is designated the Ricoh XR500.

The original KR-5 is the first in the series, from about 1979, and is the most limited. Its standard lens only offers a speed of f/2.2, and its range of shutter speeds is 1/8–1/500th sec. plus B, with flash sync at 1/60th sec. or lower. Two 1.5v silver-oxide batteries are needed to power the light metering circuit, which has a match-needle indicator in the viewfinder. The wind lever must be pulled away from the body to switch on the meter and unlock the shutter release.

The ground glass screen is provided with a diagonal split-image spot surrounded by a microprism. The KR-5 has a hot shoe but no PC terminal.

The Ricoh KR-5 Super is the successor of the original KR-5 that was introduced in 1978. The original KR-5 is a very basic 35mm mechanical SLR which was sold only at a fraction of its competitors’ price tags. It has a limited range of shutter speed ranging from 1/500 to 1/8 seconds and the 55mm standard lens that comes with it has a maximum aperture of only f/2.2 which is a bit slow compared to its competitors (usually a 50mm f/1.8 or f/2). The KR-5 Super, while being one of the lowest priced 35mm SLR at its time like its brother, has some significant improvements. First, the top shutter speed is raised from 1/500 seconds to 1/1000 seconds. Also, maximum flash sync speed is now 1/125 seconds instead of 1/60, making daytime fill-flash a bit easier (see photo below).

Beside the improvements on shutter speeds, there is also an additional contact on the hotshoe for dedicated flash and a small LED right below the eyepeice (not inside the viewfinder, possibly for keeping production cost low by reusing old viewfinder parts from KR-5) as a flash-ready indicator (see photo above).  There is also an additional LED above the self-timer which lights up during timer count-down and while the shutter is being released (see photo below). However, I really do not see the point of having such feature because it does not help in telling whether the count-down is getting closer to zero or not. The standard lens (XR Rikenon 50mm f/2L) that comes with the camera is also a nice upgrade, it is slightly faster (f/2 instead of f/2.2) and also performs better optically. Indeed, some people even consider it one of the sharpest 50mm f/2 ever produced and this lens will be covered in another post in the near future. (Note: the lens shown in the photos on this post is a Pentax SMC-M 50mm f/2, the non-A version of the SMC-A 50mm f/2 which has the same optical formula)