Ricoh Hi-Color 35
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| image by Mark Verlijsdonk (Image rights) |
The Ricoh Hi-Color is a viewfinder camera for 35mm film first sold in 1968. There were several variations including the Hi-Color 35, Hi-Color 35 S (where S indicates a self-timer), and the Hi-Color 35 BT.
The key differences between the models are:
- the Hi-Color has a front-of-body shutter release and a cold shoe,
- the Hi-Color 35 has a top plate shutter release (some had a hot shoe while others had none),
- the Hi-Color 35 BT was all black and had a more trapezoidal body shape.
What all models had in common were:
- a CdS meter,
- shutter priority automatic exposure plus manual exposure control,
- a bright viewfinder,
- and spring powered motor drive.
The viewfinder comprises two objective lenses, an eyepiece, and two prisms in a double Porro formation [1], as found in binoculars.
If the Hi-Color's spring is wound before a film is loaded, it automatically advances by two blank frames to take-up the leader. One winding is sufficient for 15 exposures, which can be taken in rapid succession at the rate of one frame per second.
The USA Retail price at time of release was $74 USD.[2]
References
- ↑ A geometric prism with right-angled triangular end faces, such that light enters the rectangular face of the prism, is reflected twice from the sloped faces, and exits again through the large rectangular face. Because the image is reflected twice, it is not left/right reversed.
- ↑ Popular Mechanics, May 1970, p 144, Low-Cost Rapid-Fire Camera
