Ricoh TF-500/TF-900
The Ricoh TF-500 is a late 80s compact camera with autofocus and a 35 mm lens, switchable to 70 mm through a button on the top. Its electronics are quite advanced for its time, with an information-rich LCD on the top, indicating number of exposures available, if the film is a DX coded one (and, if so, what speed), and if exposure compensation has been activated. It has a continous shooting mode, a self-timer and a backlight compensation button. The viewfinder indicates focusing zone using three symbols, a trait shared with the early generations of autofocus cameras but later abandoned.
Specifications
Wide-angle: 35 mm f/2,8; 4 elements/3 groups. Tele: 70 mm f/5,6; 8 elements/6 groups. Focusing: Autofocus with pre-focus ability, closest range 0,9 m. Shutter: Programmed electronic shutter, 1–1/500 s. Viewfinder: Albada type with bright lines, parallax correction marks and zone indication. Adjusted according to lens focal length. 0,7–0,38 x magnification, 84–87 % field of view. Exposure range: EV 3–17 (wide), EV 5–17 (tele). +2 exposure adjustment. Flash: Built-in pop-up flash, automatically activated with flash-matic exposure. Can be used as fill flash. GN 12. Reloads in 2–3 seconds. Film speed: DX decoding from 64 to 1600 ISO. Non-DX films set at ISO 100. Film advance: Easy loading, motor advance and rewind. Last bit of leader left out. Power: 1 x DL223A/BR-P2DP 6 V lithium battery. Dimensions and weight: 137 x 73 x 50 mm, 320 g (without battery).
Links
Ricoh TF-500 manual in Mike Butkus's archive
