RicohFF-1

Place the Ricoh FF-1 in context and you land in a brief window where miniaturisation outpaced automation and engineers were still proud of dials. Catalogued as a folding compact, it pairs the Color Rikenon 35mm f/2.8 with a 35mm film path. Worth knowing up front: Ricoh's response to the Olympus XA — a folding 35/2.8 pocket camera.

Format

35mm

Year

1979

Lens

Color Rikenon 35mm f/2.8

Min. focus

0.9 m (zone)

Flash

Hot shoe

Battery

2× LR44

The Color Rikenon 35mm f/2.8 is the everyday-light specialist — not a low-light hero, but contrasty, sharp and honest at every aperture. Film supply is a non-issue: any 35mm cassette from any lab works. Power comes from button cells (LR44 / SR44) — keep a spare in the bag, they're easy to forget until the shutter locks up. There's no built-in flash, but the hot shoe accepts any auto-thyristor unit; a small Vivitar or Sunpak is the period-correct pick. Minimum focus is 0.9 m (zone), close enough for a coffee cup or a face but stops short of true macro. Worth knowing in the field: sold in the US as the Sears 35RF. The 35mm field of view sits halfway between observer and participant; it suits anything where you want the viewer to feel in the scene.

Quietly underrated, the Ricoh FF-1 is the kind of camera people brag about owning five years from now and ten times the price.

• §1Ricoh's response to the Olympus XA — a folding 35/2.8 pocket camera.
• §2Sold in the US as the Sears 35RF.