Re: Hello from newbie in MD.

[erker@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Greg Erker)]

>I would beg Greg to find the camera for you; it's a running joke around
>here that he has the luck of the lens gods behind him. He finds $30
>ricohs that look like $200 rolleis... :-)

  Hey, I paid $145 for my first Ricohmatic 225. T'is
a nice camera though. Since then I got a dead shutter
one (ugly body too) for $40 and traded my $80 Diacord L
plus $45 US for a third 225.

  My reputation came about from my first two Ricohflex's
(a VII and a Super) that by fluke are sharp, matched FL,
and good colour.

>Both the Diacords and Autocords have Tessar-type lenses, as do any of
>the Yashinon-lensed Yashicas and Xenar-lensed rolleicords (post war only
>to get coated lenses). These are fine lenses. The Diacord will be the
>least expensive of any of these cameras, largely because the Ricoh name
>was not a premium brand and people are generally ignorant of how good
>they are.

  My e-friend David Stein (the guy I traded the Diacord
and cash for a 225) thinks the baffling inside the Diacords
is very impressive. As good as the Rolleiflex's I think
he said.

>Some of the Autocords you will come across will have meters in them...
>they will be very likely be dead/non-linear/useless at this point.
>
>If you really want funky, do what I did and get yourself a $13 Holga toy
>120 camera with plastic 60 mm meniscus lens to do cha-chas with... lots
>of distortion, abberation, low resolution and other great fun!

  The $40 Lubitels from Freestyle Sales and Samy's
Camera are a step up. Plastic bodied TLRs with
the same 3 element lens and shutter assembly as
Sputniks. Joel and Les (?) know about them.

  A pair (even fully siamesed) is not really a
step up from your Sputnik. In my opinion the
reason for going beyond a Sputnik (in my order
of importance) is to get: more shutter speeds
(so you can shoot at your desired aperture), better
viewfinder (more accurate framing and focusing),
and finally better lenses.

  But maybe that's because my Spud has good
lenses (at f16-f22) but has a poor shutter
(1/100 is really 1/60 and the two exposures
don't match {at that speed only}).

Greg