The Ricoh FF-7 is almost as basic as it is possible for a point and shoot film camera to be. It’s plain black, with few other visual design elements, it’s made of plastic and takes pictures when you press the shutter. What else could you possible want?
Technical specifications
The Ricoh FF-7 is an auto-focus point and shoot compact film camera. It has a 35mm ƒ3.5 prime lens, uses centre weighted metering and has a shutter speed ranging from 1/15 to 1/250 seconds. It uses a 1 CR-P2 6v lithium battery – which is an odd looking double-barrelled shaped one, that I had to get off eBay. There is apparently a self timer, but I never use it (I can’t even work out how). The flash appears to be fully automatic – i.e. it pops up when it needs to and I haven’t worked out how to override it, or if it’s even possible. According to an old copy of Popular Photography, I found online, it can take DX coded film from 100-1600 ISO. Some sources say that it is the same as the Ricoh FF-9, but there may be some minor differences.
What’s it all about?
The Ricoh FF-7 is very plasticky, even for a P&S camera. But it has proved to be very capable for my purposes. First of all, it’s light (230g without the battery), which is a plus for me. When I want to carry a heavy camera, I don’t pick up a P&S. And, having tried a few other compact film cameras, I find the viewfinder is not too bad either.
The lens is kept behind a built in sliding lens protector, which is very basic, but does what it says on the tin. The focus is a bit slow, even in good light, this isn’t a camera that I would for street photography. But for basic urban photography, it has worked just fine.
As I mention in my methodology blurb, I’m not going to comment on the quality or otherwise of the lens. I’ve had no problem with exposure and, considering that I found this for about $7 from a charity shop, I’ve got no complaints. On the contrary, it has produced some fine photos.
