Well made.

None for this size of camera.

Voightlander bessa R system!
If you can't afford then go for and P&S Af like Leica minilux zoom or Ricoh R1.
They are good for general work like for family holidays pictures or as a back up to keep on the camera bag just in case.

Customer Service

None.

Similar Products Used:

Leica minilux.

Very well built. Compact. Nice handling and flash options.

In hindsight I must have had a bad sample.

I bought myself an R1 about 3 years ago after hearing good reports about it, and, after having a play with it at the local camera shop where I found it everything I wanted it to be - very compact and very well made, and with a highly regarded lens. Unfortunately I was very dissapionted with the results which generally lacked contrast and were all very grainy. The only exception to this was those taken on bright sunny days, which indeed came out rather well. I'm not a highly critical photographer, and generally only get through 5 to 10 rolls of film a year, but when my daughters disposable camera produced better results I knew something was not quite right. I can only guess that I had a bit of a lemon, as most people do rate this camera highly, and I'm sure they would not have done so had they had my example. After trying 5-10 rolls of film, at different speeds ( generally 200/400 ASA ) and different developers, I traded it in.. Anyway, 3 years later I am the proud owner of a Nikon F55/N55 and an Olympus Stylus Epic/mjuII, and I can honestly say I could not be happier. The Stylus Epic is truly amazing, to the point that my Nikon gets used less and less ( even with its 50mm 1.8D ). Maybe I'll get a superzoom for the Nikon because as long as the Stylus Epic is functional the Nikon probably won't get any use with the similar 50mm lens. Sorry but mine really is that good. I believe there must be considerable sample variations in many budget camera's sold, and I unfortunately got a bad example of an R1.

Customer Service

Maybe I should have used them..

Similar Products Used:

Nikon N55/F55 Minolta X300 Konica Revio Olympus Stylus Epic/mjuII

Size, lens quality, lens choice!

None so far

Nice, flexible compact camera. Great metering and 24mm Pano is a nice feature on a point and shoot compact. Very small and portable.

Customer Service

Not needed

Similar Products Used:

Olympus 35 RC Olympus Mju2 Rollei XF30

Mine has a super lens and is compact enough to take anywhere. It's a good street camera-just remember to turn the flash off!

The flash is about 1/10th as strong as ONE bulb on those cheap 100 light Christmas tree strings. It is too weak to use even for fill-in for me. I just avoid using the flash-period.

This is a follow-up review. I still love the R1. I have used it in Homer, AK, Death Valley, Haight-Ashbury, Napa Valley and lots of other places and it still has great contrast and sharpness. I blew a Kodak E200 slide up to 16x24" and I could have still blown it up more! Now that's lens quality! I heard so much about the Olympus Stylus Epic and so I got one. Maybe it's an apparition but the Ricoh still creams it in a head to head sharpness comparison! My photos/slides w/the Ricoh outdo my Nikon stuff easily when it comes to contrast. It has made me look at getting a Contax G camera setup to pump up my colors. You could easily pick the Ricoh slides off of a light-table. Easily. It would get a 5 star rating from me if I didn't have to repair it new in 2001 and if the 'dang' flash was any good for shots more than a foot away.

Customer Service

Had to repair the flash when I got it new but I have not had any problems since 2001. Ricoh was great in servicing it and overnighting it to me for my Alaska trip. I kept it inside a ziploc in Death Valley except when I needed it. I follow the same procedure when it's raining too. Other than those precautions it's been carefree for me!

Similar Products Used:

Olympus XA, Pentax Espio 110M, Olympus Stylus Epic, all kinds of Nikon, Leica and Carl Zeiss stuff.

sharp photos, slim body, well designed, wide lens<|>

lens distortion

My favorite out of all the P&Ss I've owned. The pictures are amazingly sharp and have a lot of punch. Easily the best pictures I've ever gotten from a P&S. The black camera body is slim and cool looking, with a great button layout. Classic. I also like that it prewinds the film and shows you how many shots you have left. The only downfall is that there is noticeable distortion at the edges. I bought this camera used over a year ago, it's been clanging around in my bag everywhere I go, and I have not had one problem with it. I'd buy two of them if I could..

Slim body, multi-point focus with LCD indication, very good lens. Make sure your subjects fill the frame, and you won''t be disappointed.

The date/time imprint is getting dimmer and can be invisible in a bright scene. The top LCD display is dying in stages. The tiny flash and wide lens mean you must frame your subject carefully.

I really like this camera, and have used it for 4-5 years. It can take excellent pictures, but build quality is not the greatest.

Similar Products Used:

Many point and shoots in different price ranges.

Size, weight and chic design. Fixed 30mm lens and 24mm panorama.Plenty of modes to enable good use of the wide angle lens.Excellent clear viewfinder with feedback on where its focussed.

None to put off potential purchasers. Theres no way of overiding apeture but if you want control look to the GR1/GR1S. The flash is limiting unless you use 400 asa film. The panorama is not particularly sharp and a bit slow, but none of these reservations shoud put you off buying one.

I'm very pleased with this camera, due to its portability. The results were at first a little dissappointing but the more I use it the beeter the pictures. I dont percieve the autofocus as slow but it appears so. I generally use it for landscapes and artisticly posed shots so I take my time and use the focus lock. The range of shutter speeds allow me to use 400 asa film in bright light. This forces the camera to select its smallest apeture thereby giving the greatest depth of field. Iv'e not used slide film but for print try Fugi Superia Multi 400/200. I rate this camera great value for money considering the results. I Intend getting the GR1S as this has impressed me so much. A bit of a cult the R1.

Customer Service

Not needed

Similar Products Used:

Canon sure shot supreme, Konica pop.

Dimensions. Weight. 30mm & 24mm lens. Modes. Focus-lock markers in the viewfinder. Battery seems to last forever.

Slow autofocus. Not real sharp in low-light.

I love the camera. I travel in third-world countries, and can't/don't want the attention a full-size SLR would bring (or many zoom, pocket cameras, for that matter). This camera is perfect. Excellent street scenes, and wide angle pics. I have put over 1000 rolls of film through my R1, and never a problem (not a typo, over 1000; I am not kidding). I have dropped the camera twice, but never had a malfunction, and never needed a repair. There is some distortion on 24mm, but that can only be expected on a cameras of this size, with this lens, at this price ! How could it be better (If you want better, you could always buy the Rollei Micron, which was the model of the R1 - and then get a better lens)? Put a 2.8 in it! It is almost impossible to find a pocket camera with a fast lense (assuming you don't want to pay for the Konica or Nikon "retro" cameras). Also, one annoying thing compared to older, pocket size cameras: the autofocus motors the lense outward at the last second. Problem? Well, it is very difficult to hold a filter in front of the camera and get a pic. Not a common activity, of course, but there are times when it enhances a pic. In bright light, the camera is quite nice to use. A few other people have voiced concerns about the workmanship of the body, but as indicated above, I have had mine in a backpack for the better part of two years in Central & South America - and it never let me down; and, with all the film I have put through it, there was ample opportunity to do so. I have bought this camera for others as a gift, and also own the Rollei Micron.

Customer Service

Never needed.

Similar Products Used:

Olympus Stylus. Yashica T4. Rollei Micron. Stylus. Nikon 35ti. Nikon OT28. etc., etc.

very thin
lightweight
cool metallic front (XTR colour)
sexy 24mm lens
sophisticated AF
that harder to find CR2

flimsy
can press film back with thumb
lcd blinking out
shutter lag
slow AF

This is a very small 35mm film camera- so small it does fit into pockets, but not well sealed enough to defend against lint/dust. The design is innovative: very slim with cool metallic front panel. Verylight due to mostly low density plastic construction- why it is somewhat 'flexy'. I had to tighten all the screws after some use. The top LCD has started to go 'blinky' due to its not so rigid chasis. The normal 30mm is your average wider than 35mm, slightly better than average. Images are sharp, but have a smooth quality to them. Contrast may be a bit low, but for color film- facial and less contrasty subjects have wonderful smooth color gradations. Was it designed for this? I don't know. OK, the wierd or amazing thing is what the reviewer said below about making the camera a compact full frame 24mm camera lens. It works!!! I get fall off wide open, but you do get a 24mm view. Contrast is somewhat low, unless you use the flash or shoot with extra contrasty subjects :) . In bright light, very little fall off noticable. I am hooked on 24mm (using a Nikon SLR), so having a compact 24mm I can carry in my pockect is downright amazing!!! Remember that the 24mm lens is F8+ so using 400 film is best. Superia 400 works well and is dirt cheap. Indoors (24) with flash are tremendous and also without flash- No other compact in current existence can do this! Grab one quick if you can find it. Super wide FUN!!!

Similar Products Used:

most all little ones

pocketable 24mm full frame, YES FULL FRAME camera
slim and light
rarer than heck in the USA
warm lense-very nice-good for people pics

not supersharp
somewhat flimsy
slow AF-too slow for shy subjects

This is an update to my below review. I am excited to report that I have successfully converted the R1's 24 Panorama mode to FULL FRAME 24mm mode. This conversion is reversible and allows the use of the normal 30mm lense. HOWTO:snip the tip off of a toothpick an stick it in the top hole (2 holes near film rail) of the frame window inside the camera. This will block the sliding panarama blinds from blocking out the frame, allowing FULL use of the 24mm lense. I have just shot and developed a sample roll and have the following comments: USE at least 400 speed film. Amazingly, the 24mm lense has less distortion than the 30mm, which has moderate pincushioning. First, the lense is in no way as sharp as my 24mm Nikon SLR lense, but it does capture that wide angle view. When used with the flash, there is some flash fall off, but suprisingly, I got much more depth of field than the 30mm with flash- and the sharpness difference was not bad at all. The area where this 24mm shines is without flash indoors-for capturing the enviornment. For this, I was inside a restaurant, and at least 400 speed film is required. Indoors, having a pockectable is indispensible, and having the 24mm can capture the enviornment much better than a 35mm. The Ricoh 24mm lens is very warm and smooth- more that than fine line sharpness. It is less contrasty than my Olympus Epic, but that 24mm lens is so smooth-some might call it not sharp, but no, you can read signs- maybe light diffraction (better coatings may help-maybe the Rollei Prego is much better in this regard) My indoor pics, especially when used without flash, capture the mood perfectly, just as I saw it. Maybe, it's the 24mm filling in my memory so that it was not just a 35mm or 38mm or even 28mm window. The 30mm lens has more contrast and is sharper especially for far subjects when compared to the 24mm. Close 24mm pictures were better than far. I don't know if this is making any sense, but I am just amazed that the R1 is a pocketable 24mm full frame camera. There are some drawbacks, like the 24mm is not that supersharp, the top two corners are slightly dark (by no means terrible), fall off is noticeable, but not when you don't think about it. The best thing, most unique quality, is that it is the perfect indoors, nighttime camera, that is small, light, has AF, has auto flash, lens has smooth quality, and is a 24mm FULL FRAME. No bones about it, no 24mm exists in my knowledge in such a compact camera. Superwide, super rare, supercool! Get you hands on one if you can find one!

Similar Products Used:

almost all compacts