Excellent and comprehensive review. Thanks for posting. I bought the original KR10 in 1980 which started my passion for photography. I've had all manner of fancy equipment since then, but I miss my old KR10 so much that I bought the even more basic 'learner' KR5 which I'm still having fun with despite it's limitations. These are excellent, reliable and massively under-rated cameras.
Awesome video! Picked mine up off Ebay for 12$ and a lens for 30$. I did have to fix a shutter, it was stuck. Took off the base and had to move the "lock" out of the way. Works great 👍
@@ilovejesusjyl at 5:10 in the video, the bottom of the camera has screws. I unscrewed those and took the bottom off. then i operated the camera ( pulling the lever ) and saw what didn't and did move. then i used a flat head screw driver or something small to move the tiny metal parts out of the way. then i operated the camera again until i got a consistent click. I got lucky.
@@ilovejesusjyl just food for thought, you might not have an actual problem with your camera. There's a youtuber called, "Brian's photo Show" who also has a video on how to operate the kr-10. maybe it's just locked? ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-WQBFxL60A8U.html
I just got this off from from an online auction, 50 euros (~50 USD) for the body + 50mm f1.7 Rikenon standard lens and a 70 - 210mm zoom. Light seals were past their best before date and I replaced them myself for under 5 USD. Just finished shooting my first B&W roll and waiting to see how the frames turned out and if the shutters speeds and curtain are still ok, but if they don't need maintenance then this is exactly the camera I was looking for. I think one downside worth mentioning is the extra light weight, especially with the 50mm lens, combined with almost nonexistent mirror dampening that results in quite a bit of recoil that might be a problem with slower shutter speeds unless mounted on a VERY solid tripod. The mirror slap is also kinda loud, which might be a problem with candid street photography.
I have several sears cameras in this line that were made by ricoh and they are fantastic little cameras. one thing people say about them is that they tend to stop working. but thats actually only half true, i've "fixed" several of these for both myself and a friend but just popping off the bottom plate and giving them a little attention. its a bit much to explain in a comment but basically some oil or some substance in the camera that ricoh used tends to harden and make these little crystals of gunk that can get caught in the gears, I've gotten several cameras working by just opening them up and gently cleaning them out.
Hi, i will try this way… perhaps you can help me as you had several experiences with these caneras) I bought a Ricoh Kr-10x put some batteries (everything seems to work… exept the light meter (no needle, no arrows, nothing) Could it be the batteries? Or is the light meter broken? Thanks for your help (sorry, English is not my first language)
@@adora1983 not sure how to fix the light meter, sometimes old electronics tend to go bad in weird ways. if everything else seems to work I'd just use an separate light meter. I use the app photo friend when shooting with one of my cameras that doesn't have a working light meter.
Thanks fo all the tips. I haven't used this in quite a while and forgot all I know. How would I know if the battery is still good? I never took it out.
It's the original Olympus 2-piece cover with the top being the lens protector. Plenty used ones for sale on eBay www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=olympus+om1+case&_sacat=0&LH_PrefLoc=1&_sop=15
Thanks, a great and thorough review! I have a Nikon FE but am thinking this would be great for travels. Do you know how this compares to the Ricoh KR-5 Super II?
The KR-5 Super II is not as good as this one, and is actually made by Cosina and rebranded for big camera manufacturers to resell in Japan (Nikon FM10/FE10, Olympus OM2000, Voigtlander Bessa line of rangefinder cameras, and Cosina's own CT-1 all uses the same internals as KR-5 Super II.) But if you have a FE, and it works fine, which also has aperture priority auto-exposure plus full manual control, I don't see the need to switch to the Ricoh unless you want to change your entire lens line-up, or you can get one of those for a super deal and then you could try out.
Hi there! Can you tell me where you can find this camera at the price you mentioned? I live in Australia and its around 150-200. I don't know if I should buy overseas.
I just found one of these in my attic, I think it belonged to my grandfather. For some reason the lever isn’t going all the way back it’s locked. Does that have to do with the battery being dead?
Yes, the lever won't go back all the way if shutter is cocked and haven't being released. A set of fresh amzn.to/3jPmnYe SR44 battery installed hopefully will help shutter to release, and the lever can then be cocked all the way to advance film to next frame
@@TheGizmoGarage no it a ksx P 35mm camera and there's no videos on RU-vid about but if you find and have the time I would appreciate and I think others will to because there a literally no videos about this camera
I had both the KR-10 Super and KR-10X some ten Years ago, and I remember the X had both DOF preview and aperture-display in the viewfinder,and my Super had none of it.