Amateur Photographer - UK (2019-07-27)

54 27 July 2019 I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk I subscribe 0330 333 1113

The Richlet, a Japanese camera made

for Bolta size film

John Wade fi nds a small Japanese camera that takes a forgotten fi lm size

Rich-Ray Richlet

Many classic cameras are still
usable. Others might only be
usable if you work at it. The Richlet
is one of the latter. It takes Bolta
fi lm, which is almost impossible to
fi nd today. But if you happen to
have some 35mm fi lm, a bit of
backing paper from an old roll of
120, a darkroom or a changing
bag, you can bodge it, because
Bolta fi lm was actually 35mm
without the sprocket holes, wound
onto a roll with backing paper.
Bolta cameras originated in
Germany, where they shot 12
pictures to a roll of fi lm, each one
24x24mm. But when the
Japanese took up the design, they
came up with cameras that used
the 24x36mm format. For that,
the camera manufacturers
introduced a different version of
the fi lm with a staggered
numbering system: 1 to 12 in the
centre of the backing paper to be
read through a central red
window in the camera back,
plus 1 to 10 at the top and

BLAST FROM THE PAST

LAUNCHED 1953

PRICE AT LAUNCH unknown

GUIDE PRICE NOW £125
(recent camera fair buy) Caption Aceptae
laut earum
quiasped

Tech Talk

bottom to be read through a red

window positioned at the top or

bottom of the back. That’s the way

the Richlet works. So despite

measuring a mere 9.5x4.5x4.5cm,

it shoots the same size images as

most standard 35mm cameras.

With an attractive Art Deco

design, the camera is made of

Bakelite with metal fi ttings. The

lens focuses from 45cm to infi nity,

while two tiny knobs on the front

offer apertures of f/8 or f/5.6 and

shutter speeds of 1/25-1/100sec

plus a ‘B’ setting. The back, with

its top-mounted red window,

hinges open for loading in the

usual roll fi lm way, and there is a

small compartment under the

viewfi nder for housing a spare

roll of fi lm.

If you’re one of those

photographers who likes to

experiment to get old equipment

working again, then this is a

camera for you. If not, it’s still a

lovely little collector’s item even if

you do no more than put it on a

shelf and admire it.

What’s good Small size but

relatively large images, well

specifi ed, attractive design.

What’s bad Film no longer

available so diffi cult to use.

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PORTRAIT SPECIAL ser

View from the top showing the film

wind knob, shutter release and a

standard size accessory shoe

From the rear, showing the red
window to read the backing
paper numbers and the film
holding compartment with a
spare roll of Bolta film