{"id":49130,"date":"2024-12-15T00:26:07","date_gmt":"2024-12-14T16:26:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zeals75.com\/blog\/49130"},"modified":"2026-04-14T09:28:47","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T01:28:47","slug":"%e7%ac%ac-233-%e5%8d%b7%e5%ba%95%e7%89%87%ef%bc%9a%e9%8f%a1%e9%a0%ad%e5%b0%8d%e7%84%a6%e7%81%bd%e9%9b%a3%ef%bd%9cricoh-r1-30mm-f3-5-%e8%88%87-ilford-delta-400-professional-%e9%bb%91%e7%99%bd%e5%ba%95","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zeals75.com\/en\/blog\/49130","title":{"rendered":"EP233: Focus Disaster \u2014 Ricoh R1 30mm f3.5 \/ 24mm f8 with Ilford Delta 400 Professional"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>
\nRoll #233 \u2014 bought a Ricoh R1 with a lens that won't focus<\/p>\n

Film: Ilford Delta 400 Professional
\nDeveloped & scanned: Li-lai Photo, 2024\/10\/5
\nCamera: Ricoh R1 30mm f3.5 \/ 24mm f8<\/p>\n

-<\/p>\n

There are three major risks when buying a used point-and-shoot, in ascending order of severity: motor failure, shutter or metering problems, and focus problems.<\/p>\n

Motor failure is the most common. Sellers usually don't mention it. The way to catch it is to load a roll and listen as the camera advances \u2014 if it sounds increasingly strained toward the end, the motor is aging and may jam mid-roll while you're out without a changing bag. I once had a camera jam in Japan. I ended up crouched inside a hostel wardrobe in complete darkness trying to free the film. The whole camera came back to Taiwan and I had Li-lai Photo extract it.<\/p>\n

Shutter problems can sometimes be caught by listening to the shutter open and close under different lighting conditions, but without a working reference camera to compare against, it's hard to know what normal sounds like. The worst cases only reveal themselves after development \u2014 entire rolls overexposed from a shutter that won't close, or underexposed from one that's running too fast. You pay with irreplaceable memories to find out.<\/p>\n

And then there's the worst one: lens focus problems. Nearly impossible to detect before you shoot. Which brings us to this roll.<\/p>\n

-<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n#1
\nI aimed at the film box. The lens locked onto the blower brush behind it.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n#2
\nA song I was listening to while driving. This out of focus \u2014 can you read the title? The Ricoh R1 date display is also not great \u2014 not as much character as the classic digits on Konica Big mini or the disposable cameras.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n#3
\nEmpty parking lot in the morning.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n#4
\nA place I part-timed during university. A long time ago. Five percent of the scenery remains; one hundred percent of the people are gone.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n#5
\nI was in a bicycle accident right at this bus stop as a kid. My leg broke. I watched my own foot at an impossible angle and had no idea what to do.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n#6
\nBook club today \u2014 took the train.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n#7
\nWhat did people actually do on public transit before smartphones? I genuinely can't remember.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n#8
\nNext stop: Taipei Main Station.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n#9
\nThe Ricoh R1 can focus down to 35cm \u2014 I'd intended to test that. The camera had other plans.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n#10
\nBook club \u2014 everyone's minimum order drink. Hot cappuccino for me today.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n#11
\nThis month's read: I May Be Wrong<\/a> by Bj\u00f6rn Natthiko Lindeblad. Genuinely enjoyed this one.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n#12
\nThe sky on the way home after book club.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n#13
\nHiking with the family \u2014 tried the close focus test again on the R1. Messed it up.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n#14
\nWide-angle cameras are not good for landscapes.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n#15
\nFuyuan Trail today \u2014 entering from the Taoyuan side.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n#16
\nInspirational poster material \u2014 but the R1 at close focus is just what it is, given the 30mm lens.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n#17
\nI hike at the back of the group, watching my son's silhouette ahead.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n#18
\nDestination: the century-old banyan tree at Shihkuikeng. Douhua at the top.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n#19
\nPhotographing the trail marker to remember roughly where we were.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n#20
\nWide-angle really doesn't work for landscapes. My personal limit is 35mm.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n#21
\nThe douhua stall at the banyan tree.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n#22
\nA beetle encountered on the trail \u2014 I believe this is a red-and-black stag beetle.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n#23
\nIt drizzled during the hike \u2014 we had our umbrellas out.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n#24
\nAfter Fuyuan Trail \u2014 all of us.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n#25
\nEvery single one out of focus. Infuriating.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

That's the full roll \u2014 Ricoh R1 30mm f3.5 \/ 24mm f8 with Ilford Delta 400 Professional. Thanks for reading.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Roll #233 \u2014 bought a Ricoh R1 with a lens that won't focus Film: Ilford Delta 400 Professional Developed & scanned: Li-lai Photo, 2024\/10\/5 Camera: Ricoh R1 30mm f3.5 \/...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":44771,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1852,2001],"tags":[1797,2039,2041],"class_list":{"0":"post-49130","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ilford-delta-400-professional","8":"category-ricoh-r1","9":"tag-lilai-photo","10":"tag-iso-400-black-and-white-film","11":"tag-30mm-"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/zeals75.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/09-16280028.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zeals75.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49130","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zeals75.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zeals75.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zeals75.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zeals75.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49130"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/zeals75.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49130\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49131,"href":"https:\/\/zeals75.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49130\/revisions\/49131"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zeals75.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44771"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zeals75.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49130"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zeals75.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49130"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zeals75.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49130"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}