Ricoh LX-25 (c. 1993)
The Ricoh LX-25 is a simple, plastic-bodied 35mm fixed-focus point-and-shoot from the early 1990s. As far as one source records, it was released in August 1993. It was sold in the thousands and documented hardly at all. Most of what survives is in dealer listings and marketplace pages rather than reviews or manuals.
Here is what's reasonably well established. It has a 34mm f/4.5 Ricoh lens (three elements in three groups), with apertures of f/4.5 and f/11.2. Focus is fixed, with a minimum distance of about 1.3 metres. The shutter has just two speeds, 1/50 and 1/100 sec. It's fully automatic in the ways a point-and-shoot needs: auto film speed setting via DX coding, automatic film advance, and a built-in flash. The "Date" version adds a quartz date back for imprinting the date on your photos. There's also a panorama mode, and the whole thing runs on two AA batteries.
One source describes it as having an autofocus lens. The fixed-focus specification appears consistently elsewhere, so that looks like a listing error. A single marketplace listing also claims a film speed range of ISO 25-3200, but the same page muddles the LX-25 with an entirely different Ricoh zoom model, so treat that figure skeptically. What's certain is that it's a lightweight, unfussy camera, the kind you'd take on a holiday and hand to anyone in the family.
Surviving information is thin beyond these basics. There's no original price, no weight or dimensions, no flash range, no viewfinder specs, and no documented production end date. There's no record of any significant reception or known issues, either. It now turns up on the second-hand market for anywhere from £25 to €130, depending on condition and seller enthusiasm.
Known specifications:
- Type: 35mm fixed-focus point-and-shoot, fully automatic
- Lens: Ricoh 34mm f/4.5, 3 elements in 3 groups
- Apertures: f/4.5 and f/11.2
- Shutter: 1/50 and 1/100 sec.
- Minimum focus: 1.3 m
- Features: built-in flash, panorama mode, automatic film advance, self-timer (Date version adds quartz date back)
- Power: 2× AA batteries
- Body: plastic, black
eBay Listings
As an eBay Partner, we earn from qualifying purchases. This helps support our independent vintage technology research.