Ricoh One Take Easy II (c. 1980s)
Little is documented about the Ricoh One Take Easy II. What survives comes almost entirely from second-hand marketplace listings, not period literature, manuals, or reviews, and those listings are often thin. The camera appears to have been a 35mm point-and-shoot from the 1980s, sold under the "One Take" banner that Ricoh used for a family of simple, fully automatic compacts. One listing, for a copy described as "Vintage 80's," places it in that decade.
Dealer and auction listings give a modest set of specs. The lens is marked "1:4.5 f= 35mm," and the camera offers four ISO settings, a built-in light meter, a built-in flash, and motorized film advance. One listing describes the lens as being able to focus at infinity or not. Read charitably, that suggests a fixed-focus design with a snap-in/out infinity setting rather than true autofocus. A separate instruction manual for the model exists and is offered for sale, which at least confirms the camera shipped with proper documentation at some point.
The record is otherwise nearly silent. No production years beyond the vague "80s" descriptor, no country of manufacture, no battery type, no shutter speed range, no flash specifications, no dimensions or weight, and no original launch price have been documented in any source consulted. No period magazine reviews have surfaced either. The relationship between this model and the similar-sounding "One Take Easy," "One Take Easy Timekeeper," and "One Take AF" is likewise unestablished. They may be siblings or variants, but no source says so explicitly, so they are best treated as separate entries.
On the second-hand market, the One Take Easy II turns up occasionally. A Poshmark listing asked $40 for a copy described simply as "a 35mm film camera." An eBay.fr listing for a "One Take Easy II" appeared at €67.42, though that listing conflates the model name with the related "One Take" in its body text, so treat the figure with some skepticism. One eBay.ca seller offered their example "untested," which is typical for a camera of this era and class. It was a workaday, fully automatic snapshot camera, sold in volume and ignored by the press of its day.
Known specifications:
- Type: 35mm point-and-shoot film camera
- Lens markings: 1:4.5, f= 35mm
- Focus: fixed (infinity or not)
- ISO: four settings
- Features: built-in flash, built-in light meter, motorized film advance
- Era: 1980s (per one listing)
eBay Listings
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