This rather long named camera was bought in December 1993 to allow photos to be taken quickly without the fuss of the SLR. This camera was easy to use all round.

Easy to load (it set the ASA itself), self-winding, auto focus, auto exposure and power zoom. And when the film was finished it rewound the film back into the canister. The photos were almost as sharp as the Practica SLR.

The panorama feature wasn’t much use as it just cropped the top and bottom of the photo. If you bothered using the “panorama” stickers to label your film the processing lab would charge you extra to enlarge the panorama shots.

One great feature was the addition of the date on the photos. The date could be printed on each image if desired; this has made cataloguing the photos belatedly a much easier task.

Overall the Ricoh Shotmaster Ultra Zoom Super Date was a great camera. The focus wasn’t quite as sharp as the SLR but it was quick and easy to use.

User Manual