Richard Ritter's Cameras

[Capocheny]

I sent a note to Richard back some time ago in regards to making a modification on my Dorff 8x10. It was one of those, "I wonder if it makes sense to..." type of questions. I also asked about the pricing for the job and how long it would take.

Richard's response was straight to the point and didn't involve any beating around the bush. In short, he answered exactly what I wanted to know.

I'd much prefer this kind of response rather than getting a "full of BS" long and drawn out note. But, that's just me!

In summary... I wouldn't have a problem in working with Richard.

Cheers

[Todd Wright]

Mr Zone III you may wany to try Richard again. I do know he has had email problems of and on on the past. When he calbrates meter it is to the Zone VI spec. Something could have happen in shipping or your doing something wrong. I'm going to be seeing him next week going up to Vermont to work with his new camera.

[bglick]

I tried Richard also.... Although he may be capable of good work, as another poster mentioned, communications is surely not Richards strongest asset, at least from my experience. yes the phone is a great tool, and Richard used the phone and communicated, things would have went smoother, but as the poster mentioned above, big gaps in communciations and questions in email go completely unanswered. I had a 4 week project turn into a 5 month project. In all fairness though, Richard did complete the project, albeit with both of us frustrated.

Of course, designing and building cameras is different animal, than commumincating with a customer regarding a retrofit or a camera repair.

[Bruce Barlow]

I tried Richard also.... Although he may be capable of good work, as another poster mentioned, communications is surely not Richards strongest asset, at least from my experience. yes the phone is a great tool, and Richard used the phone and communicated, things would have went smoother, but as the poster mentioned above, big gaps in communciations and questions in email go completely unanswered. I had a 4 week project turn into a 5 month project. In all fairness though, Richard did complete the project, albeit with both of us frustrated.

Of course, designing and building cameras is different animal, than commumincating with a customer regarding a retrofit or a camera repair.

Let's see, Richard lives in the woods at the end of both the telephone and electrical lines. He routinely loses power for several days at a time, which means he loses his telephone, too. A storm with high winds, and it's candlelight and his woodstove. When it's working, his best possible internet connection is 19.2kbps. No infrastructure is available for high speed, if he could justify the cost.

Recently, his computer died, taking with it his entire file of email addresses. The guy fixing it went into the hospital for two weeks in the middle of the repair. Richard was computerless, and email-less, for two months. He doesn't have the cash to just go to Dell.com and get a replacement. His computer is back, but without several hundred email addresses that he used to have.

Richard probably gets 50 work-related e-mails a day. It may be insensitive for me to mention this, but he is also pretty dyslexic, and responding to e-mails is extraordinarily time-consuming and difficult for him. And his messages can be a little cryptic, unless you know him well. That said, you may want to reread your own post for coherence and proper use of our common language...

At any time, Richard has about 15 to 20 cameras in his shop for anything from minor repairs to refinishing. Plus trying to build cameras. Plus meter repairs and calibrations. He is a single guy, living alone (except for two cats), who can't afford staff. He has turned the entire main floor of his small house into his shop. I find parts and cameras on his kitchen counters. I recently asked him if he was still doing shutter CLA's, and he said that he didn't have the space to dedicate to doing them, since he believes you need a dedicated, really clean space permanently allocated to that.

Yes, by all means call him on the phone. If you get his machine, call him again. YOU have to retain the initiative for communications. And when you do, he's responsive. But don't expect to be LL Bean'ed or coddled. Richard tries to spend most of his time actually working on cameras. Yup, sometimes communications falls through the cracks more than he would choose.

And just because YOU thought his work should have taken four weeks doesn't mean that HE did. Richard's visiting his folks over Thanksgiving...when he gets home I will be interested in getting his side of your story. You're frustrated because he didn't meet your schedule. He's probably frustrated because you were a total pain in the rear, expecting him to set everything else aside and tend exclusively to your needs.

All that said, there's nobody who does better work on the planet, and Richard Ritter is honest, ethical, and fair, unlike some others. I am proud to be his friend.

[bglick]

Hello Mr. Barlow

I am always fascinated by posters who know nothing about a situation which occurred between two people, yet they feel qualified to comment, defend or blast a poster who shared his/her experience. Bruce, your post above is a "classic." From the tone of your post, it seems I no longer have the right to share my experiences on products or services that I have procured. In the future, if you post your experience regarding a product or service you had, and I have NO knowledge of the transaction, I will read it, and draw my own conclusions.... I will not argue or defend something I know nothing about. You may consider doing the same in the future. But if you don't mind, I would like to defend myself against your accusations.... of which, you know NOTHING about.



> Let's see, Richard lives in the woods at the end of both the telephone and electrical lines. He routinely loses power for several days at a time, which means he loses his telephone, too. A storm with high winds, and it's candlelight and his woodstove. When it's working, his best possible internet connection is 19.2kbps. No infrastructure is available for high speed, if he could justify the cost.


The speed to download text is insignificant whether dial up or faster connections. I think you know this. The poster above complained about Richard not responding to many questions raised in his email, I had the experience, many times, not just once. So I don't see any valid issues you raise here. I never complained that email was responded to a week or two late.





> Recently, his computer died, taking with it his entire file of email addresses. The guy fixing it went into the hospital for two weeks in the middle of the repair.


This was not the case during my dealings....





> Richard was computerless, and email-less, for two months. He doesn't have the cash to just go to Dell.com and get a replacement. His computer is back, but without several hundred email addresses that he used to have.


Considering I emailed him constantly, he never lost my email address, again, not relevant.





> Richard probably gets 50 work-related e-mails a day. It may be insensitive for me to mention this, but he is also pretty dyslexic, and responding to e-mails is extraordinarily time-consuming and difficult for him. And his messages can be a little cryptic, unless you know him well.


If this is the case, doesn't it make sense for Richard to call people instead? I never noticed any of these issues when writing or speaking to Richard, he seemed very intelligent and very coherent in both written and oral communications. However, the poster above was commenting on thoroughness (or lack of) in communications..... I was collaborating my experience also.






> That said, you may want to reread your own post for coherence and proper use of our common language...


Now, the old adage applies, - if you can't beat the message, beat up the messenger! Nice try Bruce. I re read my post, and considering the informal nature of these forums, I don't think it was as incoherent as you suggest.






> At any time, Richard has about 15 to 20 cameras in his shop for anything from minor repairs to refinishing. Plus trying to build cameras. Plus meter repairs and calibrations. He is a single guy, living alone (except for two cats), who can't afford staff. He has turned the entire main floor of his small house into his shop. I find parts and cameras on his kitchen counters. I recently asked him if he was still doing shutter CLA's, and he said that he didn't have the space to dedicate to doing them, since he believes you need a dedicated, really clean space permanently allocated to that.


Very interesting information Bruce...not sure if this is part of your "I will defend at all cost" , or just information you wanted to share with the forum, but I see no relevancy here.






> Yes, by all means call him on the phone. If you get his machine, call him again. YOU have to retain the initiative for communications. And when you do, he's responsive. But don't expect to be LL Bean'ed or coddled. Richard tries to spend most of his time actually working on cameras. Yup, sometimes communications falls through the cracks more than he would choose.


I did initiate the communications at all times....the problem was, he did not reciprocate often enough to make the project go smooth, often making changes without my approval. I don't expect, nor do I desire to be coddled Bruce, I just expect enough communications to make a project to go smooth. Unfortunately, that did not occur.






> And just because YOU thought his work should have taken four weeks doesn't mean that HE did.


Yes HE did, the 4 weeks was his quote. You may want to ask questions before commenting on things you know NOTHING about. Just a suggestion, but you seem to have your motives.... Regardless, I respect your right to free speech.






> Richard's visiting his folks over Thanksgiving...when he gets home I will be interested in getting his side of your story. You're frustrated because he didn't meet your schedule. He's probably frustrated because you were a total pain in the rear, expecting him to set everything else aside and tend exclusively to your needs.


Pain in the rear? OK? Once again, it's amazing how you can comment on my behavior when you never met me, you don't know me, and you have NO knowledge of my situation. I could have not been more cordial and understanding trying to complete this small project.






> All that said, there's nobody who does better work on the planet, and Richard Ritter is honest, ethical, and fair, unlike some others. I am proud to be his friend.


Richard should be glad to call you a friend, as you wllingly and blindly defend a position that you know nothing about.. I have no respect for your post, as you have elected to attack me and my experience, which you know nothing about. However, I do respect your blind loyalty to Richard, and I am sure he feels the same way.



Bruce, I realize you were defending a good friend. But do you really think these attacks produce the goal you desire? I made a short and concise post regarding my experience, and look what this has turned into? Is this the outcome you desired? Or did you think attacking a poster with you having NO prior knowledge of a situation would force the person to lay down and allow you to walk all over him?


More importantly, I want to be clear.... I find these forums useful, as people sharing a common interest can share experiences, which prior to the Internet we would never have had the opportunity to communicate with. I have benefited from this many times in the past and try to do contribute when possible to help others. Now in the case of this post, I made a mild comment regarding my experience with Richard, and you turned a glowing amber into a forest fire. There was enough positive posts regarding Richards work, that IMO, it did not make sense to attack me and my experience.... just my opinion Bruce. No one is perfect Bruce, and maybe Richard does need a little help in the communications dept. I made it clear that Richard finished the work and I had put this frustrating situation behind me. Not everything in life works out, I accept that. I have nothing against Richard and wish him well. Richard is clearly an asset to our community. I am sure he will make excellent cameras and many people will benefit greatly from his craftsmanship.

[John Bowen]

On this day of Thanksgiving, I for one am very thankful for Richard Ritter. His skills and willingness to share his knowledge are "priceless".

My first experience with Richard was a simple film speed test a couple years ago. After having my darkroom stored in the attic for over a decade while the kids grew up, I decided it was once again time to follow one of my passions and decided to go back to step one and test equiment, film etc. I mailed Richard my zone I negatives and a check for $7.50. Richard promptly (they were back to me in less than 1 week from the date I first mailed them) returned my negatives with a note that NONE of them was a good zone I. He told me to re-do the test and send him the new negatives together with his note and he would recheck the new negatives for FREE. Talk about great service! And this for a $7.50 service.

I've since ordered lens boards, a lens board adapter and one of Richard's 7x17 cameras. I have been most pleased with all of Richard's products. His ULF cameras are simply amazing! My 7x17 is lighter than my Zone VI 8x10! Richard made a few minor adjustments to my camera to suit my shooting style (I'm left handed) and has been a saint as I prodded him along while I waited for him to have a finished product that was up to HIS demanding standards.

I'm sure that all of us that run service businesses (yes, I have my own service business) can acknowledge that keeping ALL of our clients happy is a great goal, but beyond our capablility. Afterall, we are human.

Thanks again Richard, for all you do for your customers and the entire LF community.

[Bruce Barlow]

Mr. Bglick:

You have every right to respond. I never said or implied anything to the contrary. Just as I have every right to respond to you (as you agree) and present a different point of view. Most of what I said related Richard's circumstances, what can impede communication between Richard and the world, and specifically what he has been dealing with for the past several months of computer hell. I know some folks have been frustrated recently, and an explanation was worthwhile.

Yup, when I post about an experience, you will certainly be free to form your own opinion, as I did here.

And au contraire, trying to juggle the simultaneous demands of 15 to 20 customers, all of whom want substantial work accomplished on expensive equipment by yesterday, is entirely relevant to issues of communication.

The specific references to you were my desire to hear Richard's side, what is likely to be your expectations differing from his, which, to some, might make you a pain in the rear, and your apparent lack of proofreading of your own post (as an apropos example of what Richard deals with daily with his own writing challenges, 19.2 or not, "informal nature" or not).

For the time being, I'll stand by what I said. And thou doest protest me too much, methinks. I thought I was being mild. If I ever have reason to really go after you, you'll know it.

Lastly, standing by friends is what friends do, a concept which you appreciate. So be it. Happy Thanksgiving.

[bglick]

Bruce


> You have every right to respond. I never said or implied anything to the contrary.


I never suggested you did. I only mentioned you were commenting specifically about something you knew nothing about, which was my experience. I certainly wouldn't vote for you as a judge. You would have the case decided before anyone entered the courtroom.





> Just as I have every right to respond to you (as you agree) and present a different point of view.


You have the right of free speech. However, some of us, refrain from commenting on issues they know NOTHING about. I noticed how you danced around this point.






> Yup, when I post about an experience, you will certainly be free to form your own opinion, as I did here.


I can assure you, I will not comment on any of your posts, if I have NO PRIOR knowledge of the specifics of your posts. I respect others too much to inflict such unfairness on my fellow photographers. You may want to give this a try some time, specially considering you run Photo Workshops, and have to deal with these very people who read these posts? I realize you feel differently, but I am not a revengeful person and will continue to refrain from unfairly attacking others. But, I will continue to defend myself against unfair attacks, such as yours.





> The specific references to you were my desire to hear Richard's side,


Maybe you should have done that first? Just a suggestion Bruce....





> what is likely to be your expectations differing from his, which, to some, might make you a pain in the rear, and your apparent lack of proofreading of your own post (as an apropos example of what Richard deals with daily with his own writing challenges, 19.2 or not, "informal nature" or not).


this is the second time you mentioned my lack of proofreading Bruce. But no references of course. I am begining to pick up on your style Bruce.... Attack now, justify it later.







> For the time being, I'll stand by what I said. If I ever have reason to really go after you, you'll know it.


Oh NO Bruce.... Now I am so scared.... I will surely be looking over my shoulder for your attacks...thanks for warning me though... Get real....







> Lastly, standing by friends is what friends do, a concept which you appreciate. So be it. Happy Thanksgiving.


I too stand by my friends, but I do NOT attack other people when I have no prior knowledge of what occurred. Lets be honest here Bruce, you are too proud to step-up to the plate, and apologize for your unwarranted attack, so instead, you let it flame out of control. It's your call Bruce, but are you really helping your friend here? I stand ready ..... It's comical waiting to see what you write next.

[neil poulsen]

Hi there! Feelings appear to be running a little high in this thread. Please wait a bit before responding. Better to respond after a nights rest.

[Simon Benton]

I emailed Richard Ritter a few weeks ago regarding fixing a problem I had with a piece of equipment. He emailed within a few hours suggesting I try something. I did this and the problem was rectified. Fast service and no charge!

The heading of this particular forum is Richard Ritter's Cameras - it is unreasonable to use it as a means to voice personal complaints.