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sanking
25-Dec-2005, 13:19
Just recently there was thread about the good restoration work of Richard Ritter. I have had a number of dealings with RR and agree completely with the very positive comments about his work.

It is my understanding that he is working on a line of new cameras. Does anyone know if this includes ULF sizes? Web sites perhaps?

Oren Grad
25-Dec-2005, 13:21
Sandy, take a peek here:

www.lg4mat.net/ulfcamera.html (http://www.lg4mat.net/ulfcamera.html)

Richard Wasserman
25-Dec-2005, 13:54
Sandy,
I spoke to Richard a few days ago and he told me that he is working on making 7x17 and 8x20 cameras. If I remember correctly he said they would be under $3000.00 and quite lightweight. They should be interesting.

steve simmons
25-Dec-2005, 14:20
Richard previewed a prototype of his 7x17 at the last View Camera conference and it was quite impressive.

steve simmons

sanking
25-Dec-2005, 15:37
Hi Oren, Richard and Steve,

Thanks for your replies.

Looks like Richard has some very innovative desings and ideas. The 7X17 design that can be used in both vertical and horizonatal orientation really caught my eye. I am looking forward to reports from real users. Anyone have a camera by Richard in near completion stage at this point? Could be the subject of an interesting review in View Camera I think?

steve simmons
25-Dec-2005, 21:23
Richard moves along at his own pace but yes we are always on the lookout for new cameras. There are others coming and we will discuss them in the March issue.

Happy Holidays

steve simmons

Bruce Barlow
26-Dec-2005, 12:35
Richard's a good friend and almost-neighbor. Last I heard, he'd sent out drawings for bids on parts. Let's remember: Richard lived through the entire Zone VI camera fiasco in 1987-89, and understands the problem with making promises others might not help him keep. So, Richard tells me he'll start taking orders when he's ready to build and ship cameras, and not before.

The camera will take up to 16x20, I think, and rear standards-plus-bellows will be field-interchangeable. The bed and focusing rails are better-than-aircraft grade aluminum, so the overall camera is extremely light, yet rigid.

e
26-Dec-2005, 19:22
I drove up to see Richard last week to have him do some 12x20 work for me. We got into a discussion about his new cameras and I think that he has sold quite a few 12x20's already...or on close order that is. He also spoke about the 16x20 being about 14lbs. From what he says these cameras will be inexpensive, very stable, and very rigid with their tubular aluminum construction. For anyone interested in ULF I think these cameras will be a very welcome option. Emile.www.deleon-ulf.com

RichardRitter
27-Dec-2005, 10:09
As Bruce said, I don’t want to repeat those years.

Currently I am keeping a list of photographers and the format size. When cameras become available they will be the first to be contacted. After that I will make it known to all that I am taking deposit for cameras.

Now for some good news I have started production, in the sizes of 7/17, 8/20, and 12/20.

Happy Holidays

Richard Ritter

ZoneIII
27-Sep-2006, 09:59
I wish I could share in the enthusiasm expressed here about Richard Ritter and his work but I can't. I sent a Zone VI modified spot meter to him for calibration and I am not very happy about ihis work. Before I sent the meter in, I had a couple short questions for Richard that I asked him via email. He never responded to them. Just a few words by him would have answered the questions. Instead, he just sent an abrupt email back saying to send it in with a check for $75. When I got the meter back, it is reading over two stops off! It may be linear in it's readings but it is way off. I used to rate Tmax100 at E.I. 64 with this meter but now I have to rate it at 320! He did not respond to an email by me asking him about this. I didn't even want him to re-do it for free. I just wanted the meter to be properly calibrated. He is the guy who supposedly knows the most about this meter but he did a very poor job of recalibrating it. Also, I cannot excuse someone for being blunt to the point of rudeness with customers. I understand that he, like most of us, is probably very busy but he could at least respond to a simple question. No person in business should treat customers like that but I could accept that if he at least did a good job but, in my case, he did a bad job and he won't even discuss it.

I'll find someone else to calibrate it properly.

Sal Santamaura
27-Sep-2006, 11:18
Pretty strong words from an anonymous poster who just registered.

I've had no dealings with Richard Ritter, but would be more inclinded to trust the positive recommendations of many other long-known posters than mud slung without the courage to identify oneself. If this is not contrary to forum rules, it should be in my opinion.

Bruce Barlow
27-Sep-2006, 12:10
Richard will deliver three 7x17s this week at our Fall Foliage workshop up in Moose Country, with two more being sent to reviewers next week. More are on the way, since I think he's waiting for bellows.

The challenge is film holders: Hey Sandy! Work Faster!! LOL...just kidding. I think he has enough for now, but I expect his customers will likely keep you busy.

I don't understand the diss on his meter work. That's not the Richard just about everybody knows. I'd be willing to bet he'd make it right. For one thing, Richard is not much of a writer, and those who know him don't take offense at what seem to be terse emails.

It has taken Richard a long time to get his camera manufacturing up and running, but he lived through Zone VI's disaster in 1986-88, and vowed never to promise what he couldn't deliver. Now he's delivering, and I'm thrilled for him.

Eric Biggerstaff
27-Sep-2006, 14:19
I have had Richard do a lot of work for me and all has been excellent. I am sure his cameras will be excellent as well.

Question for Zone III: If you had a problem why didn't you pick up the phone and call?

Richard has a telephone and he actually answers it! Wow, what a concept. Email is probably the WORST way to communicate a problem and believe it or not, not everyone likes to write long emails. The phone has been around for a LONG LONG time, and some people still use them, next time you have an issue just pick it up and call.

Knowing Richard, you would of been able to work out the issues in a few minutes and he would of worked hard to make you happy.

Look forward to seeing the cameras Richard and keep up the good work.

Kevin Crisp
27-Sep-2006, 16:25
Richard calibrates the Z6 meters just as well as Calumet does, and I've used both. I'd be amazed if he did not respond to a phone call and recheck the meter if asked. Or was he asked?

Kevin Crisp
27-Sep-2006, 16:35
And, let me add, that a conventional by-the-book/newsletter Fred Picker film speed test with a modified meter and TMAX 100 can often give a film speed of 200 or higher, especially in Xtol. New Tri-X in Xtol can be 500. Nothing wrong with the meter. Besides, it is just a number. Do the test right and use the number. The scale might just as well say "A" "B" "C;" it doesn't matter.

Michael Graves
27-Sep-2006, 16:39
Richard moves along at his own pace but yes we are always on the lookout for new cameras. There are others coming and we will discuss them in the March issue.

Happy Holidays

steve simmons

I guess he moves at his own pace. I contacted him back in February about fixing up an old 2D I stumbled across. Never got a reply, so about three weeks ago, I sent him a more detailed reply. His response was, "I don't have a storefront." Not a thing about whether he could fix or if he even wanted to if he could.

Linhof
27-Sep-2006, 17:52
I had Mr. Richard Ritter to make a 9.5"x20"camera back to my Sinar system two year ago. His work is excellent. Therefore, I don't worry for other formats done by Richard.

Hany Aziz
27-Sep-2006, 17:53
Richard has done superb work on both my meter and cameras. The meter works fine for me. His work on cameras is both excellent and reasonably priced and he has always provided very detailed feedback when I called him. His email responses can be at times terse but always informative. His work on my cameras has been fairly prompt and his estimates of the time to fix an item fairly accurate.

Overall I have had extremely positive experience in dealing with Richard.

Sincerely,

Hany.

mikebarger
27-Sep-2006, 18:50
I have to agreee with those above, great work on my meter.

Mike

alec4444
27-Sep-2006, 19:19
Ya know what's funny? There's some really crappy vendors out there that could learn a lot from this thread. Good, consistent work commands loyalty.

Capocheny
27-Sep-2006, 19:50
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
28-Sep-2006, 07:52
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
22-Nov-2006, 22:34
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
23-Nov-2006, 09:02
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
23-Nov-2006, 10:24
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
23-Nov-2006, 10:53
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
23-Nov-2006, 11:41
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
23-Nov-2006, 13:19
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
23-Nov-2006, 23:37
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
24-Nov-2006, 06:51
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.

Todd Wright
24-Nov-2006, 09:20
Mr. Bglick

It’s a shame that you have decided to take aim at Richard Ritter when he is out of town and unable to reply to you. Secondly who are you? A name would help. Not Bglick

I have had a lot of work done by Richard. He is probably the best we have. He has over 20 years of experience in this field. No one comes close. I do know he works on a first in first out basic. If he told you 4 weeks it must have been based on the work load he had in the shop and you having the job there in a promise amount of time. All I can assume is you may not have lived up to your end of the deal and your job arrived weeks after you said it would and Richard got a lot of work in or started a big job that took up most of his shop space and key machines that he would have needed to do your job. Not knowing both sides I must side with Richard based on the amount of good things that have been said about him and also on the amount of work he has done for me and friends of mine in the past. Yes he can be slow at times. As Bruce said he is a one man operation. I rather have him be slow and do it right.

The best thing would be to have yesterday posts by you removed they are nasty and uncalled for.

Todd Wright

bglick
24-Nov-2006, 10:03
> It’s a shame that you have decided to take aim at Richard Ritter when he is out of town and unable to reply to you.


"Take Aim" ??? I concurred with another poster regarding poor communications.... a simple "heads-up" regarding my experience. I made it clear that Richard did complete the project.... It's obvious Richard does good work, and he has many satisfied customers. Agreed, he is a credit to the LF community....does this mean he NEVER had "issues" that some need to be aware of? Does this mean no one can "mention such"? 95% of my bandwidth was defending myself against personal attacks, including yours which is based on having NO KNOWLEDGE of the situation.






> I have had a lot of work done by Richard. He is probably the best we have. He has over 20 years of experience in this field. No one comes close.


I respect and appreciate your opinion regarding your experiences, and I am sure you respect others experience too, right? ? Or maybe, if you're experience is favorable, then the it becomes unlawful to share experiences that did not match up to yours? I never got that Memo Todd, please re send it! :-)






> I do know he works on a first in first out basic. If he told you 4 weeks it must have been based on the work load he had in the shop and you having the job there in a promise amount of time. All I can assume is you may not have lived up to your end of the deal and your job arrived weeks after you said it would and Richard got a lot of work in or started a big job that took up most of his shop space and key machines that he would have needed to do your job.


Wonderfully WRONG assumptions Todd.... and herein lies why all this unnecessary bandwidth has been created. The venerable adage.... "IF YOU CAN'T BEAT THE MESSAGE, THEN BEAT-UP THE MESSENGER" approach is alive and well here. You are working from the assumption that Richard is perfect, and any person who is less than 100% satisfied with his work is liar and moron. Hey, seems logical to me Todd, right?





> Not knowing both sides I must side with Richard


This says it all Todd, you ADMIT to knowing NOTHING, but rendered a decision on fault. Need I say more?






> The best thing would be to have yesterday posts by you removed they are nasty and uncalled for.


IMO, the best thing to avoid these mess's .... people should refrain from commenting on others peoples experience whereas they have absolutely and admittedly NO knowledge of. Those people should willingly remove their posts as it's these peoples need to disrespect others experiences which is "unjust" and "uncalled" for. I propose the same thing to you I did to Bruce.... do you really think bashing a persons personal experience which you have no knowledge of.... is this helping the cause?

John Hannon
24-Nov-2006, 15:00
Richard calibrated my spotmeter a few months ago and did a great job. He encloses a calibration record with it. It was something like a three day turnaround. I never talked to him or emailed. Got it back so fast I didn't have to!

--John

Todd Wright
24-Nov-2006, 15:34
Mr Bglick

Take notice the last poster used a real name so did Bruce.

In order for Richard to defend himself he would have to know who you are.

Lifes to short

Good bye

Todd Wright

bglick
24-Nov-2006, 16:17
Todd, RR knows who I am, he has gotten plenty of emails from me.... my handle is my name, B. Glick.... does that change anything?

Your're right, life is short, so why waste your valuable time commenting on things you nothing about?

alec4444
27-Nov-2006, 14:55
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.

Not taking sides in this thing on either end, but I will add that I've never found this excuse to be valid: "I'm too busy on too many projects to communicate well or do a proper job." I'm reminded of the frequent Ron Wisner complaints. Time management needs to be a #1 priority when running your own business.

That said, I've been a satisfied Richard Ritter customer and I don't think it's fair of you, Bruce, to make such an argument on Richard's behalf given that he hasn't had a problem fulfilling past orders. He is clearly not too busy to handle his workload given the praise on this forum.

Keep in mind that everyone has the right to make mistakes now and again, and I'm sure Richard makes his share of them, regardless of whether bglick was one of them or not.

bglick
27-Nov-2006, 16:43
Thanks for being the voice of reason Alec....

My thoughts are the same.... no one is perfect, everyone has shortcomings.... Wisner is a perfect example of the frustration level people have when a vendor has very poor communications. By no means am I placing RR in that category, OK, no flames please.

I accept that my experience with RR may have been an isolated situation, hence why I had no desire to attack his reputation. RR seemed very nice and congenial when I spoke to him on the phone a few times. It's obvious RR does very good work and is appreciated by the LF community. A simple "heads-up" by a few of us regarding RR communications, IMO, shouldn't have become fuel for flames....

Frank Petronio
27-Nov-2006, 18:03
It may more be a matter of culture/age than anything else. From what I have read about Dick Phillips, he isn't much for online communications either. But people understand this upfront, and I bet he ignores any obnoxious, whining PITAs.

If you want satisfying, old fashioned, handmade, one-person craftsmanship you need to be sensitive to their quirks.

One well respected shutter repair fella told me that if someone kept pestering him for a rush job then he would put their project at the end of the line...

Wisner was hardly a one-man craftsman operation, so I wouldn't put him in the same category.

mohan
29-Nov-2006, 16:38
hi!

Does anyone have experince with the 12x20 cameras built by Mr. Richard Ritter? Any pictures? :)

Thanks for any comments or tips.

Best regards

Mohan

John Bowen
29-Nov-2006, 17:48
hi!

Does anyone have experince with the 12x20 cameras built by Mr. Richard Ritter? Any pictures? :)

Mohan

To see the camera check out this site www.lg4mat.net/ulfcamera.html

This shows the 7x17, but Richard uses the same carbon fiber chasis for all his cameras

Trust me, as an owner of a 7x17, you won't be disappointed by Richard's cameras. Richarad's cameras are an excellent value and highly recommended.