Ricoh 500G is what I ( and probably everyone else ) would call a compact rangefinder camera. It's not compact enough to make it pocketable ( unless you have large pockets ) but it's about as compact as Fujifilm X100 ( and even slightly narrower ).. It's modern enough to have aperture priority mode but my sample doesn't have any working electronics so I will just skip that part.. Last week I've found a RICOH 500G at my dad's place. The camera hasn't been used in the last 25 years but seems to be fine. I've replaced the battery and the light meter is now working. The only issue is given by the focusing. When I turn the focus ring nothing seems to change in the the central diamond-shaped rangefinder spot.
The Ricoh 500 G is a compact coupled rangefinder camera, introduced by Ricoh in 1972. It offers automatic shutter priority exposure, or fully manual control. A projected viewfinder needle pointer indicates the aperture the camera will set for any preferred shutter speed, or the aperture the user should set when on manual control.. Ricoh 500G sports a 40mm f2.8 Rikenon lens, which, to my eye, seems to provide very sharp photos. Along with the body of the camera, it's a very compact lens. The aperture and shutter speed rings move easy and are tactile. Focusing is simple enough, just line up those two diamonds in the rangefinder (initially it took me a little while to.