(I posted a very similar message on DPR so apologies in advance if you already read that one)
A couple of days ago I was given a Ricoh XR-P 35mm SLR, with a Ricoh XR Winder-2 and a Ricoh XR Speedlight 240 …plus a couple of rolls of Kodak 200 Gold to boot! To give an idea of most likely the last time this camera was used, the film has a develop-before date of Dec. 1991 
Disclaimer - I’m not unfamiliar with film cameras (I had a Pentax ME Super for years and used a Yaschica TLR before that) but even if the camera was in 100% working order at this moment, I can’t say with certainty I’d shoot much with it. However if I can get it working it might be worth something to someone. It has a degree of sentimental / familial value to me as it came from my brother-in-law who’s in the final stages of leukemia. But it was given with a comment of “maybe you can use this, sell it or something”.
At any rate, I’m not familiar with Ricohs in general, but here are a few ‘data points’ after about 20 minutes of poking around on it…
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The lens is a Rikenon P 50mm f/1.7 and although a bit dirty, the glass appears to be basically unmarked.
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Of course all batteries are kaput and I’ve not replaced any yet (no luck finding the CR-1/3N cells locally). Some of the contacts are a little corroded, but look cleanable with reasonable effort. None of the batteries actually burst / leaked, which is kinda remarkable IMO. All in all it’s superficially in decent shape, mostly just dusty and “thready” from being kept in the same old case for decades.
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The user manual has become almost a piece of wood due to moisture absorption over the years decades (i.e., hard as a carp). The pages won’t separate at all. I found a user-created manual at www.butkus.org, but so far nothing official from Ricoh. Any pointers on a download of the official manual? Advice on how to resurrect the “bonded” paper manual …exposure to steam, maybe?
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The film advance lever won’t move past the initial ‘flip-out’ position where my thumb will fit. I assume (?) I should be able to at least cock the shutter even with no film nor batteries in the camera? Is there a trick to unlock it? I vaguely remember running into a similar situation on another SLR decades ago. Any ideas?
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This camera has a detachable “finger grip” with another shutter button (apparently). I’ve not seen that in the manual, yet at least. Any idea on that?
I’ve toyed with the idea of a nifty fifty now and then so I think I’ll get a K-mount-to-EF-S adapter and play with this lens (manually) on my Canon 850D. At a minimum it’ll help me decide whether a current (auto) 50 is worth it or not.
I’m continuing to research and will read the manual I found but any advice, pointers, experience or feedback is welcome.
Thanks.