The Ricoh 500 was one of the early relatively inexpensive 35 mm rangefinder cameras to enter the U.S. market in 1957. It had an unusually large (for that time) f/2.8 lens, and shutter speeds from 1 second to 1/500 second. Film was advanced by a rapid-throw "trigger" mechanism on the bottom, and focus was controlled by two buttons, at the 3 o'clock and 9 o'clock positions that permitted very rapid shifts of focus when needed for sporting events. Flash could be fired from a "hot shoe" on the top and from a regular socket connection. The red lever selects among M, F, and X flash synchronizations. The shutter button is barely visible over the letter "h" of "Ricoh" on the front of the camera. The two large knobs are designed to let the user's two index fingers rapidly focus the camera while following the action. The hot shoe mount for an external flash unit is top center of the camera. The rapid film advance lever pivots on its right end and is pulled by the extension and folds out of the way near the lens barrel. The bottom of the camera also has a reminder ring for noting the speed of the film currently in use. The camera has a Riken Ricomat lens with a focal length of 4.5 cm and a Seikosha shutter. The rings controlling the effective lens diameter (from f/2.8 to f/22) and the shutter speed are mechanically linked so that once one combination has been matched to the ambient lighting conditions, a faster shutter speed can be selected and a larger effective lens diameter will automatically be set when possible. The two knobs on the bottom lock the film compartment when turned to the C or black arrow.

Also later models came with self-timer.