gliderbee
Well-known
Which of the two do you like best ? I like the Ricoh very much but never seen a Klasse W in the flesh ..
Stefan.
Stefan.
bobby_novatron
Photon Collector
They are both wonderful P&S compact cameras, among the best I would say. Once you get into this price range, you're breathing the rarefied air of Leica and Contax, so they better be good.
I have also been looking for a nice compact shooter in this price range so I understand your perspective. Shelling out $400+ for a ten year old point-and-shoot film camera is not to be taken lightly.
Feature-wise, both cameras are similar ... one thing that was quite telling for me was browsing sample images on Flickr.
I searched and located galleries for both cameras, as well as the Contax T3 (another unit I'm considering) and also the Nikon 35ti (yet another great P&S).
Surprisingly, just from browsing the thumbnails, I was able to discern that the Fuji has a definite amount of what appears to be vignetting ... it's not unpleasant, but it's there. At first I thought the 'darkened periphery' was due to improper scanning technique, but far too many Fuji images seemed to have this quality.
On the other hand, the Fuji images are very sharp, and have wonderful DOF/bokeh ... color rendering is nice as well.
When I compared the Fuji gallery to the Nikon 35ti and the Contax T3 groups, I did not see this same amount of vignetting. The 35ti and Contax T3 seemed to be a touch sharper as well, but just a hair.
And finally, what about the Ricoh? Well, at first I was hesitant about considering the Ricoh -- it doesn't have the same brand recognition as Contax or Nikon ... but after reading reviews and going through the Flickr galleries for a quick and dirty image comparo, I find that the images are pretty much as good as the Nikon. As good as the T3, even. Plus, the Ricoh has a very pocketable design, and I really like the built-in hyperfocal mode for street shots.
Final verdict: IMHO, I'd choose the Ricoh. There seems to be a lot of them floating around, and you can pick one up (if you're patient) for the $300+ range, which is considerably cheaper than the Fuji, which seems to always be trading around the $450-500 mark. Save the $100 and buy yourself 20 rolls of Ektar 100. That's what I'm gonna do.
I have also been looking for a nice compact shooter in this price range so I understand your perspective. Shelling out $400+ for a ten year old point-and-shoot film camera is not to be taken lightly.
Feature-wise, both cameras are similar ... one thing that was quite telling for me was browsing sample images on Flickr.
I searched and located galleries for both cameras, as well as the Contax T3 (another unit I'm considering) and also the Nikon 35ti (yet another great P&S).
Surprisingly, just from browsing the thumbnails, I was able to discern that the Fuji has a definite amount of what appears to be vignetting ... it's not unpleasant, but it's there. At first I thought the 'darkened periphery' was due to improper scanning technique, but far too many Fuji images seemed to have this quality.
On the other hand, the Fuji images are very sharp, and have wonderful DOF/bokeh ... color rendering is nice as well.
When I compared the Fuji gallery to the Nikon 35ti and the Contax T3 groups, I did not see this same amount of vignetting. The 35ti and Contax T3 seemed to be a touch sharper as well, but just a hair.
And finally, what about the Ricoh? Well, at first I was hesitant about considering the Ricoh -- it doesn't have the same brand recognition as Contax or Nikon ... but after reading reviews and going through the Flickr galleries for a quick and dirty image comparo, I find that the images are pretty much as good as the Nikon. As good as the T3, even. Plus, the Ricoh has a very pocketable design, and I really like the built-in hyperfocal mode for street shots.
Final verdict: IMHO, I'd choose the Ricoh. There seems to be a lot of them floating around, and you can pick one up (if you're patient) for the $300+ range, which is considerably cheaper than the Fuji, which seems to always be trading around the $450-500 mark. Save the $100 and buy yourself 20 rolls of Ektar 100. That's what I'm gonna do.
Tim Gray
Well-known
My Ricoh is great. I think I got it for $250 in these forums about 1-2 years ago. The only real problem with it is that it's loud.
I've not used any of the others...
I've not used any of the others...
gliderbee
Well-known
Ok, thanks Bobby and Tim; I decided to keep the Ricoh and sit out this GAS-attack; I _know_ I can do it
Stefan.
Stefan.
thegman
Veteran
I have a Klasse S, and a Contax T. I know some people consider Contax or Leica to have a magical quality, but personally, I find the Fujifilm lens really quite noticeably sharper. The Contax is tiny, but somewhat fiddly, the Klasse is not much bigger, but a pleasure to use.
For me, the Klasse is the winner, and is certainly the one I'd keep if I had to shift one of them.
Also, the Contax is only smaller if you don't have the flash, otherwise it's a giant. The Klasse has a flash built in of course.
For me, the Klasse is the winner, and is certainly the one I'd keep if I had to shift one of them.
Also, the Contax is only smaller if you don't have the flash, otherwise it's a giant. The Klasse has a flash built in of course.
bobby_novatron
Photon Collector
thegman -- thanks for your input. I should add in my note ^above that I haven't actually used any of these cameras in person ... just going by the superficial research that I've found.
I'm glad to hear you're enjoying your Klasse.
I'm glad to hear you're enjoying your Klasse.