GXR 24-85mm

T

Tom Diaz

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Just got a body and the 24-85mm new for $299 on the bay. (There are a few more left--check it out if you're interested.)

Does anyone have experience with this lens? I have read the reviews, so I know that it is a little on the weird side: no zoom control on the lens itself, slow zoom, not much in the macro department, etc. However, I am attracted by the A16 sensor, the lens range (definitely where I do most of my shooting), and the low price. It's not easy to get that wide an angle of view on a GXR, especially if you want autofocus. I have a GXR-M, and now I will have an extra body and battery plus an interesting lens.

Anyone have experiences or sample images to share?

Tom
 
It's been on my watchlist for months - just can't seem to pull the trigger (must find a better phrase): yes, it's a fantastic price, but it's still $300 towards a VC 15mm Super Heliar at one end, or a CZ Sonnar-C at the other.

~Rif
 
Update...

Update...

If any are still available from that seller, I suggest you go and get one, if you have ever been interested.

Mine arrived here this morning in Massachusetts, only three days after I bought it. Shipped all the way from HK. It was not all that carefully packed--just some bubble wrap wrapped around the Ricoh box sleeves and then everything put in a Fedex envelope. But, it all arrived ultra fast and in perfect condition, so many they know what they are doing.

I was thinking that this might be some of that "no serial number" equipment we have chatted about before, but not so. It does indeed have serial numbers and does indeed appear to be in every way new, pristine equipment.

Of course, you can't really tell by inspection that something is "brand new," but if not, someone did an awfully careful job of rewrapping everything exactly right.

Anyway, enough talk about my past suspicions and concerns. I loaded it up with a battery and card from my other Ricoh here, walked around the house, and shot a couple of pictures, and so far everything looks excellent.

So, this is a really, really great deal, I think.

By the way, the lens impresses me a little more than I expected. One reviewer talked about the "very slow" zooming, but to me, the zooming speed is just as it should be. Two or three seconds from one end to the other. I would not really want to zoom faster than that. I'm not a videographer, but that would be especially true with videos, wouldn't it?

I will post more pictures in a week or two when I have done more serious shooting, but so far the image quality looks really great. Herein is the proverbial cat photograph. 1/20 s, so could be a little sharper, although you can see that the whiskers are not fuzzy.

U1834I1393277750.SEQ.0.jpg


Tom
 
Thanks for the update, Tom.
Yes, they ship fast by Fedex - I bought the 50mm Ricoh Module when they had it on special for AU$199!!! It arrived fast and works fine.

I'm keen to see how your zoom performs at 24mm and 85mm, when you get a chance.

~Rif
 
truefriendship said:
Thanks for the update, Tom.
Yes, they ship fast by Fedex - I bought the 50mm Ricoh Module when they had it on special for AU$199!!! It arrived fast and works fine.

I'm keen to see how your zoom performs at 24mm and 85mm, when you get a chance.

~Rif
Click to expand...

OK, Rif, I'll try to show you some representative pictures. That one of my kitty is at 85mm, but it was just shot in haste to see whether the camera works.

TD
 
I think they have sold out now. I must have bought one of the last remaining and it should arrive tomorrow.

I have a sort of love hate relationship with this camera unit. I ordered one soon after they became available but returned it because I was disappointed with the lens - soft at the corners. I bought another second hand later but sold it when I was having a clear out to finance my Leica M240. I found it quite useful and it was optically better but I did not love it. It is quite big though very light. It has quite good AF but manual focusing is a pain. I still really like the GXR system and at the price (I paid in AUD which with the current exchange rates against the GBP made it even better value for a spare body + the Zoom lensor.
 
Another bonus...

Another bonus...

The more I play with this new A16 module the more I like it.

For example, I had not thought about the fact that (unlike the GXR-M) it has an almost-silent shutter. It also has an accessory lens cap (which I got) that can stay mounted all the time and that opens automatically when you turn on the camera and the lens advances to shooting position.

Anyway, here's another cat picture till I get around to more serious things:

U1834I1394318215.SEQ.0.jpg


Tom
 
From a friend's opening

From a friend's opening

Here's one of a few shots I took yesterday, at my friend Ed Friedman's gallery show. (Galatea Fine Art, Boston.) If you aren't familiar with Ed's photography, his show "StreetWhys" is there for a few weeks.

I continue to like this 24-85mm module as a "walk-around" lens. The women in the picture were surprised that I had taken several pictures of them, since they did not hear any shutter sound at all. To me, that is a good omen of good street shots to come. I'm totally happy with the image quality I have seen so far. This picture was shot at ISO 500, -0.3EV, program mode. 1/40 s at f/4.2. The lens is at about 35mm. (My more usual lens for this kind of outing is a 35mm Summicron ASPH.)

There are a few more shots from this sequence in my gallery called "Ricoh GXR Test Shots."

med_U1834I1394981275.SEQ.3.jpg


Tom
 
Gary Sandhu said:
Does the viewfinder or LCD black out after taking a photo? (If so, same as the M mount?)
Click to expand...

Gary, I guess I'd say "yes." I own both the M mount and this module. Both "black out" momentarily (maybe a half second?) after you take a picture. They both have electronic viewfinders. To totally avoid that one needs an optical viewfinder, right?

Tom
 
Tom Diaz said:
Gary, I guess I'd say "yes." I own both the M mount and this module. Both "black out" momentarily (maybe a half second?) after you take a picture. They both have electronic viewfinders. To totally avoid that one needs an optical viewfinder, right?

Tom
Click to expand...

By the way, the blackout is not a showstopper for me, although I do prefer an optical or hybrid viewfinder. I also tend not to take rapid-fire sequences of pictures, with my Leica or with this. However, it's worth noting, for those who do, that the Ricohs have this interesting continuous shooting mode (M low and M high) in which a sequence of images gets stored in a single "MP" file. When you shoot that way, the Ricoh finder does not "black out" each time an image is taken. Instead, the EVF follows where you are pointing the camera, in a slightly jerky, old-time-movie way. Using that mode might please someone who's worried about the blackout happening at the decisive moment.

Tom
 
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