ywenz
Veteran
Just got my Ricoh GRD. Went out last night to do some high ISO B&W photography. Mind you, these were shot at the camera's 1MP setting (1280x960) because i was using only its internal memory. I think these are pretty good for a "take anywhere fully manual" camera that's not much bigger than my cell phone.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ywen/sets/72057594105874981/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ywen/sets/72057594105874981/
akptc
Shoot first, think later
These are some nice low-light shots, I think, especialy the 1st one, of the house. Thinking about getting me on of those GRDs...
rolly
Member
Ricoh GR
Ricoh GR
After flirting with getting the RD-1, and doing a lot of research, I came to the same position of half-waiting, half-digitizing by adding to my Contax G2 the Ricoh GR. Anyone thinking of getting this camera ought to read Sean Reid's review of it, as well as some caveats he discovered when he took it from New England down to shoot in Daytona FL. My experience is that the GR is a great friend and companion for taking pictures each day, just as Sean noted. It's as good a photo-notebook as you will find because of its size and capabilities which are pretty broad given the compact size. It takes the kind of photos that the famous "street" photographers took-- Winogrand comes to mind first-- and renders both BW and color in that appealing way that says "discovery."
However-- it is not such a great camera for strong and contrasty light and in my opinion does work best as a lower-contrast, low light tool. I don't like the way the AUTO function operates the camera mostly wide-open, but DOF is no big problem at 2.4. Better at MANUAL, you can control it though learning where all the knobs are takes some time. You also have to like the 28 lens, which in 3:2 Fine Jpeg mode does certainly have the feel of a wide angle, but in 4:3 mode it doesn't feel much differnt than a 35 lens.
Either way, myself, I very much like wide angle because most of what I see is rpoutine, ordinary as I go about my day, yet having that wide angle tends to do dramatic things to the ordinary and I find myself often surprised at how just a small shift in the way I look at ordinary life can change the feel of what I don't pay much attention to-- that is to say....thanks to this little camera, it's easy to photograph without drawing attention to myself, my expectations are not great because I am not shooting a Mighty Leica or a Mighty Nikon or a Mighty Anything, just a little thing, and so my attention has started to shift from making phtographs to starting to see. As if the point of photography might become the art of seeing and not the art of photography.
On the other hand-- it takes some tinkering with to set everything up (see Reid's review for excellent settings suggestions for BW and contrasty-light get-rounds) Unfortunately my camera developed a mechanical problem with not setting out the lens after three weeks but Tony Rose at PopFlash has been great about getting it fixed. I thought about unwinding the deal but have found nothing else that gets me back to the magic of seeing the way this camera does so I'm sticking with it despite its limitations and the malfunction. So far I find it a really good side-kick to my beloved G2 and film. Consider getting a CV viewfinder, but often for stealthy shooting you can just palm it without a VF and pretend you are Robert Frank (ok, then you'd need a paper bag). rolly
Ricoh GR
After flirting with getting the RD-1, and doing a lot of research, I came to the same position of half-waiting, half-digitizing by adding to my Contax G2 the Ricoh GR. Anyone thinking of getting this camera ought to read Sean Reid's review of it, as well as some caveats he discovered when he took it from New England down to shoot in Daytona FL. My experience is that the GR is a great friend and companion for taking pictures each day, just as Sean noted. It's as good a photo-notebook as you will find because of its size and capabilities which are pretty broad given the compact size. It takes the kind of photos that the famous "street" photographers took-- Winogrand comes to mind first-- and renders both BW and color in that appealing way that says "discovery."
However-- it is not such a great camera for strong and contrasty light and in my opinion does work best as a lower-contrast, low light tool. I don't like the way the AUTO function operates the camera mostly wide-open, but DOF is no big problem at 2.4. Better at MANUAL, you can control it though learning where all the knobs are takes some time. You also have to like the 28 lens, which in 3:2 Fine Jpeg mode does certainly have the feel of a wide angle, but in 4:3 mode it doesn't feel much differnt than a 35 lens.
Either way, myself, I very much like wide angle because most of what I see is rpoutine, ordinary as I go about my day, yet having that wide angle tends to do dramatic things to the ordinary and I find myself often surprised at how just a small shift in the way I look at ordinary life can change the feel of what I don't pay much attention to-- that is to say....thanks to this little camera, it's easy to photograph without drawing attention to myself, my expectations are not great because I am not shooting a Mighty Leica or a Mighty Nikon or a Mighty Anything, just a little thing, and so my attention has started to shift from making phtographs to starting to see. As if the point of photography might become the art of seeing and not the art of photography.
On the other hand-- it takes some tinkering with to set everything up (see Reid's review for excellent settings suggestions for BW and contrasty-light get-rounds) Unfortunately my camera developed a mechanical problem with not setting out the lens after three weeks but Tony Rose at PopFlash has been great about getting it fixed. I thought about unwinding the deal but have found nothing else that gets me back to the magic of seeing the way this camera does so I'm sticking with it despite its limitations and the malfunction. So far I find it a really good side-kick to my beloved G2 and film. Consider getting a CV viewfinder, but often for stealthy shooting you can just palm it without a VF and pretend you are Robert Frank (ok, then you'd need a paper bag). rolly
Trius
Waiting on Maitani
ywenz: Holy crap, one silly MP can do a good job. As a (female) friend of mine once said, "It's not the wand, it's the wizard."
rolly: great thoughts/insight.
rolly: great thoughts/insight.
ywenz
Veteran
Can't take an MP everywhere in my pocket. Plus, an MP is far to expensive to be taken everywhere.
N
Nick R.
Guest
MP=megapixel, I think. Good shots, Ywenz.
Trius
Waiting on Maitani
In Canada, MPs are sometimes found in pockets.
Eryximachos
Registered User
ywenz: Thanks for posting those shots. I'm currently weighing the purchase of the Ricoh GRD and its accessory viewfinder. I definitely like the idea of a fixed focal length in a pocket-size camera. (I have two of the Rollei AFM-35's, both P&S film cameras with fixed 38mm lens)
Andrew Sowerby
Well-known
Michiel said:Haha, I have no idea what that is supposed to mean, but it sounds hilarious
MP = member of parliament
Made me laugh too.