Ricoh GR....

tomO2013

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Hi Guys,

I'm interested if anybody here uses or has a Ricoh GR iii or GR iii X (new 40mm equiv version) for street photography /walkabout.

It's a camera that I'm considered if only because it is so discreet and can fit in a jacket but looks to have fantastic glass baked into the body.

I'm aware of the known issues.... no EVF/OVF, small battery life, no video.


If I went this route it would be solely for street photography when travelling to augment my Sony A1 for a number of trips coming up in the next short bit....

Curious as to your thoughts on the camera. From the forums I've seen, folks tend to complain about the camera but absolutely love it in the same breadth!
 

Clix Pix

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Sorry, can't offer an opinion here on the Ricoh offerings, as I will not buy or use a camera without EVF/OVF..... An absence of video functions and features wouldn't bother me a bit! Since you mention you're already a Sony user, with their outstanding A1, why not consider one of the excellent compact RX100 series? I have the RX100 VII and although I don't use it all that often -- mostly meant for travel -- it's an excellent little camera which does what I need in particular situations.

Then again, I don't do much in the way of street shooting, so I am not really sure of what is considered a really good, discreet, unobtrusive and yet effective tool for that kind of use.

Hopefully someone else will be able to chime in with more experience along the lines of what you need!
 

Citysnaps

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Long ago I used a film GR and it was a sweet camera. No experience with digital GRs.

I second Clix's RX100 recommendation. In the past I used (and still have) the first gen RX100 cam for street/urban photography and liked it a lot. No doubt more recent generations are much better.

If you go that way (or with a GR), consider using an O-ring tied to a lug (I used micro paracord) for keeping it in your hand if you should bump something (or get bumped) while out shooting. Put your index finger in the ring with its tip on the shutter release, other fingers around the body. Never have to worry about dropping/losing it.

In the end I went back to a regular camera, Canon 5D/6D and also a Fuji XT mirrorless. When on the street making photos, I kind of like being seen with a camera - and it looks more legit when I hit strangers up for street portraits. For me, a 35mm f/1.4 was ideal for both posed street portraits and candids. I've also used various iPhones over the years - great cameras for street shooting.

RX100 cam pic.jpg
 

tomO2013

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So I bit the bullet today.... bought the GR iii and GR iii X so that I'd have both 28mm and 40mm FOV in my pockets.

The size of these things is very attractive... they really do feel the size of an older Casio point and shoot (if not slimmer). Pretty much the size of an RX100.

When you consider that they are packing an APSC inside it's quite impressive.

I did seriously consider the Sony, Fuji X100V and the Canon GX7, I think that I prefer the menu system, touch interface, USBC charging and the film simulation profiles of the GR.

Their positive film simulation and 'grainy' black and white is quite lovely. I'm hoping that the snap focus feature will provide me with a mechanism to use the camera somewhat like how I shot an older Leica M6 with Sunny 16 and zone focus.

The one immediate 'struggle' and something that may yet be a deal breaker for me..... is that I'm constantly bringing the camera up to my eyes to take a photo!

This will take a LOT of getting used, I'm gonna try it out tomorrow morning at the farmers market and see what I feel after a few hours shooting.

There is a nice optional OVF available for it and I'll see if my dealer has one in stock that I could try and see how if it changes the shooting experience.

Battery life, sucks. It plain sucks! Especially coming from the Sony Z. In the plus column the USBC fast charging works really well and I'm rarely far from a USBC power source so not a deal breaker :)

I'll share some photos when I get a chance ... currently charging the damn things so that I can get out shooting!
 

mollyc

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So I bit the bullet today.... bought the GR iii and GR iii X so that I'd have both 28mm and 40mm FOV in my pockets.

The size of these things is very attractive... they really do feel the size of an older Casio point and shoot (if not slimmer). Pretty much the size of an RX100.

When you consider that they are packing an APSC inside it's quite impressive.

I did seriously consider the Sony, Fuji X100V and the Canon GX7, I think that I prefer the menu system, touch interface, USBC charging and the film simulation profiles of the GR.

Their positive film simulation and 'grainy' black and white is quite lovely. I'm hoping that the snap focus feature will provide me with a mechanism to use the camera somewhat like how I shot an older Leica M6 with Sunny 16 and zone focus.

The one immediate 'struggle' and something that may yet be a deal breaker for me..... is that I'm constantly bringing the camera up to my eyes to take a photo!

This will take a LOT of getting used, I'm gonna try it out tomorrow morning at the farmers market and see what I feel after a few hours shooting.

There is a nice optional OVF available for it and I'll see if my dealer has one in stock that I could try and see how if it changes the shooting experience.

Battery life, sucks. It plain sucks! Especially coming from the Sony Z. In the plus column the USBC fast charging works really well and I'm rarely far from a USBC power source so not a deal breaker :)

I'll share some photos when I get a chance ... currently charging the damn things so that I can get out shooting!
what are your thoughts on the ricoh a month and a half in?
 

tomO2013

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Love. Love. Love. Love them!

If you would like I can share some photos. Didn’t want to hog the thread. Let me know if you want some more samples :)
 

mollyc

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Love. Love. Love. Love them!

If you would like I can share some photos. Didn’t want to hog the thread. Let me know if you want some more samples :)
hahaha, it's your thread! so you should post as many as you like! i would love to see some. 🙂
 

tomO2013

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R0000612processed Large.jpeg
R0000570processed Large.jpeg
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I had to automator action reduce these in size to facilitate upload. Originally 20mb jpegs SOOC do not upload. The level of sharpness and detail is quite something in actual print.
 

tomO2013

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R0000455 Large.jpeg

Out of interest to the folks here sharing their photos....

How are you resizing for sharing here (I'm using the automator actions to quickly try to resize a SOOC jpeg from 20mb down to what looks to be the upper file share limit here of 300KB). The resulting shared images don't look particularly great and quite 'mushy'. Wondering how you guy are circumventing the compression/size constraints to retain some semblance of quality :)
 

Citysnaps

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How are you resizing for sharing here (I'm using the automator actions to quickly try to resize a SOOC jpeg from 20mb down to what looks to be the upper file share limit here of 300KB). The resulting shared images don't look particularly great and quite 'mushy'. Wondering how you guy are circumventing the compression/size constraints to retain some semblance of quality :)

I process my photos in Adobe Lightroom. And for web use, usually resize images to around 800 to 1,000 pixels on the longest edge, with a quality of around 80.
 

mollyc

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i export through lr also. i use the same export here and on other sites and they always go soft on this site despite being sharp on others (including instagram).

i have linked from my smugmug account but that’s a lot of work so just deal with slightly fuzzy images here. 🫤
 

Eric

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I process my photos in Adobe Lightroom. And for web use, usually resize images to around 800 to 1,000 pixels on the longest edge, with a quality of around 80.
After I am finished editing in LR and export as a full sized JPG, I then open said JPG up in PS and resize to 1600x(auto) then from PS I choose Save > Export > Save for Web (Legacy), that's the copy I share. 1600 is pretty large but when I'm sharing on Reddit I typically get asked for them and this allows me to give them a usable copy without having to send anything to them. Big enough for personal use but can't really get a large print out of it, it's the happy medium I've settled on over the years.
 

mollyc

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@tomO2013 thank you so much for sharing samples from the Ricoh. It looks like a fun camera and a good FOV. 🙂
 

tomO2013

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@mollyc if you would like some higher res photos or raw files, PM me and I’ll share a drop box link for you.
The lens on both is quite spectacular.
The experience with the Ricoh has made me aware of a few things thought with respect to my Sony A1.

1. I don’t use or enjoy the A1 nearly enough to justify keeping it around.
2. The best of the best technologically does not translate always into a subjectively enjoyable user experience. The A1 simply is/was not a camera that I enjoy taking out. It’s a workhorse only. It lacks ‘soul’ for my tastes.
3. The Ricoh has shown me that I really like nice black and white and straight out of camera jpegs that I don’t have to mess about too much with in Lightroom. Often times I’ll dial in a particular jpeg setting that I like with the intention of getting as much right as possible in camera so that I only have one or two tiny tweaks to do with the camera in post. This workflow works well for me with the Ricoh (and historically with Olympus and Fuji) but not so great with the Sony. I’m not loving the out of camera jpegs.
4. I can’t really justify keeping such an expensive body and lenses when I’m not using them!
 

mollyc

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So my main gear is Nikon; I have a full kit and then some of Nikon gear that I've been using for the past 10+ years; I can't remember when I switched to it; I think maybe 2011.

Late last year I got a Fuji GFX 50s ii and I am head over heels in love with it. The files and DOF are just amazing, and if I could have only one setup for the rest of my life it would be the GFX and the Voigtlander 58mm. It's just fun to use and images are magical to me. That said, I do enough other types of photography that the GFX is not practical for everything; for instance, I shot the state championship for swim for my kids' schools this past weekend and there is no way that I could do that kind of work with the GFX. It's just a different type of camera.

I also shoot film, and over the past couple of years I've accumulated some various film bodies. In collecting film bodies, I've discovered that I actually like different kinds of cameras as well as just taking photos. Until I started shooting film, the camera was just a means to an end, and I didn't really view it as fun or not fun, it was just a tool. My thinking on that has evolved lately.

As I said, I can't give up my Nikon gear, and when I need it, it does an excellent job for me; I can use it without thinking, I get focus well, it's just a workhorse setup; but I've realized it isn't fun like a camera can be. It's also heavy (and the GFX even heavier) and not really any smaller than the dSLR stuff I had before it, and it's sometimes difficult to just throw a camera in my purse just to have "in case." And I will be traveling at least once, perhaps twice, this year via airplane and unable to take my normal giant bag of stuff like I do when we do car trips.

So I've been looking at smaller cameras; more involved than a P&S, but still something easily managed in a purse. What I really want is a Fuji X100V but those are really hard to come by; but I think I won't be happy with something non-Fuji at this point; I've really kind of bought into the Fuji cult with the GFX. After researching the Ricoh a bit, I think it would be satisfactory for me in terms of image quality, but I think it misses the mark on the fun and magic that the Fuji has.

I really appreciate you sharing your experience and images with me, and I hope you share more in our POTD thread!
 
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