Hi everyone,
I am a hobbyist photographer from the North East of England. I started enjoying photography when I went to uni and I just wanted to capture all my new experiences. I had a small compact with me at all times. I then wanted to experiment with more manual settings and lenses so I purchased a couple of DSLRs. I had a great time learning new things and playing around with strobes, bokeh and a bit of video. But I found myself taking fewer and fewer photos since the cameras were so large. Even when I did bother to carry one out with me, it was so much hassle to take it out of my bag to take a quick snap.
I borrowed old 35mm compacts from friends so that I could take more snaps on the go. I love shooting with film. The film colour, the grain, the mistakes, the light leaks, waiting for the prints to be developed. So much excitement! But it became too expensive to shoot everyday in film.
I always have my iPhone with me which, for a mobile device can take very impressive photos and the sharing and editing capabilities are great. It soon became my camera of choice (from the collection I had) but ultimately I missed the manual control offered by the SLRs.
Which brings me to why I am here!
I stumbled upon this forum after asking Google how I can check the shutter count on a GRD. I purchased a GRD i a few months ago from eBay and then a GRD iv very recently, again from eBay.
I chose Ricoh for a large number of reasons:
• A well earned reputation.
• Emphasis on function, opposed to (gimmicky) features.
• Really lovely image quality. The out of camera JPGs are stunning.
• Build quality and looks.
• Cameras that are built for photographers.
I enjoy shooting at a fixed focal length. I see it as one less thing to worry about. I'm often shooting on the street and so I'm on my feet anyway. The 35mm compacts were always primes so I'm used to moving myself into position.
Still it was something that I was unsure about and so I just waded in with the GRD i. I instantly fell in love with it. The more I used it the more I realised it's (minor) pitfalls. For example how you have to cycle through all the flash modes if you want to force flash on. So I just purchased a secondhand GRD iv which is lovely but it all seems a little over complicated in comparison to the GRD i. We'll see how it goes, but I'm glad that I still have the GRD i
All in all, I'm having the best fun shooting with the Ricoh GRD's. I wish I had found them sooner!
I have a tumblr blog on which you can see a selection my photos.
I would say my shooting style is a mix of street photography and still life. I like good lines and angles with the odd human thrown in for context.
http://an8x.tumblr.com
Looking forward to some good discussions here!
I am a hobbyist photographer from the North East of England. I started enjoying photography when I went to uni and I just wanted to capture all my new experiences. I had a small compact with me at all times. I then wanted to experiment with more manual settings and lenses so I purchased a couple of DSLRs. I had a great time learning new things and playing around with strobes, bokeh and a bit of video. But I found myself taking fewer and fewer photos since the cameras were so large. Even when I did bother to carry one out with me, it was so much hassle to take it out of my bag to take a quick snap.
I borrowed old 35mm compacts from friends so that I could take more snaps on the go. I love shooting with film. The film colour, the grain, the mistakes, the light leaks, waiting for the prints to be developed. So much excitement! But it became too expensive to shoot everyday in film.
I always have my iPhone with me which, for a mobile device can take very impressive photos and the sharing and editing capabilities are great. It soon became my camera of choice (from the collection I had) but ultimately I missed the manual control offered by the SLRs.
Which brings me to why I am here!
I stumbled upon this forum after asking Google how I can check the shutter count on a GRD. I purchased a GRD i a few months ago from eBay and then a GRD iv very recently, again from eBay.
I chose Ricoh for a large number of reasons:
• A well earned reputation.
• Emphasis on function, opposed to (gimmicky) features.
• Really lovely image quality. The out of camera JPGs are stunning.
• Build quality and looks.
• Cameras that are built for photographers.
I enjoy shooting at a fixed focal length. I see it as one less thing to worry about. I'm often shooting on the street and so I'm on my feet anyway. The 35mm compacts were always primes so I'm used to moving myself into position.
Still it was something that I was unsure about and so I just waded in with the GRD i. I instantly fell in love with it. The more I used it the more I realised it's (minor) pitfalls. For example how you have to cycle through all the flash modes if you want to force flash on. So I just purchased a secondhand GRD iv which is lovely but it all seems a little over complicated in comparison to the GRD i. We'll see how it goes, but I'm glad that I still have the GRD i
All in all, I'm having the best fun shooting with the Ricoh GRD's. I wish I had found them sooner!
I have a tumblr blog on which you can see a selection my photos.
I would say my shooting style is a mix of street photography and still life. I like good lines and angles with the odd human thrown in for context.
http://an8x.tumblr.com
Looking forward to some good discussions here!
