What's new
GR User Forum

The spot for all Ricoh GR camera users

Register for free, meet other Ricoh GR users, share your images, help others, have fun!

Tell your friends about us!

Hi (and a first question)

G

Genster

Well-Known Member
Hi,
My name is Genster. I live in the Netherlands and I don’t have a Ricoh (yet).
I take my pictures mostly with my Nikon D90, but that camera is too big for “daily use”.
I can buy a GX100 for 150 euro and I like to know if this is a good camera.
I hope someone can help me out.
 
I have one and I like it a lot. It is capable of taking great street photos. It has a good lens, including just about the widest zoom lens ever on a digital compact. The controls are ideal for an experienced shooter who wants access to things like shutter or aperture priority, full manual control, RAW output etc. When introduced, it was the only one with that feature set. Bear in mind though, that it's a 4 year old camera and back in the day it was still considered a bit noisy and the JPGs a bit over smoothed at standard settings. I make no comment on the price. The value and market price depends on the condition and where it's sold.
 
Thanks! The price is not (very) important, it is just to make the story complete :D
I’m (just) interested in the image quality.
To buy, or not to buy: that is the question :D
 
Hi Genster,
I have been shooting with a GX100 since late 2007 though it now has high milage and so it is semi-retired now! ;)
Lens quality is excellent if you can keep it on ISO 80 or 100 maximum. I would not bother with a higher ISO, in my honest opinion?
So, if you want a low-light camera, this is not the one for you...
The writing speed is also slow if you use RAW...it really is such a personal choice, it is hard for me to advise you!
Did I mention I love my GX100?? :D
So...some help, or no help...that is my question?
Cheers!
Andy
 
Thanks Andy!
I have searched the internet and found a GR Digital III for a pretty good price. Its 200 euro more, but maybe it’s worth it?
Can anybody tell me how good (or bad) the GRD III is?
 
Hi Genster and welcome here! GX100 for 150E sounds very good! Does it come with the EVF? GRD III is faster, much better LCD and more advanced feature set. And of course, its fast lens is a major advantage! On the other hand, GX100 JPEG seems to be less smeary (but much more noisier). If you are a RAW shooter, GRDIII is better choice for you because of much faster RAW writing and the possibility to use RAW in continuous mode.

Buying used GX100 could be a bit risky because there were some reports about dust on sensor or in lens. And most of these reports were from people using the GX100 for some time. I remember much less reports like that from the GX200 users.
 
Hi Genster,
I owned the GX100 some years ago and was quite happy with it, apart from its high ISO performance and sometimes performance at 72mm (stray light -- GX200 is better here). I used it particularly for shots with a lot of sky -- I liked that a lot.
Here are some samples, although not in full size:
- http://www.sapdesignguild.org/resources ... ktop_5.asp
- http://www.sapdesignguild.org/resources ... ktop_6.asp
- http://www.sapdesignguild.org/resources ... ktop_7.asp
Best regards, Gerd
PS: I replaced it with a GX200, which was faster but not really better. Now I have a GXR-S10... (seems that I always have to have the latest model)
 
Wiener":2fxkgcyg said:
Hi Genster,
I have been shooting with a GX100 since late 2007 though it now has high milage and so it is semi-retired now! ;)
Lens quality is excellent if you can keep it on ISO 80 or 100 maximum. I would not bother with a higher ISO, in my honest opinion?
So, if you want a low-light camera, this is not the one for you...
The writing speed is also slow if you use RAW...it really is such a personal choice, it is hard for me to advise you!
Did I mention I love my GX100?? :D
So...some help, or no help...that is my question?
Cheers!
Andy
Click to expand...

True. Ricoh's own program AE mode prioritises low ISO and seems very reluctant to rise above ISO200. It shoots almost everything in medium to low light wide open and at slow shutter speed.
 
odklizec":1qhfxppt said:
Hi Genster and welcome here! GX100 for 150E sounds very good! Does it come with the EVF? GRD III is faster, much better LCD and more advanced feature set. And of course, its fast lens is a major advantage! On the other hand, GX100 JPEG seems to be less smeary (but much more noisier). If you are a RAW shooter, GRDIII is better choice for you because of much faster RAW writing and the possibility to use RAW in continuous mode.

Buying used GX100 could be a bit risky because there were some reports about dust on sensor or in lens. And most of these reports were from people using the GX100 for some time. I remember much less reports like that from the GX200 users.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your response!
I also can buy a GX100 with EVF for 200 euro, and if the EVF is appropriate for the GRDIII I can buy both :D
Does anybody know?
 
@ Gerd and Andy: Thanks for your response!
I’m thinking, I’m thinking…I’m thinking.
My brains are hurting :lol:
To bee continueed...
 
hello genster ... this is a most pleasant forum, i'm sure you will be happy here :)

i am something of a Ricoh novice but being that i have had so much enjoyment from my GRD i can say that i am soon to be looking to add another Ricoh to my pocket, no matter what the model i feel it will do you only good to purchase a Ricoh, as you can see from the many excellent results posted on this forum :)
 
Hello,
unfortunately, the EVF is not compatible with the GR Digital III, but then again, the screen is pretty good (and the EVF is supposed to have a rather low resolution, but then again, I have not even seen the EVF in real life, so do not take my word for it).
You can however use external optical viewfinders (I would not recommend the Ricoh GV-2 though if you are wearing glasses, although the view through it is very nice). A lot of people on the net seem to use the Voigtländer 28mm finder depicted in this photo:
3206373313_ba80390c75_m.jpg


About the GR Digital III: it is the best compact camera in my eyes. Really. Considering how the lens performs and how good the handling is, I really cannot say otherwise.
I have also tried other compacts like the Canon G series (G11 which was the most recent model at that time), but I found the handling to be a bit clumsy. The lens is also a bit slower at f/2.8, but it comes with shake reduction and has 5x zoom if you need that.
The Panasonic LX/Leica D-Lux series also fit into the segment of high quality compacts, but I was disappointed by the lens as it has to be electronically corrected for distortion...The buttons are also a little bit on the small-ish side.
I have not tried the Olympus XZ-1 yet, but it seems like lens-wise it really is a serious concurrent to the GR Digital III...


So if you are looking for a really good lens in a very well-built compact camera (all magnesium-alloy body), I guess, the GR Digital III is a good choice (however, lens is a fixed focal one at 28mm equivalent, so if you really need a zoom, this is not the right camera for you). No distortion (except of in macro mode), very good corner-to-corner sharpness and quite resistant to flare and ghosting.
The sensor also delivers quite fine results (you have to shoot raw to get the best results, however), but occasionally you will get ugly streaks at ISO 800 and more often at 1600 because of banding issues.

I also love how you can customize nearly every aspect of the camera (like switching the green power button light off or assigning functions to buttons etc).

Here are some photos I made with the camera (all are processed raw files):
http://ricohforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=5960
http://ricohforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=5961
haha, what a shameless self-promotion

Full size and out-of-camera JPEGs/RAWs on demand
 
Thanks!
My eyes have been now aimed at te GRDIII :D

GR_artist":3pc609h3 said:
Hello,
unfortunately, the EVF is not compatible with the GR Digital III, but then again, the screen is pretty good (and the EVF is supposed to have a rather low resolution, but then again, I have not even seen the EVF in real life, so do not take my word for it).
You can however use external optical viewfinders (I would not recommend the Ricoh GV-2 though if you are wearing glasses, although the view through it is very nice). A lot of people on the net seem to use the Voigtländer 28mm finder depicted in this photo:
3206373313_ba80390c75_m.jpg


About the GR Digital III: it is the best compact camera in my eyes. Really. Considering how the lens performs and how good the handling is, I really cannot say otherwise.
I have also tried other compacts like the Canon G series (G11 which was the most recent model at that time), but I found the handling to be a bit clumsy. The lens is also a bit slower at f/2.8, but it comes with shake reduction and has 5x zoom if you need that.
The Panasonic LX/Leica D-Lux series also fit into the segment of high quality compacts, but I was disappointed by the lens as it has to be electronically corrected for distortion...The buttons are also a little bit on the small-ish side.
I have not tried the Olympus XZ-1 yet, but it seems like lens-wise it really is a serious concurrent to the GR Digital III...


So if you are looking for a really good lens in a very well-built compact camera (all magnesium-alloy body), I guess, the GR Digital III is a good choice (however, lens is a fixed focal one at 28mm equivalent, so if you really need a zoom, this is not the right camera for you). No distortion (except of in macro mode), very good corner-to-corner sharpness and quite resistant to flare and ghosting.
The sensor also delivers quite fine results (you have to shoot raw to get the best results, however), but occasionally you will get ugly streaks at ISO 800 and more often at 1600 because of banding issues.

I also love how you can customize nearly every aspect of the camera (like switching the green power button light off or assigning functions to buttons etc).

Here are some photos I made with the camera (all are processed raw files):
http://ricohforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=5960
http://ricohforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=5961
haha, what a shameless self-promotion

Full size and out-of-camera JPEGs/RAWs on demand
Click to expand...
 
Khortal":3q43hzwe said:
hello genster ... this is a most pleasant forum, i'm sure you will be happy here :)

i am something of a Ricoh novice but being that i have had so much enjoyment from my GRD i can say that i am soon to be looking to add another Ricoh to my pocket, no matter what the model i feel it will do you only good to purchase a Ricoh, as you can see from the many excellent results posted on this forum :)
Click to expand...

Thanks! So far, i really like this forum indeed :D
 
I should warn you, though: if you buy that camera, you should also buy a screen cover of some kind. The screen surface seems to be a little bit sensitive.
 
How about the GXR with a12 28mm?
It’s a different price (750 euro instead of 300), but it looks a pretty good camera.
If I’m right, the sensor size is bigger (aps-c size) and i have read some good things about the GXR and the 28mm lens.
I think it even can compete with de Fuji Finepix x100 :D
 
You are welcome!

Well, I cannot say anything about the GXR except of that the handling and build quality is very similar to the GR Digital III. In fact, the control layout is nearly the same. The 28 mm module is of course a lot better in low light, but I think the optical quality of the GR Digital lens is still a little bit better from what information I can derive from the reviews posted below, especially the distortion part (if the GR Digital has distortion, it is so abysmally minimal that it is barely noticeable).

See these reviews for more info:
http://www.stevehuffphoto.com/2010/12/0 ... m-modules/
http://www.stevehuffphoto.com/2011/01/2 ... ii-review/
 
Thanks for your response!
I’m trying to find out which camera makes the best photo’s (the GDRIII or the GXR A12 28mm), but is still haven’t found the answer :(
The opinions of the users have been apparently divided.
It seems that the GRDIII have a better lens, but the GXR is better at high ISO… :?
 
There is no doubt that the GXR A12 produces technically better photos. The difference made by the large sensor is quite apparent even under good light. And both A12 modules really shine under the low light. ISO3200 from the A12 is actually better than ISO200-400 from GRD. Much less color noise and noise reduction, which means much more preserved details. In my opinion, the only (but important) GRDIII advantage is smaller body size. OK, another advantage could be f1.9 with DOF like f4/f5.6 from A12 28. This means one needs much smaller ISO to be able to capture a group of people where all of them will be reasonable sharp. You can of course use f2.5 with A12 28mm. The problem is that due to the smaller DOF, it's much harder to take a sharp shot of group of people where none of them is in the same area of sharpness. While with GRDIII you need f1.9 and ISO400, with A12 28mm and f4/f5.6 you may quickly run out of the available ISO values ;) But most of the time (if shooting in reasonably lit rooms) it's not really a problem.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top