New GX200 user over here...

[paulyrichard]

I've been out of the photography loop for some 8 or 9 years now, but have decided upon buyin' a new digital camera. I used to own a canon EOS5 film camera years ago but then sold it after many years of usin' it, and now I guess you can say i've had a long break from photography.
Anyway, I've had my new GX200 for jus' over two weeks now and i'm lovin' it. The main things I like about it is the 24 - 72mm lens, different picture aspects, manual operation and of course RAW, of which i'm still a newbie at shootin' and editin'.
This camera has had some bad press about its 12 megapixels and noise, but this does not bother me in the slightest, I feel that at iso 400 and 800 it is perfectly acceptable for me, after all doesn't noise = grain? The reason I say this is 'cos I mainly shoot B&W and this sort of effect is quite acceptable, unless somethin' really colourful comes along for me to shoot.
After much researchin', i'm now lookin' at investin' in the HP 8750 A3 printer.

By the way, does anyone regard the camera editin' software that comes with the camera as bein' ideal? Otherwise i'm lookin' at Elements 6 by Adobe.

 

[odklizec]

Hi paulyrichard and welcome here! GX200 is definitely great camera, despite the higher noise. I'm personally not bothered by noise, but I wish Ricoh would go the same way as Panasonic with LX3. We really don't need more MP. 10MP is more than enough.

As for your question regarding the photo editing software, I would suggest you to try Silkypix. It's a Japanese program so the user interface is somehow "different". But once you get into it, it provides great results. I tried several programs, but I found the Silkypix best for my needs. So I'm really happy the Shortcutinc sponsors our monthly photo contests with free copies of Silkypix.

 

[paulyrichard]

Thanks Odklizec.

Yeah, I think 12 megapixels is 'overkill', but I don't mind. If you shoot in 1:1 aspect it lowers to 9 megapixels. I absolutely love this aspect, and always find myself usin' it.

I did download the free trial for Silkypix last night. So i'm tryin' it out. Thanks.

 

[odklizec]

Yes, if you shot in 1:1 it's 9MP and 3:2 mode gave 10MP. However, the pixel density is still the same! These 3:2 and 1:1 modes are just crops from 12MP sensor, so the number of pixels per square cm is still the same and this makes the result noisier. But yes, in BW mode it doesn't matter and it's not a big problem even in color mode. GRDI is the same or even noisier at the same ISO and people still like the photos from this camera, just because the noise gave them a very special look

Enjoy the Silkypix! Don't hesitate to ask if you need some help with it. BTW, there is a very good (and incredibly cheap) ebook about Silkypix! See this thread...
http://ricohforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=48&t=735

 

[paulyrichard]

Thanks for the info. Appreciate it.

I mostly shoot 'street', 'landscape' and 'abstract' B&W images at iso 64 and 100. There will be a time though, when i'll start to use the higher iso's and the noise they produce for these.
I don't like to mess around with my images too much 'cos I believe the image should do the talkin' and not the manipulation. I like to make sure I can capture the image in camera as it should be, with little post editin' needed. Don't get me wrong, editin' an image is great, providin' you use it and not abuse it.
Havin' said that though I do love the editin' potential that we have with digital photography, without havin' to resort to a darkroom or highstreet processin'.