No more love for the GRD IV?

[Spode]

Spring is finally here

 

[Spode]

Tom, I agree that the GR is probably going to be fantastic. For those comfortable or obsessed with the 28mm FOV, this WILL be the ultimate camera. Don, I agree with you too ... I am in no hurry to give up my IV. At F2.8, the GR will produce much shallower DOF than the IV ... mimicking a larger camera which is great for portraits ... but not always good for street.

But this is all academic! I ordered a GR based on a windfall IV warranty refund. So I'll get to test all these hypotheses soon.

 

[Roni G]

GRD IV rocks!

 

[Tom Caldwell]

The GRDIV has arrived. I am assured that the lcd screens are "ok" now. Anyone have any feedback on the longevity of the unprotected lcd coating the GRDIV? I would really like to be able to use the "IV" with confidence and no stick-on covering.

Coming from Pentax, I had the impression that the screen of my brand new GRD 4 could be way more easily scratched than, for example, my Pentax Q. Especially knowing that I would put the GRD in pockets pretty often.

So I bought a cheap GGS thin rigid glass and it does the job

Nick

I bought a glass cover myself, but when I was taking it out of the protective shipping packet I unfortunately flexed it a little (my fault) and I found that whilst they will probably take a reasonably firm, not hard pointed object, knock they are quite sensitive to flexing. Obviously once properly fitted they are unlikely to be flexed except perhaps if ever removed. But those glass shards I saw would soon make a mess of any lcd covering underneath. Worried me a bit. I think it would last forever in normal use once fitted, the glass even might be more resistant to scratching than the polycarbonate ones. Just be careful if you ever remove it.

Tom

 

[Tom Caldwell]

Tom,

I took the Accmaxx cover off my GRD4 six months ago as it was trapping specks of dust behind it and annoying me - so far so good. A top tip is turn-up the brightness of the GRD4 screen to max to really see what is going on and carry a spare battery.

Richard

Richard

I found I had a spare Accmaxx cover in a drawer that I had bought to fit on my GRDIII, therefore excess-caution won in the end. It is interesting that dust can get under it. The only comments I have on my Accmaxx screens is that they are generally problem free, they are hard-surfaced and seem scuff-free and the way they are cut gives what appears like a professional-type restrained visual "frame" on th eedge of the cover. The only problem I have had was one of my camera screens became hot and a bit of sideways pressure in a case caused it to slip alignment due to partial glue release. I worked it back into proper position whilst still "hot" and have had no further trouble.

Also the Accmaxx screen obviously protrudes just a little, but that cannot be helped even though it might be nicer flush-fitted to the back of the camera. The GR comes with some sort of hard cover in place. The NEX6 had a flush hard clear surface over the whole back surface area of their tilt screen as much as Samsung and Canon have always done something similar. About time Ricoh - but in their defence Sony must have originally thought that their anti-reflective lcd coatings were robust-enough, until the "dawning" ....

Getting dust under the screen? I wonder how? Perhaps the glue is not 100% in contact around the edge? Even on my "brand-newy" GRDIV almost as soon as the packing clear cover was removed the dust was already settling (darned stuff is everywhere!) and so I blew it off pretty seriously with a little air-compressor blower as I was not wishing to whisk it with even the cleanest cloth. So maybe some micro specks still make it under there even in the best managed situations. So I imagine that this might be the problem rather than some sort of insidious dust-leaking aperture in the construction.

By comparison I have the JJC Hood with side screens on the GRDIII. It has an inner glass cover and the hood can be clipped off and reversed or simply not used. It seems the ideal solution to bright light washing-out the lcd. Unfortunately the GRDIII had a good life with an unprotected lcd until the lcd surface crazed. Mine was #00006 in the Australian delivery batch so I was certainly an early cab off the rank with that one. But by the time the distributor kindly replaced the lcd for me I was up to my hocks in GXR-M-love and I have hardly used the light-baffle equipped version to judge its effectiveness.

Nothing like the present - bright sunshine today in autumny Australia - probably only 20C maximum, what can you expect with winter coming on?

Yes the side baffles do help "a bit" - they are certainly not a complete answer and it is a toss up if the extra bulk of the contraption on the back of the camera is worth the benefit given. Certainly when "bulkier" makes it used less often and you have not previously noticed whether the three-sided light screen has been effective or otherwise. Maybe if I turned up the lcd brightness more - as you reasonably suggested?

Certainly the nice svelte little GRDIV seems more appealing to grab and take on a saunter than the more porky looking GRDIII with it's contraption piggy-backed.

Tom

 

[Tom Caldwell]

It is testament to the Grd4 that there is no Grd5. Ricoh knows as we do that it's difficult to improve upon perfection. I will get a GR later in the Summer but would never sell the GRD4.

I hope the GR comes in White.......

Don

One of the things I have always liked about Ricoh is that they seem intent on making the very best camera of its type that they can make at the time of manufacture. You don't ever get the idea that they are holding back a feature or two so that they can include it as something that will sell the next model. Surely they can always brush up what they have made and usually release this as their makeover next model whilst they are working on the very next substantial demonstration of their technical capability.

The GRDIII was very good and I thought that there was little needed to improve it. The GRDIV proved that this could be surpassed. Therefore I agree that the GRDIV must always be seen as the pinnacle of its genre, the lordly last exposition of just how sophisticated the point'n'shoot could be made and certainly cocking the snoot at the mass-market, dumbed down efforts of most of the opposition. Years from now the GRDIII/IV will be held up as examples of just what could be done if a manufacturer really tried to show off its competence rather than just sell-cameras. Even to give us further upgrades to firmware beyond bug-fixes is to form admiration for the Ricoh-culture.

Things move on and the Ricoh world and its watchers are ready for the GR already. But the GRDIII/IV are masterpieces and it is not really to do with sensors, best IQ, high ISO performance, or any other populist method of camera-comparison - more to do with the best overall package that is in harmony with its dedicated user.

To know this is to understand. Not to know this is just to "buy cameras".

Tom