Ricoh grd advices

[pappa]

Hi all

I'm going to buy my first grd and i need some comparison/advice between the grd, grd ii, grd iii.
my interest is to shot in jpg with the built in camera b&w conversion.
So which are the differences between the first version, second and third of the Ricoh gr?

Thanks

Inviato dal mio GT-I9100 con Tapatalk 2

 

[Blow-in]

GRD - 8 mega pixel sensor, F2.4 lens, 2.5 inch 210k pixel screen, 'MY' settings only via the menu - best adjust button of all the GRDs except it is prone to failure!

GRD2 - 10 mega pixel sensor, same lens as GRD, 2.7 inch 230k pixel screen, MY1 & 2 available on the shooting knob

GRD3 - 10 mega pixel sensor, new F1.9 lens, 3.0 inch 920k pixel screen, MY3 + shutter priority added

I had a GRD2 but sold it when I bought a GRD4 and I was simply not using the camera...however, I did keep my GRD.

So I'd avoid the GRD2 - not a bad camera at all but the least respected in the GRD series as the sensor is not the best.

The GRD is often praised for 'film like' B&W. Its draw backs are lack of RAW writing speeds (shouldn't bother you as a jpg shooter), a rather poor screen by modern standards and the need to change 'MY' settings via the menu (and indeed switch the camera off & on to change
start-up 'MY'). If you are interested in adapter lenses, there is a 21 mm & 40 mm option for the GRD (& GRD2).

The GRD3 seems to be loved by everyone who has one and good deals are available as it has been replaced by the GRD4. The only adapter lens is the 21 mm (GW-2) and this tends to cost more than the GRD adapters however you can also use the DW-6 for 22 mm which is much cheaper.

Hope this is of some help. If you do decide to go for a GRD, don't discount the limited Katsuya Terada version. Despite only 1000 being made, the finish was never popular so they are often cheaper than a black version and some have had light use.

Richard

PS - whatever you do I think you will like the GRD series

 

[pappa]

Thanks for the reply.

What impressed me is the nice quality of the black and white conversion developped by ricoh that in my opinion seems equal or even better that, for example, a silver efex pro 2 conversion, besides the fact that the shoot is ready to be printed, without spend time in post production.
I think this is one of the main reasons that i prefer to shoot in jpeg, also because i already have and i'll buy cameras that are capable to capture raw files.
i don't think the 'MY' settings issue on the grd1 could be a real problem for me because i usually setup the camera before shooting and i make little adjustment in base of the light (the camera is set to snap focus, almost high iso and aperture priority or manual exposure with shutter speed adjuistment)
I think i'll buy the gv-1 so the display quality shouldn't matter.
As i figured the jpegs that comes out from grd1 and grd3 aren't one the best and one the worst, but only different, right?
So i could buy the gr1 first, that is cheaper, try the ricoh style and in the future consider the grd3 or 4 as an addition, not as a replacement, what do you think?

(ah sorry for my bad english)

Thanks

 

[Blow-in]

Hopefully you will benefit from a few more opinions. Yes, the GRD & GRD3 outputs are different and which one you prefer is a personal thing. If you want to use high ISO, I think the GRD3 has the edge (good for ISO 800 - I'd not push the GRD above 400 despite the film like grain). The GRD3 also has more 'bells & whistles' in the menu which can be fun to play with.

Richard

 

[Schaki]

GRD - 8 mega pixel sensor, F2.4 lens, 2.5 inch 210k pixel screen, 'MY' settings only via the menu - best adjust button of all the GRDs except it is prone to failure!
GRD2 - 10 mega pixel sensor, same lens as GRD, 2.7 inch 230k pixel screen, MY1 & 2 available on the shooting knob

The Adj-wheel freezings is easy to get rid off. Just spray in a very few drops carefully with Deoxit D5 below the wheel.
The GRD2 have rather slow focus because the Phase Detection sensors from the GRDI had been removed. I didn't like the II, even my old Coolpix 700 2mp camera could lock focus faster and the Adj-lever is not bad but still slightly awkward after having got used to the real deal - The Adj-wheel. Imo Ricoh should make an attempt to bring it back again when it is time for GRDV.

Other nice Ricohs are the Ricoh Caplio GX8 which have the same sensor as GRDI and image quality which seems to remind about the GRDI. The zoom at the wide end, 28mm, is almost as fast as for the GRD - f2.5. But in reality that's not going to make difference worth to talk about. It actually focuses marginally faster than the GRDI. The lens have marginally more Ca/Pf than the GRD but is as the GRDI sharp at the widest aperture.

The GX100 is also ok. The wide end of the zoom is 24mm. But it is definitely not quite the good jpeg camera which many have claimed it to be. Too much sharpening artifacts even with the sharpness setting swung fully to the left, -2. I'm a jpeg shooter but found raw to be a near must with the GX100. Finally got rid of it... The raw-writing speed is 4 secs or something like that as shortest and not buffered. Also the AF croaks almost like a magpie when it focuses which made a cat look at the camera when I tried to get a natural picture of it. Finally after a bit of patience I got the picture slightly blurry as the light not was good and I didn't want to use the IS during my first shooting with it. I think that I still had the sharpness set to normal at the time.
Some moe posts about that in an other trhead on Dpreview. http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/thread/3110418
With GRDI and GX8 there is very little need for raw because the Nr is low which preserve details in the images and Raw is not even available in GX8.

 

[pappa]

Thanks Schaki for your reply, i think i'll go for a grd1 or a gx8

 

[pappa]

At the end i've buy a grd1, for following reasons:

1) i usually shot in daylight, anyway i love grain produced at till iso 800, in b&w.
2) no need to convert from color (raw) to b&w, at the pc...i work with a pc and i prefer to not use it in the spare time.
3) save money is a good thing, in this period for me.

Obviously when i'll need more iso capabilities and more raw writing speed, i'll buy a grd4