ZDP-189
New Member
This forum has all kinds of members, from the idly curious or the new user looking for information on his purchase, to full on evangelical ministers of the church of Ricoh. I came in as the former and I must have been susceptible because of my collecting compact film cameras, because I've gotten really sucked in.
It's not so apparent a process at first, but one day you look back and realise you've become known amongst your friends as 'the Ricoh Guy'. I have a friend who is a bit of a Leicaphile and the obession was becoming a consuming passion so I wrote the passage below which likened the Leica fraternity to various concentratons of tainted Kool Aid, so that he could keep track of his level of indoctrination:
Tap Water. You may respect the brand, but you buy on spec,price point and independent reviews. In other words, you're a rational, unbiased shopper.
Oh Yeah! The Kool Aid is fresh and chilled. You are into a brand. You bought into the system and it'll be hard to switch. You have the flash and an expensive lens or two. You recommend the brand to friends because you believe in your decision and hope they will beat the competition.
Did somebody adulterate the Kool Aid? My lips have gone numb. You have an active membership of a forum or club dedicated to your favourite brand. You buy into the cult status and are willing to pay over the odds for an obscure camera you probably won't use to further your collection or standing. You buy long discontinued lenses or digital cameras because the photos had a different look. You know exactly what specs changed between models and what year they came out.
Momma, I can't feel my legs. It's not a brand or a system, it's a marque You take a superior lens off a body and replace it with a shoddy lens of your favourite brand because you wouldn't want to be seen with a lesser marque. You wage holy wars over a misunderstood specification.
Full on trippin'. You would never actually use your camera. When a customer €200,000 for a camera and lens and has the balls to look through the lens, you usher him from the store and tell everyone you meet for years to come that ":He isn't yet at the right level". Everybody knows everybody else and who has what and hates each other for it. Your cameras are important they are prototypes or one offs made for a well known pro photog who took photos with the camera that won an award. You borrowed money from a family member because the syndicate couldn't cover an acquisition.
Well, I'm not yet at the deepest level, but I am starting to see the world through a rose-filtered GR lens. Today, I went to pick up my GR21 that I lent to a friend but was beginning to miss. On the way back to the car, I stopped in to check out the current prices of a GRII. It was unbelievable. There were GRII's in every window. One store had three of them, a GX100, GX200, a GXR and a bunch of R's and CX's. Every other camera was a Ricoh. It was like I was dreaming. I went in and took my pick of the pack, a very early model VP15100012 and while I was testing it, got chatting with the proprietor about the differences between the models and why Hong Kong was awash with GRDII's. I reached for my GRD but couldn't find it. Ricoh's are very similar and I pulled out a R1, then a R1E (both of which I was carrying to finish the film), then the GR21 then the GRD. Spectators had gathered to see the madman. Counting the GRDII that I got in a full boxed set for $145, I have 5 Ricoh's on me, plus at least another three at home. Even my wife, who's thankfully not to observant and can't tell a GR21 from a GX100 has noticed that there are more than a couple variants sitting about the house.
So come on then, how deep down the rabbit hole have you fallen? What's your story?
It's not so apparent a process at first, but one day you look back and realise you've become known amongst your friends as 'the Ricoh Guy'. I have a friend who is a bit of a Leicaphile and the obession was becoming a consuming passion so I wrote the passage below which likened the Leica fraternity to various concentratons of tainted Kool Aid, so that he could keep track of his level of indoctrination:
Tap Water. You may respect the brand, but you buy on spec,price point and independent reviews. In other words, you're a rational, unbiased shopper.
Oh Yeah! The Kool Aid is fresh and chilled. You are into a brand. You bought into the system and it'll be hard to switch. You have the flash and an expensive lens or two. You recommend the brand to friends because you believe in your decision and hope they will beat the competition.
Did somebody adulterate the Kool Aid? My lips have gone numb. You have an active membership of a forum or club dedicated to your favourite brand. You buy into the cult status and are willing to pay over the odds for an obscure camera you probably won't use to further your collection or standing. You buy long discontinued lenses or digital cameras because the photos had a different look. You know exactly what specs changed between models and what year they came out.
Momma, I can't feel my legs. It's not a brand or a system, it's a marque You take a superior lens off a body and replace it with a shoddy lens of your favourite brand because you wouldn't want to be seen with a lesser marque. You wage holy wars over a misunderstood specification.
Full on trippin'. You would never actually use your camera. When a customer €200,000 for a camera and lens and has the balls to look through the lens, you usher him from the store and tell everyone you meet for years to come that ":He isn't yet at the right level". Everybody knows everybody else and who has what and hates each other for it. Your cameras are important they are prototypes or one offs made for a well known pro photog who took photos with the camera that won an award. You borrowed money from a family member because the syndicate couldn't cover an acquisition.
Well, I'm not yet at the deepest level, but I am starting to see the world through a rose-filtered GR lens. Today, I went to pick up my GR21 that I lent to a friend but was beginning to miss. On the way back to the car, I stopped in to check out the current prices of a GRII. It was unbelievable. There were GRII's in every window. One store had three of them, a GX100, GX200, a GXR and a bunch of R's and CX's. Every other camera was a Ricoh. It was like I was dreaming. I went in and took my pick of the pack, a very early model VP15100012 and while I was testing it, got chatting with the proprietor about the differences between the models and why Hong Kong was awash with GRDII's. I reached for my GRD but couldn't find it. Ricoh's are very similar and I pulled out a R1, then a R1E (both of which I was carrying to finish the film), then the GR21 then the GRD. Spectators had gathered to see the madman. Counting the GRDII that I got in a full boxed set for $145, I have 5 Ricoh's on me, plus at least another three at home. Even my wife, who's thankfully not to observant and can't tell a GR21 from a GX100 has noticed that there are more than a couple variants sitting about the house.
So come on then, how deep down the rabbit hole have you fallen? What's your story?
would love a GXR the quality looks amazing
