Hello from Sweden,
Some might argue I don't actually use a Ricoh as the camera I own is labelled a "Sea & Sea DX-2G", however, as some may know this is a rebranded Ricoh GX200 and thus I consider myself part of the Ricoh photographers' family. Before buying into this camera (an underwater camera and housing is quite an investment), I researched different cameras quite intensely. Everything from SLRs to far simpler compacts. I must say the Ricoh instantly felt "just right". The controls are perfect and make it wonderfully intuitive to use for anyone the least bit interested in taking control over the camera rather than relying on the green auto mode ("the idiot mode", as a photography teacher once labelled it...). IQ is also very, very good at low ISO. You could argue that some other compacts perform better at high ISO but for someone who shoots either underwater (where I use strobes and thus can rely on low ISO) or landscapes (where a tripod is much better than high ISO even if you use a D3), that doesn't really matter. I've tried ISO 400 and above but for my own shooting style, I never need to go above ISO 100. Thank god!
I also use an SLR and recently decided to get rid of an overly heavy and expensive Nikon kit to get a Pentax K-7 with some of the wonderful DA Limited primes they make. This camera feels like a "big brother" to the Ricoh, er, Sea & Sea... Same clever design and attention to detail in the control layout. However, I must say that my all-time favourite camera probably is the GX200, er, DX-2G... If the next generation (GX300 I presume) feature a further improved sensor but the same control layout I would seriously consider giving up SLRs altogether - it really is that nice and fun to use!
This is turning into quite the introduction - sorry for that - but I would like to end up by saying I just returned from a two week trip to Malta where I used the Ricoh/Sea & Sea during ten days of diving. As I assume there's not much in the way of underwater photography on this forum, here's a few examples of what the little fella managed there:
A moray eel we found at 30m depth.
"Feeding frenzy" at a dive site where the usually treat the fish to bread. Creates some weird behaviour such as fish actually waiting for divers to go down so they'll get food...
My buddy (and wife) taking a quick break on the deck of a wreck at 33m depth. Not even the strobes could light this shot, but thankfully RAW allowed me to get the WB somewhat right - another great thing about the GX200!
Barracudas slowly circling the top decks of the huge wreck Um El Faroud as we're coming up from having visited the propeller.
Inside the Um El Faroud.
A nudibranch showing off the awesome macro capabilities of the GX200. It's about 1.5 centimeters long...
Coming out of a cave, I saw our guide in silhoutte and took this shot. Used the strobes to put some light to the cave wall nearby.
And finally here's what the complete setup looks like. Will set you back appr. $2500 but well worth it! This was my first trip and I did not have much time to learn the gear beforehand but I am still very happy with the results I managed and hopefully it will only go up from here.
Well... That's a long introduction made longer by the inclusion of lots of photos. Hopefully some will find them interesting and I look forward to getting lots of knowledge and inspiration from the forum.
Thomas
Some might argue I don't actually use a Ricoh as the camera I own is labelled a "Sea & Sea DX-2G", however, as some may know this is a rebranded Ricoh GX200 and thus I consider myself part of the Ricoh photographers' family. Before buying into this camera (an underwater camera and housing is quite an investment), I researched different cameras quite intensely. Everything from SLRs to far simpler compacts. I must say the Ricoh instantly felt "just right". The controls are perfect and make it wonderfully intuitive to use for anyone the least bit interested in taking control over the camera rather than relying on the green auto mode ("the idiot mode", as a photography teacher once labelled it...). IQ is also very, very good at low ISO. You could argue that some other compacts perform better at high ISO but for someone who shoots either underwater (where I use strobes and thus can rely on low ISO) or landscapes (where a tripod is much better than high ISO even if you use a D3), that doesn't really matter. I've tried ISO 400 and above but for my own shooting style, I never need to go above ISO 100. Thank god!
I also use an SLR and recently decided to get rid of an overly heavy and expensive Nikon kit to get a Pentax K-7 with some of the wonderful DA Limited primes they make. This camera feels like a "big brother" to the Ricoh, er, Sea & Sea... Same clever design and attention to detail in the control layout. However, I must say that my all-time favourite camera probably is the GX200, er, DX-2G... If the next generation (GX300 I presume) feature a further improved sensor but the same control layout I would seriously consider giving up SLRs altogether - it really is that nice and fun to use!
This is turning into quite the introduction - sorry for that - but I would like to end up by saying I just returned from a two week trip to Malta where I used the Ricoh/Sea & Sea during ten days of diving. As I assume there's not much in the way of underwater photography on this forum, here's a few examples of what the little fella managed there:
A moray eel we found at 30m depth.
"Feeding frenzy" at a dive site where the usually treat the fish to bread. Creates some weird behaviour such as fish actually waiting for divers to go down so they'll get food...
My buddy (and wife) taking a quick break on the deck of a wreck at 33m depth. Not even the strobes could light this shot, but thankfully RAW allowed me to get the WB somewhat right - another great thing about the GX200!
Barracudas slowly circling the top decks of the huge wreck Um El Faroud as we're coming up from having visited the propeller.
Inside the Um El Faroud.
A nudibranch showing off the awesome macro capabilities of the GX200. It's about 1.5 centimeters long...
Coming out of a cave, I saw our guide in silhoutte and took this shot. Used the strobes to put some light to the cave wall nearby.
And finally here's what the complete setup looks like. Will set you back appr. $2500 but well worth it! This was my first trip and I did not have much time to learn the gear beforehand but I am still very happy with the results I managed and hopefully it will only go up from here.
Well... That's a long introduction made longer by the inclusion of lots of photos. Hopefully some will find them interesting and I look forward to getting lots of knowledge and inspiration from the forum.
Thomas
