A walk with an old friend
Ricoh has a long history with GR cameras. First, the five analog GR film cameras, and later on they developed the first GR Digital cameras, known as “GR Digital”, with a 7.4 x 5.5 mm small sensor. There were four different models of GR Digital.
The Ricoh GR, the first GR with an APS-C-sized sensor came out in 2013, followed by the Ricoh GR II, and the Ricoh GR III (28mm) and GR III-X (40mm). The standard lens for the GR has always been 28mm so the 40mm is a treat to a lot of photographers.
The camera I own is the Ricoh GR from 2013, the first one with an APS-C sensor and that’s the one I am referring to in this post.
Out and About
A few weeks ago I took the GR and the Fujifilm X100V with me to take some photos on the streets of my hometown. Normally I only take one camera to simplify things. I had to take my X100V too because I can't help myself and just can't leave her behind while I'm taking pictures. This time I wanted to do some street photography and see if the GR would help me get better photos being unobtrusive as she is.
During my walk, I took some pictures of people in the streets with the GR set to snap focus (Zone-focus, Range-focus, whatever you like). It worked very well. This is what she's made for. When I saw the sun and the clouds over the lake, and the beautiful lighting, I took some photos with the GR and then quickly changed to the X100V and took some more.
Shot with the GR
When I walked through the city streets I saw a little miniature skeleton hanging in a shop window and tried to take a picture of it with the GR. That didn't work too well. I couldn't get close enough and once I backed up and had it in focus the composition just didn't work. [Edit: I totally forgot about the Macro mode of the GR otherwise it would have been no problem at all.] I put the GR back into my pocket and grabbed the X100V hanging from my side. Aaah! This is what I mean. I could get very close and compose the image as I had it in mind. The view through the X100V's viewfinder made me comfortable and also let me focus more on my subject somehow.
Shot with the X100V
Coming home that afternoon and looking at the images, shot with both cameras, a few things became clear: The Ricoh GR’s dynamic range is pretty poor and it’s not the best at low light photography. There’s a lot of grain at higher ISO’s. We’re talking about a 16mp sensor from 2013 so that is to be expected I guess. The pictures I took at the lake worked fine with both cameras. The quality of the X100V was a lot better due to the modern sensor and bigger dynamic range. In the black and white versions I made (the X100V shot sits on Instagram) it is not directly visible but looking at the RAW files it is obvious the Fujifilm wins. And so it should considering its age and price tag.
Where the Ricoh GR shines is on the street when photographing people. They just don’t notice it. The photo below was shot “from the hip”, or actually belly, and I am pretty happy with it. I love the interaction between the men. This image doesn’t work in black and white though, so here’s the color version.
Shot with the Ricoh GR
I loved taking the GR out again, was a bit disappointed by the dynamic range, but all n’ all a great little camera. You can slip it into your jeans pocket. It’s that tiny, try that with the X100V, it just won’t work. If I had to choose one camera to live with on a desert island it would not be the GR though. I would take the X100V anytime. Remember, there are no “streets” on that island! 😁
