Category: Cameras
Ricoh GR-D II
The new GR Digital II was announced yesterday, finally replacing the two year-old GRD. Not much different here — which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Ricoh claims that a new processing engine has “dramatically reduced noise” but every camera maker says that. I’m doubly skeptical since they jammed in an extra 2 megapixels, which can’t help noise. Not that I care too much about noise levels anyway — the original GRD had a very unique visual signature at high ISOs, especially in B+W. If anything, I’m worried that the noise reduction will be too severe (like certain Panasonic compacts); thankfully you can switch the NR off.
The decreased RAW write times are nice, from 11 (!) seconds to around 3. Apparently there’s also a one-shot buffer so that a second RAW image can be taken right after the first. That’s a feature I wish my GX100 had. The in-camera stabilization included in the GX-100 is absent.
The other additions are a 1:1 mode (with RAW, not just JPG like the GX100) and a new 40mm-equivalent conversion lens. The conversion lens could be interesting if it doesn’t add too much bulk, especially because 40mm is closer to my preferred focal length. I’ll be waiting to see some results once the camera makes its way into users’ hands. As much as I’ve enjoyed the GX-100, the results have been a bit soft (perhaps it’s unfair to compare it to my rangefinder/lenses, but still).
That Sigma DP-1 is still out there in vaporland, too. I’m really hoping that when (if?) it gets released the camera proves that there’s a viable market for larger sensors in a compact camera. Maybe more camera makers can look up from the DSLR dogfight long enough to crank one out.
A Leica Kiss
The New Yorker takes a look at the Leica mystique. I think that using a Leica (I’m fortunate enough to have come by an M4 through fortunate circumstance) is very tightly wedded to the romance of photography. In that light, the article’s description of the cloth shutter’s whisper as a “kiss” makes absolute sense.
I’ve been using a Ricoh GX-100 for just over a month now, and in some ways it represents the sort of camera Leica should be making — small, silent, with a premium placed on quick operation. Even then, however, it cannot compare to my M4 in terms of “seeing” the moment that I want to capture. The article is right to wax poetic about the Leica viewfinder. Everyone who has looked through the viewfinder of my M4 (or even my Bessa) always remarks on how bright it is in contrast to your standard dim (d)SLR finder. The framelines subtly frame the space, instead of sharply cutting you off.
It is interesting that Leica is trapped by the success of the M and its “perfection”, because any change from that template is greeted with suspicion or outright hostility by the Leica faithful. I wish that the company would find a way to distill the M hallmarks — small size, discreet shutter, and that viewfinder! — into a new camera line that is unburdened by the need to hew so tightly to the M-series legacy. Unfortunately, it appears that unless someone visionary like Barnack comes along again, Leica will continue to crank out ever-more-polished versions of the same masterpiece.
A footnote to this is the rumor that Nikon might be introducing a digital rangefinder, an heir to their classic SP. If Leica can’t innovate outside of the M-series box, then maybe Nikon can do it.
Hip Shot
Test shot from my new Ricoh GX100. I picked one up largely on the basis of the high-iso B+W output I’ve been seeing on the web, and the noise does look better than most of the compacts out there - almost like film grain. Obviously in color I’ve been sticking to ISO 80-200.
The ’snap mode’ setting for focus works quite well - DOF is huge on these small-sensor cameras, so I’ve programmed one of the two user settings to be B+W, iso 400, and snap mode - call it my street photography default. Ongoing output can be seen on my Flickr photostream.
Point and Shoot Update
Lots of stuff happening - turned 30 last Thursday. Lots of friends came out to celebrate on Friday, some of whom I hadn’t seen in the flesh in a very long time. I have no photos, unfortunately, an oversight to which the remainder of this post relates directly.
Fake Steve Jobs was finally (and regrettably, in my opinion) unmasked, and new Apple hardware and software got announced yesterday. It says something about my obsession with keyboards that I’m probably most intrigued by the new razor-thin keyboard that they debuted as opposed to the iMac/iLife announcements. I’m using a Macally IceKey at work, and at home I’m rocking the super-clacky Matias Tactile Pro. So far the Tactile Pro is my favorite, but unfortunately it’s simply too loud for the office.
In a fit of autogifting I ended up getting the Ricoh GX-100, and the battery is charging as I write this. Amin Sabet’s detailed comparison between the GX-100, Panasonic LX-1, and Canon G7 helped me make up my mind. That, and seeing/holding all of the cameras in the flesh at Adorama.
I waffled for a long time between the GX-100 and the GR-D, but in the end the need for some measure of focal length flexibility won out. I think if/when the Sigma DP-1 and the GR-D follow-up hit the market I can decide whether I need a prime-lensed model. The other candidate was a Pentax K100D, with either the 21mm or 40mm pancake lens. The rationale behind getting the compact instead was for more portability - I already leave the rangefinder at home more often than I’d like, and that outfit is around the size of a small DSLR.
I’m excited to start shooting this thing. I’m going to install the Aperture and Lightroom trials on my machine, and see how each runs. I have a feeling that Aperture is going to be pretty slow on my Macbook, but it’s worth a try.
More hockey tonight.
Point and Shooo…wait
For the last few years I’ve been primarily been using a combination of a Lomo LC-A and a couple of M-mount rangefinders (a Bessa R2A and a Leica M4) for taking photos. But the cost of good film processing is rather prohibitive (a decent lab here in NYC will generally charge around $20 per 36-shot roll for 4×6 proofs and a CD) so I’ve been looking to shoot more digital for everyday walkaround stuff. I get this urge every three months or so, and always return to shooting with the Lomo and rangefinders. The primary reason isn’t some romantic attachment to film, it’s that they’re fast to operate.
I have an aging, battered Canon A85 that I use every now and then, but it frustrates me - setting stuff using multiple button presses is time-consuming. I realize that I could get a small DSLR (say, a Pentax K100D with a pancake lens) but I’m thinking of something more pocketable. I would’ve thought that three years later the digicam market would’ve gotten better by leaps and bounds, but sadly that doesn’t seem to be the case. Here’s the few contenders:
The Ricoh GR-D: 28mm is a bit wide for my taste, but the results I’ve seen (especially B+W) have been far more interesting than the usual digicam snaps. The GR-D2 is rumored to be around the corner, though, otherwise this would be in my hands already. Some have criticized the lack of an optical viewfinder (you can mount one to the hotshoe, though) and the noise at higher ISOs, but its vocal defenders contend that the noise approximates film grain quite well in B+W.
Ricoh Caplio GX-100: 24mm to 72mm zoom (I don’t like zooms usually but this one has a step-focus feature to jump to the classic focal lengths - 24/28/35/50/72), anti-shake. Otherwise the control scheme is very similar to the GR-D. If I had to choose a camera specifically to replace the A85, I’d probably get this one since the zoom and anti-shake make it more flexible for when Jordan’s using it.
Finally, there’s the vaporware Sigma DP-1, which has intrigued me ever since it was announced - a big sensor in a digicam. Sony did this first with their R1, but that body was SLR-sized. Besides the sensor, however, it appears they were paying close attention to the GR-D - fixed 28mm, hotshoe. f/4 is a bit slow, but if the results at high-ISO settings are ok, then losing a stop probably won’t matter too much. If it ever comes out, that is.
Of course, if someone wants to give me one of these I won’t complain.
