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Re-discovering the GX-100

cam

Active member
There's no shortage of badass subjects (and backgrounds for subjects) around here to photograph, I have to admit!
you've kept me giggling as well here! and i think you've made your decision (whether you realise it or not).... my brother fell in love with my GRDII, even as i tried to push him towards the practicality of the GX100. he wanted to be badass. he is badass! as are you...

become one with your surroundings, it's very zen! you've made your decision -- be a badass!
 
W

wbrandsma

Guest
Cam is right Kai. I choosed the GX100 for its practicality (my wife wanted a zoom lens and I wanted a wideangle lens). Know I would opt the GRDII as well. It is the main reason why I still love my old GR1. Simplicity. With a prime lens you will make the composition and not the camera with a zoom lens.
 

jonoslack

Active member
Cam is right Kai. I choosed the GX100 for its practicality (my wife wanted a zoom lens and I wanted a wideangle lens). Know I would opt the GRDII as well. It is the main reason why I still love my old GR1. Simplicity. With a prime lens you will make the composition and not the camera with a zoom lens.
Of course - my pinhole camera jibe was just that.
For me though, I use the M8 for that job, and now I have the GX100 I find I'm using it more than I thought - for instance I'll put one lens on the M8 and stick the GX 100 in another pocket - lovely though a GRDII is, it would not offer the same flexibility.

Yesterday it was the GX100, and the M8 with a nocti - today it'll be something different (perhaps the 75 'cron). It's a good way to shoot.

Still not sure about the addon lenses though - seems to turn it into a palaver, which is not the purpose of a small camera (for me at least).
 
P

PeterLeyssens

Guest
Lili you're so right
restraint can bring clarity
go make photos now
Talking about restraint: a real haiku would have a reference to the season in the first line :D

I've been all over the place, considering the GR-D, then the GX-100, then the LX-2, then the GR-D ii, then back to the GX-100, then back to the LX-2, then on to the Leica D-Lux 3 and now back to the GX-100. Now I really think I will settle for the GX-100, honestly !

The main advantage is the 24mm, otherwise I would've gone D-Lux 3 some time ago. The main disadvantage is the raw speed: the Leica is faster even with bigger RAWs. Aside from that, I think a pocketable 24-72 will be sufficient to shoot what I do (portraits and some tourism) for some time. €450 is what I consider to be fairly cheap. The LX-2 is cheap, the D-Lux 3 is fairly expensive and the GR-D ii with the 40mm TC and a viewfinder is really expensive for what it is.

The GX-100 will be my first digital camera, after a long period with Olympus SLRs and a few years with Leica screwmount cameras (& clones). The Ricoh is quite versatile, so I expect it will be enough for a while, until Olympus gets some smaller lenses out or until I stumble over an M8 by accident. (I bid $2000 on one but within a few hours, it went up to $3500 on yaBe... Still hoping for the $1000 M8 find one day :D)



Peter.
 

jonoslack

Active member
Talking about restraint: a real haiku would have a reference to the season in the first line :D

I've been all over the place, considering the GR-D, then the GX-100, then the LX-2, then the GR-D ii, then back to the GX-100, then back to the LX-2, then on to the Leica D-Lux 3 and now back to the GX-100. Now I really think I will settle for the GX-100, honestly !
Buy it quick . . . before you have time to change your mind!
I'm sure you'll enjoy it, they are all lovely and capable cameras.
 
C

Colman

Guest
ures from these two cameras have been fairly evenly distributed around here. And for what it's worth, a thoroughly un-sexy $150 manual Pentax K1000 kit loaded with Tri-X or Kodacolor Gold still blows both of them away, if you're talking about capture speed and IQ.
This is obviously true, but film is expensive and impractical except for special projects, as far as I'm concerned.

Mitch, I don't subscribe to the M8/dSLR-as-medium-format analogy. 35mm film has way more dynamic tonal range than either of those options, and way, way more than the Ricohs. And in terms of size, street imagery was invented and maybe perfected with cameras that are larger than the GRD2. Its body-size is amazing, but it still poses capture speed and resolution compromises that the pre-digital tiny cameras didn't.
This also is true.

But these issues have begun to erode my confidence and question the wisdom of committing to a camera that has failed me in circumstances where a better camera wouldn't have.
Would you have had the better camera with you? I'm quite taken with the analogy between the small sensor cameras and a sketchbook. If your primary interest is painting then you're never going to regard your sketches as more than preparatory work. I know that I am not going to carry my SLR kit unless I'm reasonably certain that there will be time and opportunities for some dedicated photograph making. The GR-D and accessories allow me to do some casual photography as and when the opportunity arises without an impractical (for me) amount of gear or an impossible expenditure of money: I can't justify paying for an M8 and the associated glass!

I'm sorry if questioning the wisdom of using small sensor cameras in a small sensor forum is out of line, but there it is.
For some people the compromises are justified: sounds like they may not be for you. Some people like charcoal as their main medium.
 
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7ian7

Guest
I like that charcoal metaphor. I've been way deep in to Polaroids and impressionistic emulsions like EES and Agfachrome and laser copies at various points in my photographic life. My father made incredible pictures — and big enlargements — using a Minox. There are times and images that simply don't hinge on "high" resolution, per se. And film can be a huge, deal-breaking hassle. The charcoal metaphor doesn't address shutter lag or focus and RAW speed, but in terms of artistic intent, it is dead on.

My frustration has been both about missing pictures and having to sidestep, hide, or correct certain sensor limitations in post-processing, when a different camera wouldn't have presented those challenges; and this all because I'm kind of committed to that drilled-down variables philosophy and approach that some others here are expressing. So it's my fault, in a way, for not honoring the limitations of this palette. But since I'm not always able to fully predict what my expectations for every picture will be, I've been wondering if I shouldn't just err on the side of a more robust capture.

Regarding portability, I sling a fanny pack bandolero-style across my chest to carry my GX100 fitted with lens barrel and filter, extra battery, memory, etc. A D300 with pancake lens, like that Voightlander 40mm, would fit in that bag. But yes, the GRD2 on its own would draw a more serious distinction in terms of a camera that is always on hand, especially for those comfortable with a 28 prime.

Anyway, I'm not planning on selling my GX100 any time soon, which is a sign that, whatever my frustrations, I've already made some meaningful pictures with it and developed an emotional connection to it that doesn't occur with every camera.
 

nostatic

New member
Anyway, I'm not planning on selling my GX100 any time soon, which is a sign that, whatever my frustrations, I've already made some meaningful pictures with it and developed an emotional connection to it that doesn't occur with every camera.
This is a big deal to me...with all my creative tools. I've had great basses and guitars over the years that I've sold for one reason or another (admitedly often because I found a new "girl"). But for whatever reason, certain ones just worked *for me* and I bonded with them. I'm finding the same with cameras. The only expensive part is that I'm also finding that like with instruments, the ones that feel good at first often times aren't the long term keepers, and those that I struggle with a bit can sometimes become quite comfortable and/or push me in good ways if I'm patient and give them a chance.

Hmm...I suppose that goes for relationships with the opposite sex as well. Yet another life lesson...
 

jonoslack

Active member
This is a big deal to me...with all my creative tools. I've had great basses and guitars over the years that I've sold for one reason or another (admitedly often because I found a new "girl"). But for whatever reason, certain ones just worked *for me* and I bonded with them. I'm finding the same with cameras. The only expensive part is that I'm also finding that like with instruments, the ones that feel good at first often times aren't the long term keepers, and those that I struggle with a bit can sometimes become quite comfortable and/or push me in good ways if I'm patient and give them a chance.

Hmm...I suppose that goes for relationships with the opposite sex as well. Yet another life lesson...
Hi There
Absolutely - I quite agree, it's the struggles that are worthwhile, and I guess that the cameras I've had over the last few years which have most got to me are the Kodak 14n, and the Leica M8 - both of which were something of a struggle to master, but both of which produced splendid images.

Mind you, everything does have limitations - but if you stick the GX100 on snap focus and jpg mode, then you aren't going to miss too many pictures!
 
P

PeterLeyssens

Guest
Buy it quick . . . before you have time to change your mind!
I'm sure you'll enjoy it, they are all lovely and capable cameras.
D'oh ! I should've followed your advice ! Now Olympus has a pancape lens out and I'm reconsidering :)

Part of the fun of photography is, of course, looking around for equipment, but I'll need to decide rather quickly as I haven't taken a picture in far too long ! Guess it'll be the GX-100 anyway because it's much more portable and I'll be much more happy to carry it around.


Peter.
 
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7ian7

Guest
Is the GX100 more portable? I find
its build a bit delicate. The Oly is larger,
but its more robust build could conceivably
translate in to less hesitation about having
it along.
 

Lili

New member
Is the GX100 more portable? I find
its build a bit delicate. The Oly is larger,
but its more robust build could conceivably
translate in to less hesitation about having
it along.
Ian
One of the few things I truly dislike about any of these little cameras is the fragile retracting lens mechanism. It can also be an avenue for dust.
A "fixed"/non-retracting lens is far sturdier and better sealed ( at least until its removed).
I would be willing to put up with a greater footprint in return for these advantages!
This little e420/25 f2.8 or even the 410 with the same pancake lens would truly be awesome for street and general work
Lili
 

pjphoto59

Member
Ian
One of the few things I truly dislike about any of these little cameras is the fragile retracting lens mechanism. It can also be an avenue for dust.
Lili
I have a GX100 and I am generally very pleased with it. Back in the old days when I used film I had a Minox GTE which went everywhere with me whenever I could not take an SLR. I have tried many p&s cameras as replacements for the Minox. I bought the GX100 last August. I did not get the GRD as I wanted 35mm EFL rather than 28mm. The GX100 with the step zoom is a good solution. After having the camera for 2 weeks I got a nasty dose of dust inside the lens, so far as I can understand a very common problem with this camera. The dealer exchanged the camera for a new one and over 1000 exposures later no repeat of the problem.....yet! I am however totally paranoid about dust, and never carry it between shots without the lens cap on.

This problem means that I would never buy a GX100 again, despite its many virtues.

BTW has anyone had a dust ingress problem in a GRD or GRDll?

Peter
 
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