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Do's & Dont's of the GR D 1......Help pls.

M

Melbourne

Guest
I've bought and sold 2 GR D's because I just couldn't seem to get decent results from them.......However, I've recently bought my third (I know I'm a bit mad) as I'm always drawn to this camera and the second hand prices are pretty good now.

I think it's me rather than the camera. Would you seasoned GR D users agree that a) best stop is around 3.5-4 ? and that snap mode is good and that one should set the EV to around minus 0.3 ? beyond that has anyone got any clever settings. I will mostly use the camera to produce B & W pictures and I don't have a problem with grain as long as it doesn't look too gray and uniformed. I usually process the files in Lightroom and or Lightzone.
Thank you in anticipation of your advise.
 
M

Mark Turney

Guest
I've bought and sold 2 GR D's because I just couldn't seem to get decent results from them.......However, I've recently bought my third (I know I'm a bit mad) as I'm always drawn to this camera and the second hand prices are pretty good now.

I think it's me rather than the camera. Would you seasoned GR D users agree that a) best stop is around 3.5-4 ? and that snap mode is good and that one should set the EV to around minus 0.3 ? beyond that has anyone got any clever settings. I will mostly use the camera to produce B & W pictures and I don't have a problem with grain as long as it doesn't look too gray and uniformed. I usually process the files in Lightroom and or Lightzone.
Thank you in anticipation of your advise.
Welcome Melbourne. I generally set the GRD's B&W settings to +2 contrast / +1 sharpness and seem to get good results. But, I also set the camera to +0.3 or +0.7 EV, as I would rather have a few blown highlights and lower noise. I expose for the highlights to lessen noise, as I almost always shoot w/o flash and at higher ISO's (I like night street photography). FWIW - I have almost exclusively had f/2.4 and SNAP focus set for street shooting @ night. However, I too agree that f/3.5 - 5 appears to me to be the sharpest apertures with the GRD lens. Also, I tend to brace my arms against a garbage can, light pole, whatever I can find to minimize shake, as I know I won't carry a tripod.

Hope this helps. Feel free to ask away - we all learn by helping one another.

Mark T.
 

iansky

New member
Hi Melbourne,

As I am sure you have discovered after 2 - the GRD is a camera that needs to be used with thought rather than as a P&S.

It is a camera capable of producing some incredible images that can at times match far more expensive cameras, it is also a worthy contender for the crown in the Small sensor world.

I have had mine for over 2 yrs and even now use it more than my GX100 and DSLR. All my work I shoot in raw, try and stick to 100ASA and use AV at f5.6 as I find this provides me with sufficient DOF without starting to have any negative effect on quality.

Iansky
http://www.ianskyphotosite.blogspot.com/
 

cam

Active member
Iansky,

you really use f5.6??? i always thought 4.0-4.5 was the sweet spot. are you doing this with the II as well (or have you not gotten it yet)? now i'm itching to get my original back to play with this!
 

iansky

New member
Hi Cam,

Yes, I use f5.6 as my standard aperture on the GRD, it seems to produce the right quality quality images for me before any degradation appears.

I am still waiting for my sample GRD2, may have to wait a little longer and hope it will be this side of Christmas but - It is free so why complain, when it comes it comes!

I don't know about you, but I have been pretty impressed with the GRD2 images I have seen so far, they look as if they certainly have a tad more detail (Ricoh do claim they have improved the lens coatings on the GRD2), and they are less "grainy" at the higher ASA's than the GRD - can only be a good thing.

You can see some of my GRD images on my blogsite, they are under the May date tab, site is below.

Good shooting,

Iansky
 

Jonathon Delacour

Subscriber Member
Hi Melbourne,

It is a camera capable of producing some incredible images that can at times match far more expensive cameras, it is also a worthy contender for the crown in the Small sensor world.

I have had mine for over 2 yrs and even now use it more than my GX100 and DSLR. All my work I shoot in raw, try and stick to 100ASA and use AV at f5.6 as I find this provides me with sufficient DOF without starting to have any negative effect on quality.

Iansky
http://www.ianskyphotosite.blogspot.com/
I've had my GRD for about eighteen months and continue to be amazed at the quality it's capable of delivering. Like iansky, I always shoot RAW -- I must be one of the few GRD users who is not particularly frustrated by the long write times (though, having said that, I admit that one of the real attractions of the GRD2 is its significantly shorter write times).

However, unlike iansky, most of my pictures are shot in dim light at f2.4 to f4.0 (and either 400 or 800 ISO). Admittedly the results don't look like Kodachromes, but these settings, combined with the sharp GRD lens, yield a kind of gritty color that suits me perfectly. I've never used SNAP mode and the default EV settings have always been fine for me. (I too use Lightroom and LightZone.)

I'd suggest that one of the great strengths of the GRD/GRD2 is that it's so adaptable: the low ISO and high ISO results are radically different yet both can be aesthetically pleasing.

You've paid your money (thrice!). Now all you need to do is settle on an aperture/ISO combination that matches the pictures you'd like to take: 200ISO and f4.0 to f5.6 might be a good starting point...
 

iansky

New member
I agree with Jonathan, when working with the GRD you need to temper your shooting to match the capabilities of the camera (Raw write times, format, lens etc).

I try to slow down and think about my images if time and the subject matter permits, I have posted a series of images on this site I took when on a trip to Brighton earlier this year, I tried to think ahead about angles, compostion and content before raising the camera to shoot (standard practice for any photographer, but skills the digital age have to a degree eroded due to instant view, erase and reshoot capabilities).

I tend to find myself using the GRD in a similar fashion to the way I used to shoot with my M rangefinder - "Look, think, visualise, position, settings, raise and shoot". If I have got this right in my eyes, then the long Raw write time is acceptable.
 
L

LFPhoto

Guest
One thing I've noticed about the grd is that the preview histogram typically doesn't match the image histogram. This is the case whether shooting raw or jpeg. The image histogram is usually further to the right. It's a bit of a pain, but for precise metering I expose based on the image histogram. Brian.
 
M

Melbourne

Guest
Thank you all for your helpfull feedback,already I seem to have some better results this time round, will keep you posted and hopefully put up some pictures.
On another note, does anyone know how to change the username as I made a mistake.
It would suggest I'm in Melbourne Australia, when in fact I'm the other side of the world in London.
for my day job you can see my site. www.NeilGenower.com
 

Robert Campbell

Well-known member
It says in the FAQ:
"It is your responsibility to keep the information in your profile up-to-date. You should especially ensure that your email address is kept current. You can alter any of the fields in your profile, except your username. Once you have registered your username, it becomes yours for life. In extreme circumstances, you may request that the administrator change your username, but he or she will require a very good reason to do so."

You could try asking them nicely.

Bertie
 
V

veriwide

Guest
Thank you all for your helpfull feedback,already I seem to have some better results this time round, will keep you posted and hopefully put up some pictures.
On another note, does anyone know how to change the username as I made a mistake.
It would suggest I'm in Melbourne Australia, when in fact I'm the other side of the world in London.
for my day job you can see my site. www.NeilGenower.com
Why not just register again with the proper name ?
 
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