Camera decision help needed!

[cam]

i'm afraid the GRD/GRDII has spoiled me for any other compact cameras and i think you hit the nail on the head why, Oxide Blu. (sigh, i miss mine! i'm still on a self-imposed one-camera-diet for another month or two....)

interesting, Don, i knew that the LX3 interface wouldn't match up to the GX200, but i've heard everybody bragging about how great it was for low light so i wouldn't have thought that AF was a problem. thanks for the heads up.

 

[Streetshooter]

Cam,
There's a few issues that serious shooters should be aware of...
When you set the camera, like in manual focus and the camera goes off, or you turn it off....
when it fires up again, it has changed the focus distance to 1/2 of where you left it...
this is a problem as I'm sure you are aware.....

The AF in low light is not reliable...it hunts and if it gives the green light..well, check focus and you might see a focus shift.....it happened to me and I felt that also was unacceptable.....

The problem is that the manufactures still don't take the buying public as serious shooters. They feel that these are advanced amature cameras.....

All the goodies go into the DSLR cameras...what a shame.....

 

[Oxide Blu]

... I have started an affair with my GRD .... the camera is great, and as for the 28mm... learn to live with it, adapt and find a was to put the new "only" angle to use... I love it... the feel, the touch, the results.....

The "only" angle only works only when you have an only need for it. It is not about learning; it is about having the right tool to do the job. It can be like only having a screwdriver when you need to drive nails.

I do a lot of close-crop stuff. The 28mm is mostly wasted on me, but I use it sometimes. The GRDII + 40mm is FANTASTIC for macro work. Oh, but I use a small tripod, too. Japan is a diff culture, folks are less likely to take something that does not belong to them. So bars tend to have a menagerie of small stuff decorating them and anything can show up at anytime. I have an ongoing series of 'bar top junk' that I have been photographing over the last year.

No telling what you find on top of a bar in Japan.

Ricoh GRDII + 40mm:

 

[Tim]

If you consider physical size, and IF this is important to you then IMHO the GRD is a winner. I have the LX3 and its deceptive size wise as the "camera body" is similar in size to the GRD but the lens (even when the camera is powered down) pokes out considerably, making it bigger to carry. The other day the LX3 got left home and I carried the GRD because the GRD went into a pocket where the LX3 could not. I do wonder if the GX200 is more pocketable than the LX3?

I am considering a very small shoulder camera bag and taking the GRD and LX3 together, this might still work for a compact kit.

With the GRD because I know I am limited to 28mm I only tend "to see" in 28mm when I have it with me, or I frame subjects and always consider the 28mm angle of view. For me it frees my thinking, I know I only have one lens choice. This will not work for everyone and it sounds like it may not for you?? - maybe the GX200 or LX3 will be a better option?

 

[Oxide Blu]

... I do wonder if the GX200 is more pocketable than the LX3?

I don't know about the LX3. The GX200 (without the eVF) is basically the same size as the GRDII, just a fraction bigger in front, not enough to matter.

 

[Lili]

Ricoh has the best UI, bar none. They hold their settings during power cycle, both GX and GR. It is very much as if it was designed for photographers by photographers.
Were I to be down to one camera I would have the GRD.
I love the results, the look, the bite of the images it makes, esp in B&W.

 

[bbodine9]

Thanks everyone!

I had no idea I would get so many responses ( keep em coming by the way ) to my dilemma. It was great to see how many different points of view there are about these cameras. I think right now the GX 200 should be something for me to look at post PMA and maybe get one for a week from Popflash and see if I actually take to it. Thanks again to everyone for the help!

Bruce

 

[meilicke]

Bruce, if low light is important to you, consider the LX3 (D-Lux4). I had the GX100, but sold it for the LX3, and I read that the GX100 and GX200 are similar noise wise. Subjectively, I feel that the LX3 is about a stop better than the GX100. Combine that with a 0.5 to 1.5 (roughly) stop faster lens, wide to tele, and it is no contest. But, I think a race would be much tighter between the GRDII and LX3.

For me, I like the dedicated AF button on the LX3 better than the FX button on the GX100 when assigned to turning AF on and off. Otherwise the interface on the Ricoh rocks, and I find it more comfortable to hold.

You can use OVFs on the LX3, but without the step zoom and saved focal length between power cycles, it is certainly less convenient. I have put pencil marks on my lens barrel corresponding to 28 and 35, and use the CV 28/35 mini finder. The CV 25mm and 50mm should work for the wide and tele end, but I have not tried those (although read this thread).

If most of my shooting was in good light, I would have kept the GX100 and been quite happy.

 

[Streetshooter]

meilicke,

Thank's for your post about the LX3, it's exactly why I sold mine and got the GX-200

thanks again, I thought maybe I was bothered by it and not to many other shooters were...
don

 

[Oxide Blu]

...
For me, I like the dedicated AF button on the LX3 better than the FX button on the GX100 when assigned to turning AF on and off. Otherwise the interface on the Ricoh rocks, and I find it more comfortable to hold.

The GRDII has a user definable function button, the GX200 has two of them. I have AF/MF toggle assigned to Fn2 on the GX200. You can also assign diff focusing scenarios to them, e.g. I have AF/snapshot toggle assigned to the Fn on the GRDII.

The function buttons was the most difficult part of learning the "Ricoh way" for me. The whole idea that I got to decide what a button does was so strange.

In addition to the user definable function buttons, the GRDII has 2 user defined settings modes on the dial; the GX200 has 3 of those modes. You can define pretty much any shooting scenario with the settings modes, and then I try to get creative about assigning the function buttons in those modes ... Hence the learning of the function buttons being difficult -- so many choices to make!

 

[Oxide Blu]

Forgot to mention the Ricoh's (whatever model) take a common DB-60 battery, cheap as camera batteries go, lots of folks make 'em. Also, in a pinch, you can toss in some common AAA batteries and the Ricoh's will work with those, too. And...if you remove the memory card you can still take a few pix, more are lower res, the Ricoh's will store the images in the camera's internal memory, which you can download to a SD card whenever you put one back into the camera.

 

[DavidE]

Oxide Blu,

I didn't realize Ricoh cameras could run on AAA batteries. Thanks for the tip. I just checked, and my GRD2 runs nicely on two rechargeable AAA batteries. As you say, handy in a pinch.

Something that's rarely asked: What happens to our digital cameras when no one is willing to manufacture their proprietary batteries or support their proprietary RAW formats? You have to hand it to Ricoh for supporting AAA batteries and DNG (though apparently DNG isn't as universal as it was supposed to be).