GRD2 concerns...

[simon_t]

David Paul,

Thank you making and sharing those comparison shots! Inspecting them in Lightroom, I must say that I am less than impressed by the GRDII's performance. It is outclassed by the GX100 on every shot (except for barrel distortion) and the G9 does a little better as well.

Of course, the tests are not very well controlled, but the results are consistent across all three images. That would fit with 'real-world' use. Guessing for causes, I can come up with:
- bad GRDII support by Lightroom (did people use another converter as well?)
- AF problems in the GRDII (but on the street shot, 'real' focus wasn't achieved anywhere)
- Sample variation/bad lens

Or... maybe the GX100 is an exceptional bargain?

By the way, Sean, I fully agree with your comments on valuing test results.

Cheers,
Simon

 

[David Paul Carr]

After more testing, the camera has gone back to Ricoh for repair.
It's frustrating because I am leaving for Africa in a week's time and had more or less decided that this time I was (finally) going to try to work only with compacts (mainly Ricohs). I doubt the camera will be back in time... Ah well, it's going to be Canons again...
Writing a letter to accompany the returned camera - I was cutting and pasting from previous messages - I suddenly realized that every Ricoh compact I have owned (two GRDs, a GX100 and now the GRD2) had been faulty in some way, requiring replacement or repair. (My Canon G7 too, but that's another story).
I am very careful with my cameras and I don't believe in such consistent bad luck... Makes you wonder about quality control... I have never had any problems with Nikon or Canon DSLRs...

 

[7ian7]

Makes you wonder about quality control...

David, that is bad luck indeed, but I agree
with your sentiment.

These manufacturers just haven't reconciled themselves
to how serious the photographers are who comprise the
market for these small but important cameras, and it shows
in various maybe insignificant but still utterly perplexing
design compromises — especially in context to cameras
that are otherwise so ... cool.

Can't say that that extends to the production line, but it
wouldn't shock me to find out that it does.

 

[7ian7]

P.S. Sorry to hear you're going through it!

 

[Mitch Alland]

...Inspecting them in Lightroom, I must say that I am less than impressed by the GRDII's performance. It is outclassed by the GX100 on every shot (except for barrel distortion)...
- AF problems in the GRDII (but on the street shot, 'real' focus wasn't achieved anywhere)...

Simon, I have both the GX100 and the GRD2 and much, nuch prefer the latter. Although I do like the GX100 I find that I have to sharpen and increase contrast on GX100 RAW files a lot more than I do on GRD2 files to get pictures to lok the way I want them to be. Although GX100 RAW files usually take well to aggressive sharpening that is not always the case. Indeed, I find GRD2 files much better and more robust — I could even use them with just a little increase in contrast and there is no way I would do that with GX100 files. In case you thinks I'm negative on the GX100 let me assure you that I'm not — I like the camera but just think that the GRD2 is a lot better. You can see some of my GX100 shots here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/10268776@N00/sets/72157603089594785/show/

On the GRD2 auto-focus: as Sean has written elsewhere, no small-sensor cameras have fast enough autofocus for use in street photography — you need to use manual focus to get fast enough shutter response, which is no problem in shooting with lenses of this great DOF.

—Mitch/Bangkok
http://www.flickr.com/photos/10268776@N00/

 

[simon_t]

David, sorry to hear about your camera repair experiences. However, the 'good' news is that apparently this kind of performance is not representative of the GRDII.

Mitch, Thank you for your opinions on the GX100 vs. GRDII. They both seem to be great cameras and it's proving hard to pick one I'll have to make my choice soon, though, as I have a trip to India coming up and I have decided not to bring my DSLR...

Cheers,
Simon