Having given its
GR Digital II camera more than a year on the market,
Ricoh has seen fit to now upgrade that model by latching on another digit and what it claims to be the "greatest ever GR image quality." It wouldn't be much of a step forward if that wasn't the case, but let's see what else the Japanese company hopes to tempt us with. The wide-angle 28 mm/F1.9 GR Lens is all new, while the high-sensitivity 10-megapixel CCD and the GR Engine III image processor are likely evolutionary steps from the previous generation. Collectively, they promise improvements in all the areas you'd expect: faster focus, less noise and better low light images. There's also a 3-inch 920,000-dot VGA display, video recording at 640 x 480 / 30 fps, SDHC expandability and a complete lack of optical zoom. The veracity of Ricoh's claims can be tested from mid-August in the UK in exchange for £530 ($870), while the full press release and specs are already available at the read link below.
posted Jul 27th 2009 6:36AM
Ewww What happened?
640x480? Bah.
Is this one of those optical illusions or something?
How is the front a rectangle but the rear not? And have you ever seen an LCD shaped like that before? How is that manufacturered? And more importantly, Why??
It's called perspective.
I feel so stupid.
I genuinely was perplexed.
In all fairness though, when you first look at it, the back does look like its a weird shape because the front shot isn't at the same angle. It gives an interesting illusion at first glance.
Looking at it again, it's because the bottom of the LCD is perfectly level yet the top is so sloped.
Fun
Haha, okay. We all have our days.
It doesn't look very different to it's predecessors to be honest. The GR Digital series is really good from what I've heard - f1.9 is great for low light shooting. Considered the GR Digital II when I was shopping around.
Olympus E-P1 - same price, changeable lens, 12mp, 720p video.
You can obviously get a better lens on EP-1
yeah, that really sounds lame as compared to the EP-1
Olympus E-P1 - completely different camera.
E-P1 with a 28mm F1.9 lens? How much would that cost I wonder...
The e-p1 with the 17mm/2,8 will get you better low light than the f1.9 ccd sensor ricoh anytime anywhere! Even the 14-42 will out do the ricoh!
Jeez..
Even the LX3 can compete with this @ almost half of it's price!.
LX3 has better specs than this one and Leica lenses too.
LX3 looks superior to me.
I had a GR Digital 1 ... and now have an LX 3.
The LX3, despite being a minor tad bit slower glass, has Leica branded front glass, and takes a lot better pictures.
I'm not sure if they improved the GRD3 that much, but the raw write speed was abysmal (we're talking several seconds between shots) and it was subject to some pretty bad noise. I am generally a fan of prime lenses, but this one was not super-fantastic.
What it definitely DID have going for it though were some really nice controls, better than most cameras I have used. It would be nice if they fixed the raw speed and low light performance, though I think they would be hard pressed to deal with the LX3 (slightly larger sensor) and who knows how the EP-1 is going to hold up.
Seriously though, the LX3 is quite good.
Stick with Leica D-Lux 4.
The Canon G10 presents a better value proposition here. Ricoh has no history of making quality optics unlike Canon's "L" series of professional lenses (which stands for Luxury). It is also a shame that this crappy Ricoh is fitted with a prime lens, while the G10 has the legendary zoom lens that is known for their corner to corner sharpness. The G10 also incorporates a DIGIC processor, the same ones you get when you buy world's best Digital SLRs from Canon, EOS.
I have a 5D Mark II and I love it, my uncle who is a pro sports and wedding photographer loves his 1D too. There's no denial that Canon makes the best cameras in the industry.
I have a Richo GR Digital (the first one) as well as a Leica D-Lux 3 and a new Olympus E-P1.
The Leica is going up on Craigslist and the plan was to throw the GRD on Craigslist in order to help pay for the E-P1.... but I just can't bring myself to sell the Ricoh. This is a camera with a cult following because there is something really wonderful about it.
You need to know a couple of things about the Ricoh. First, it is built to weapons grade standards that you won't find on anything short of a magnesium body DSLR. Second, it's flaws (noise and such) for some reason actually add to the experience and it almost always takes fantastic photographs, sort of like a film camera. Three, it is VERY small and slips into a pocket like a submarine slips beneath the water. The Leica/Lumix LX-3 class cameras are sort of a PITA to carry - too big to fit in the pocket and too small to really want to strap it around you like a DSLR.
The UK price is way expensive, but I suspect we will see the GRD III for about $600 here. It sounds like they fixed everything I didn't like about the original GRD, with the exception that I do wish they would add IS. I'll buy one as soon as I can.
If you love making photographs, I don't think there is a better "Always with you" camera out there than the GRD.
They should 1up the GX200 while they're at it. A truly outstanding design that is ruined by its image quality. Not expecting Sigma DP quality of course, but they should at least make it produce pics as well as Canon's & Panasonic's compacts do.
Actually, the optics in the GR line are well known to be very, very good. That is their primary appeal, along with amazing ergonomics. Frankly, it is *because* it is a fixed focal length (non zooming) lens that it totally trounces the G10 in terms of optical quality. However, most amateurs prefer a zoom lens, so they're willing to compromise and choose an all-rounder like the G10, which is completely understandable.
The GR Digital is about the build quality, the compact size, the control system, and the optics. To get the equivalent focal length and aperture with comparable distortion on a dSLR would be next to impossible, and it would anyway be a expensive and heavy chunk of glass.
Same goes with my Uncle who uses a Nikon D300.
There's no denial that Nikon makes the best cameras in the industry.
You wouldn't know a better value proposition if it came up and bit you on the ass...
I had the GRD mkI and it was a nice street photographers camera, great controls and shutter lag but the RAW write times were 13 seconds!! and in that time you could take another shot. That totally ruined the camera and they did address that with the GRD mkII a bit. I hope they have gone much further with the mkII but I see no mention of it. I like that they don't compromise with the lens by keeping it a wide prime but the lens quality and noise quality from the tiny sensor has been rather disappointing considering their goal for this camera with the previous 2 versions. I think Panasonic (& to a lesser extent Leica) wiped the floor with them with the LX3 (and D-LUX4) and that's a shame. I don't see any improvements in spec here accept the slight boost to the aperture. The shutter speed is still a measely 1/2000th, exposure bracketing is crippled to 1/2 stops max just like always. I am glad they stuck with 10mp but lower would be nicer (3-5) as you get no benefit with small sensor compacts over this amount but 720p video would be nice. So far they are not taking my attention away from the LX3. The price for the GRD mkIII is rediculous!!!!!
This camera is aimed at a very particular audience - discreet, available light streetshooters and other that like to capture fleeting moments quietly and unobtrusively. The fast prime lens, intuitive controls and features like snap focus make this possible. If the GRD III is as good as its specs and a clear improvement on the GRD II, then I daresay that it may be the best available camera for this task, challenged only by the Panasonic LX3.
The Olympus E-P1, IMHO, is more of an all-rounder, too slow-footed and significantly larger than the GRD III to fit this niche.
And value? This camera is not about value. I bet that in most cases, it will be a second or even third camera that fills a specific need.
Sensor size?
I agree completely with John Flores' comments above. It's the third iteration of the GR digital, and it's always the same debate. I think people either understand the appeal of the GR or they don't. I personally think it's in a class by itself, and that the comparison to other sub-compacts like the D-Lux 4 are moot. This is a very serious camera that makes very serious photos. The GR takes *astounding* black and white images. The noise at high ISOs is an aesthetic unto itself.
If you want to see a GR lens exploited to its maximum potential, look at the work of the great Japanese street photographer Daido Moriyama, who uses film and digital GRs almost exclusively.
I'm very excited to check out the GRIII in person whenever it hits US shelves. I almost never leave home without my GRII.
Stay away from Ricoh.
These features seem interesting, unfortunatly, Ricoh is a very bad company if you have any problem during the warranty period; they refused to cover the fixing of my camera that didn't work. Not only it ruined my vacations because I could'nt take pictures, but Ricoh asked me 50% of the price of the new cam! So not only Ricoh sales expensive cameras, but they do not respect the warranty.
I advise to buy other brands such as Panasonic or Canon, where you should not face this kind of issue.