Camera decisions…
It’s been several weeks since I returned the Fuji X100F and settled with my Ricoh, and while I miss the Fuji dearly this past weekend at the beach was a good example of why having a pocketable camera is such a huge advantage.
When I deliberately go to places like a beach, or any place that’s out of the ordinary that feels like a photo op, I’d take my main camera – Sony A7 II. The Ricoh added so little weight to my pocket/bag that I thought “Meh, why not bring that along as well”. As you can see from the images below, the ease of use resulted in me using the Ricoh a big portion of the time. Whipping it out of my pocket is SO much faster and easier than opening my bag, lugging out a camera and trying to (in this case) manually focus.
Note: All my images from this post are processed using the new VSCO MP01 Lightroom filters.
Observations
- I found that the GR’s screen got a lot brighter than my Sony’s EVF and back screen. I was struggling to see with the Sony.
- Despite that, I still find the Ricoh’s screen lacking. Seriously, the photos look like hot garbage to me until I load them up into Lightroom.
- My lack of native lenses for Sony make it difficult to take shots in the moment. If they came out with a small 35 f/2.0, I’d be all over it.
- The Voigtlander 15mm is still awesome, and it’s one of the main reasons I still own a system camera. I generally shoot 28/35 which can be covered with compacts, but every shot I take with the 15 feels unique.
- 28mm is nice when I shoot subjects I am familiar with since I don’t need to step as far away. I’d still prefer 35mm for anything else.
- I think the VSCO MP01 filters will be my go-tos for a while 🙂
Final Words
I think I’m now comfortable enough with the Ricoh that I’d be willing to take it on a vacation as a lone camera, at least if I’m going somewhere sunny. Whether I will do that or not is another question. On vacations I like bringing a bag anyways to carry accessories and other misc items so I may as well throw my Sony in there. I still can’t replace a full frame sensor with IBIS and it’s nice to be able to change things up in terms of focal length.
The recent news of Ricoh/Pentax’s struggles have me a little concerned about the future of the GR line. There are still improvements I’m looking for in a later model as stated in my previous post, especially regarding low light performance. If the GR line goes under, hopefully Fuji will come out with something for their rumored X70 successor. If they just add a built in ND and throw in the new X-Trans III sensor, I’d be all over it.
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Ricoh GR II Digital Camera with 3-Inch LCD (Black)
The Casual Camera Consumer 
magicpockets
I was in Singapore recently getting my Ricoh GR repaired, and conversations with the people there suggested that the Ricoh GR will be updated within a few months. For further details, have a look at http://www.thephoblographer.com/2017/04/15/relax-ricoh-isnt-going-kill-pentax-brand-cameras-confirmed/
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thecasualcameraconsumer
Nice! Good to know. There was a post one of the Ricoh GR Facebook groups I’m subscribed to where the GR store just opened, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed.
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