Ricoh GR Digital

Opinion: I'm obsessed with high quality compact cameras with single focal length (non-zoom) optics, and finally a camera manufacturer has carried such a camera over from silver to sand *) sensor technology.
Kudos to Ricoh for being a pioneer in this niche of the digital camera business.

*) "silver" = silver-halide film. "sand" = silicon imaging chip.

The Ricoh GRD is targeted at the advanced photographer. It has a beautiful body fitted with excellent optics, f2.4, 28mm focal length equivalent, good ergonomics, an extensive set of features, and still it is easy to adjust the basics: f-stop and exposure time, or setting an exposure compensation, via the thumb wheels and a rocker button.

The GRD feels very responsive, fast autofocus and has a negligible shutter lag (from prefocus to shutter release).

The optics are excellent right from the full lens opening, f2.4.
When inspecting printouts from this camera I don't see any distortion, no chromatic abberation, no purple fringing. Upon close inspection (and I mean close) some areas of the prints have a nice, fine grain-like appearance (also called noise) at lower ISOs (64-154) (really, this kind of noise looks nice), at medium ISOs (200-400) the noise is easy to control with Noise Ninja. At high ISOs (800-1600) the noise might be objectable, but the photos are usable. I have only taken very few photos at higher ISO settings.

A4-sized (8x10in) prints from my Epson R800 are excellent, and based on preliminary printouts of cropped images I believe quality prints up to A3 (12x16in) are possible.

Overall the image quality is excellent. I have not played with the RAW file capability, so I cannot evaluate this. Neither have I used the movie nor the scene modes.

CONCLUSION:

This kind of camera makes your good photos look even better and your bad photos worse.
The GRD is a niche camera and will be rewarding for the photographer who is able to use it as such.

I am giving it high marks as I think it is the best in its class (big smile, because I also think that it currently is the only single focal length quality digital compact).

Opinion: Excellent pocketable compact design, about the size of an audio cassette box, very light, well put together all metal construction apart from the pop up flash which is plastic as is the battery compartment door. Great big bright LCD screen, firm positive feel buttons. The main mode/control dial has a lock so cannot be accidentally moved, excellent 'adj' control wheel under your thumb which can be pressed and/or rotated to access menus, and a front control dial for aperture or other functions. Very intelligent control layout.
Power on time is a little over a second, focus/lag time is good, maybe a tenth of a second? I'm able to grab the GR out of my pocket, power on, take a shot and put it away in about 4 or 5 seconds (ish). Fast enough for me. Image quality is generally great, nice graininess to images -a different look compared to all other digicams I've seen, beautiful wa lens, I don't miss having a zoom at all. I'm confident I could go to 16x12 prints. Noise is not an issue up to 200 iso. 400 sometimes needs work, 800/1600 are just fine in b&w or with noise ninja etc although I have noticed some banding in shadow areas. Generally prefer the grainy high iso on the GR to the admittedly effective but smudged look of the Fuji F11, the only other high iso compact competitor I'm aware of.

Opinion: I bought the Gr D and a Leica D-lux 2 at the same time because I couldnt choose between them in the shop. The build quality of the GR is superb. It feels rock solid as opposed to the plastic feel of the d-lux 2. It is very pocketable and quick and easy to use. Noise levels are much lower than the D-lux 2 and 1600 is usable after a bit of noise ninja and looks good in black and white. Image quality is good with good colour balance and lens sharpness. However I decided to keep the d-lux 2 so the GR is going on ebay this weekend. Here are the reasons:
When shooting in RAW mode (which I mostly do), it takes nearly 14 seconds to write to the card, a sandisk ultra II, during which time the camera completely locks up. (the d-lux takes about 2 seconds) Exposures seem a little inconsistant, often being over by about 1/2 to 2/3. The autofocus is very poor in low light and often fails to lock on even with the af assist lamp. The lens motor is also quite noisy and attracts attention when in a quiet room.

After using a d-lux 2 its hard to out down. The 16:9 ratio is very addictive, the manual control is good, I really like the manual focus implementation which gives you an indication on the depth of field. Yes its noisy but not that bad and noise ninja sorts it out quickly. The lens is superb.
I really wanted to like the GR, there is a lot to like about it so maybe I will try again if a firmware update can sort out its problems.

Opinion: Just picked up my GRD yesterday!

Initial thoughts...

I love the images, the 'grain' no JPG artifacts here!

1st main benefit, I bought mine because of a compromise between pocketability
and quality.

It's better than I thought, very intuitive controls. Good build materials, they've
obviously built it to last more than the standard 2 years that Sony and co. seems
to build for.

2nd main benefit to me is DNG, even comparing a JPG file and DNG of the
same shot there's a world of difference (after a little post production)

3rd main benefit, DNG's upsize very nicely to 100MB (CMYK 16bit) too. So it's
definately future proof too, confident of getting prints up to A2 no problem.

There's nothing more frustrating than someone wanting to buy one of my old
505v pics (3.3mpix) and then I have to let them know that they cannnot because
of image issues.

I love the way that it looks serious and workmanlike, no-one will shout and stare
at me in the rough neighbourhoods round these parts with this little beauty.

I admit it's not perfect*, but until they make the perfect camera I'll get as good as I
can afford.

* Very Minor Imperfections are listed here...

1. Pop up flash is plastic, not metal.
2. No viewfinder.
3. Shutter release button is plastic and slightly wobbles within it's casing.
4. No threaded shutter release button. (2 sec self timer compensates for it)
5. Battery/SD cover is plastic too.
6. No FAT32 for coping with large SD cards.

Positive Surprising Features Listed Below here...

1. Grain, not jaggy artifacts.
2. Dedicated dial for shutter speed.
3. Dedicated dial for f stops.
4. 'Needle in the bar' type exposure metering on the screen.
5. Build, build, build.
6. RAW/DNG
7. Macro up to 1.5cm, super results here.
8. Smooth and buttery at ISO 64, smoother than my d70 (minimum 200 ISO) on
some occasions.

9. No shutter lag.
10. Expandability; I tried the Voigtlander 28mm viewfinder in store, and it's big
and bright, much better than the viewfinder on my d70 or any other camera I've
owned, it's an extra 100 quid 'though, but will get one eventually.

So I'm a happy bunny until I start drooling again in 07.

Steffan