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Ricoh gx100 - very interesting

Ben Rubinstein

pro member
Now that this camera has been out for a while I'm wondering if anyone here has used it. It seems perfect for a carry around camera, a sensible 'normal' zoom, good control placement, etc, etc.

Is there anyone using one who can tell of such things as lens sharpness, shutter lag and AF aquisition times, image quality, etc, etc?
 

Peter Mendelson

New member
GX-100 - great digicam

Ben - I tried responding to your question about the GX-100 in your thread but the Quick Reply kept getting hung up when I submitted it, so here are my thoughts on the camera.

I have had the GX-100 for over a week now and love it. I generally shoot with the Canon 5D and L lenses, but wanted a good P&S that could shoot RAW. I have had many compact digicams, including the Canon G7, Fuji F30, Panasonic LX2 and many others, but they all seemed to lack something in areas that were important to me. The Panasonic was too noisy, the Fuji didn't go wide and had lackluster ergonmics, and the G7 was bulky, didn;t go wide, and didn't shoot RAW.

Not only does the GX-100 fit in my pocket (although it's not tiny), it also had the following attributes that are important to me:

-Has a very wide angle lens (24-72mm). This is the best feature for me and allows me to get a lot of shots I couldn't get with the G7. Also, you can set it so that the zoom zooms in increments from 24-28-35-50-72mm settings, which are the classic prime lens focal lengths.
-Shoots RAW
-Shoots in the 4:3, 3:2 and 1:1 ratios. I love the square format and it's great to be able to frame this way
-Has a separate electronic viewfinder that has 100% coverage, which can also be flipped 90 degrees
-Has the best user interface of all compact digicams IMHO. It is very customizable, and is incredibly easy to adjust instantly to suit the situation
-Has a great macro mode which allows you to blur the background

As far as image quality goes, it has a very sharp lens, provides natural colors, and good detail. Ricoh seems to have struck a good balance between noise reduction and maintaining detail.

Shutter lag and AF has not been an issue for me. In fact, the GX-100 has a SNAP focusing mode so the lens is already focused at a certain distance so there is no AF acquisition time (great for things like street photography).

The camera isn't perfect - there is some noise and this is not a very good high-ISO camera like the F30, although you can get nice high-ISO black and white images out of it. I generally shoot at ISO200 or less and am very happy with the images I am getting (they have a nice auto-ISO setting which can vary the ISO within different ranges depending on the situation).

If you shoot RAW, it generally takes 4-6 seconds before you can take the next shot. I am finding that the JPEGs are very good though if you prefer not to use RAW.

Finally, the camera is not cheap - $6-700 depending on if you get the kit with the EVF. I bought it from www.popflash.com - great service and they have a special on the kit (it says it's a demo on the website but it's just an international version of the camera kit with a shorter warranty).

I posted some thoughts and examples of my early shots with the camera at http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/readflat.asp?forum=1013&thread=23904204.

All in all, highly recommended - this is just a flat out fun camera to use that can provide great results with the proper care.



Sorry that the Quick reply sometimes gets stuck! Nicolas and I have found that too. We use the "Reply" button instead and if that does not post immediately use the "Go Advanced" option under the text dialog box. This bipasses whatever the issue is and you can post very fast. We'll try to get this issue traced and remedied, but so far, no luck! Asher
 
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Ben Rubinstein

pro member
Many thanks for that Peter, can I ask, is there any chance you could take some shots in RAW, preferably with lots of detail (i.e. not macro) so I could have a look myself, say iso 100 and 400?

I'm still waiting for a local store to get them in though they promise that they are on the way, both me and my PJ friend are very interested in this little camera!
 

Peter Mendelson

New member
Ben, I can't post a RAW file online since I post my photos on Zenfolio and they don't host RAW files. I can email some to you if you send me your email address (if your email account will accept such large files)...

Regards,

Peter
 

John_Nevill

New member
Ben / Peter.

I'm eagerly awaiting the new Ricoh GRD II, it should be here tomorrow (wed), so I will hopefully post a mini review within the week.

I've been deliberating one for a couple of months now and following Sean Reid's "down to earth" reviews of the GX100, GRDII and G9, I decided the GRD II was just what I was looking for. A pocketable fixed 28mm lens 10mp digicam with probably the lowest noise around and RAW capture to boot. Of course, I added an optical viewfinder to the order!
 
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