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Archive 2011 · Still no love for the Ricoh GXR?

SpanishDoug
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p.2 #1 · p.2 #1 · Still no love for the Ricoh GXR?

More specifically: Second Menu, Set Func 1 or 2: Enlarge All.

Sep 20, 2011 at 01:23 PM

licorisher
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p.2 #2 · p.2 #2 · Still no love for the Ricoh GXR?

Hey, that was very welcome. It is even better. Camera is right in front of me, will recombobulate straight away.

This is one of the strengths of the GXR, the ability to tailor the menu/system to your choice.

I remember when I got it and had a few minor gripes with it. Some of them were addressed by the following updates and a few could be done already, I just didn't know it.

Sep 20, 2011 at 01:48 PM

SpanishDoug
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p.2 #3 · p.2 #3 · Still no love for the Ricoh GXR?

recombobulate! Love that word!

Sep 20, 2011 at 02:15 PM

SpanishDoug
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p.2 #4 · p.2 #4 · Still no love for the Ricoh GXR?

Here's a shot from this morning with the CV28/2


	http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6165/6167403086_ecf672a7ff_z.jpg

Sep 20, 2011 at 03:29 PM

licorisher
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p.2 #5 · p.2 #5 · Still no love for the Ricoh GXR?

Color and contrast look good. How much work in post pro?

Sep 20, 2011 at 03:31 PM

SpanishDoug
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p.2 #6 · p.2 #6 · Still no love for the Ricoh GXR?

I ran it through Lightroom (it was a JPEG) and out again...no adjustments were made.

Sep 20, 2011 at 06:38 PM

rscheffler
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p.2 #7 · p.2 #7 · Still no love for the Ricoh GXR?

What kind of battery life are you guys getting with the GXR? Looking forward to seeing some more samples too.

Sep 20, 2011 at 07:39 PM

SpanishDoug
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p.2 #8 · p.2 #8 · Still no love for the Ricoh GXR?

Not fabulous. Reminds me of the E-P1...maybe a little worse. I have 6 batteries however, and they are small...

Sep 20, 2011 at 09:19 PM

licorisher
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p.2 #9 · p.2 #9 · Still no love for the Ricoh GXR?

SpanishDoug:
Is the GXR battery same as any other battery on the market? I haven't checked but sometimes you can buy Hahnel batteries and other brands on the cheap. They usually are equal. With Li-Ion I find the quality often lies in the charger. I would be suspect about an unknown brand $10 battery though.

Ron, the batterylife is ok, but not great. Batteries were on the cheap side over here though, so I have three. And they are small. I think I get some 200 shots out of the GXR, which I could stretch a little if I adjust the sleep mode I guess. In many of those shots I have goofed around with fly-by-wire focus and macro so battery drainage in average use is ok.

With the GXR module and the ZM18 I think I will get plenty extra shots as I will turn off the rear LCD and use an optical 28 mm finder for the distant shots.

If the GXR M (which according to DHL is out for delivery today...) is a keeper I will start bugging Ricoh about a GXR body with a tiltable LCD. And a clip on hood for it.
Having said that I have yet to have an occasion where I haven't managed without the tilt. But it would be a knee saver with a tiltable LCD.

Edited on Sep 21, 2011 at 02:56 AM · View previous versions

Sep 21, 2011 at 02:30 AM

licorisher
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p.2 #10 · p.2 #10 · Still no love for the Ricoh GXR?

I will make an effort to get some Stockholm vistas shot this afternoon or tomorrow mid day, I will head out as soon as I get the GXR M. Will shoot RAW and post as soon as I have something to show.

I am planning on shooting the Zeiss 18/4 against the A12/28 (18.3mm) and I have a feeling the GXR M without AA filter and the Zeiss lens will crunch the A12/28 despite using essentially the same sensor. They will be comparable for scenic shots though the A12/28 is faster, has better near focus and will suit a wider variety of tasks.

Weather is crapping out but if it holds up I might bring the M9 and shoot the ZM25 as a comparison as well, but that might have to wait until a better day.

Sep 21, 2011 at 02:37 AM

licorisher
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p.2 #11 · p.2 #11 · Still no love for the Ricoh GXR?

To answer my own question:

The GXR shares the same battery as the Fuji X-100/F31d/F30. Ricoh labels it DB90 and Fuji labels it NP95. NP95 has been around for a long time and this raises hopes for finding batteries on the cheap. There is an older battery that resembles NP95 that isn't correct, but if it is labeled NP95 and 1800mH it is the correct one.

Apparently the Ricoh DB90 sells cheaper than the Fuji, however that contradicts with the market prices here in Sweden.

I was thinking I'd pick up one or two more and the price check I just did was on the bright side.

EDIT: Fuji apparently decided to rip their customers off and roughly tripled the price on the NP 95. Same battery as for the old F31d/F30 compact but more in line with the X100 price. Cough.

Sep 21, 2011 at 02:44 AM

SpanishDoug
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p.2 #12 · p.2 #12 · Still no love for the Ricoh GXR?

I wonder if battery life might be better now that without autofocus?

Sep 21, 2011 at 06:47 AM

licorisher
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p.2 #13 · p.2 #13 · Still no love for the Ricoh GXR?

Yes, I think it will be slightly better.

Ricoh claims around 370 images per charge on their batteries. My estimate on 200 might be a little low though playing around with the camera in between pictures have probably added to my low estimate. On average I might get it up to around 250<300 now that I have it configured.

I doubt I could squeeze out more than max 300 images before switching batteries, but to me 300 images are a lot. If it is still around 300 images with the M module that is good enough for me. Definitely.

Sep 21, 2011 at 06:56 AM

licorisher
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p.2 #14 · p.2 #14 · Still no love for the Ricoh GXR?

I almost gave up on DHL but the package arrived three hours ago.

It has been raining all afternoon so I will head out tomorrow and do a little test run. Will check back tomorrow afternoon (CET +1).

Sep 21, 2011 at 12:20 PM

rscheffler
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p.2 #15 · p.2 #15 · Still no love for the Ricoh GXR?

I think I will get a GXR as soon as the M module is readily available and then wait for the NEX-7 at around Christmas

to compare the two for myself.

One immediate advantage to the GXR is it will (should?) immediately work fine with processing DNG RAW files in Lightroom and not have to wait for Adobe to issue an update. Correct me if I'm wrong on this one...

Thanks guys regarding my battery question. With the M9 I find I average about 350 shots and generally change the battery when I change a 16GB SDHC card. I have three batteries for it and so far that has been sufficient for being out all day shooting. So if the GXR is ballpark around the same shots per charge, it should work out OK if I get a few, and at least the batteries are 1/3 the price of the Leica.

I wonder if the lack of AF will have much influence on battery life as one will certainly be using live view and/or EVF a fair amount for focusing anything other than hyper focal type shots.

I'd like to see Ricoh implement a solution to allow use of an external flash with the EVF. There are times I work with radio trigged strobes and just can't see myself shooting off the back of the camera like a point and shoot. I'd settle even for a simple flash sync terminal, which the M9 remarkably also lacks (which prevents me from using a w/a viewfinder while on strobes). A built-in EVF would be very nice, but I could understand if this doesn't match Ricoh's philosophy of modularity for the system, since it will put a piece of technology in the body that will rather quickly become obsolete, rather than just issuing an updated add-on EVF...

One request: how much quieter is the GXR M module than the M9?

Ron

Sep 21, 2011 at 01:26 PM

SpanishDoug
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p.2 #16 · p.2 #16 · Still no love for the Ricoh GXR?

If you are using the Electronic Shutter Scene Mode, the camera is completely silent. I mean no noise at all! The only limitation of the ES mode is that it only works on manual exposure mode and it gives you a simulated match-needle to get the exposure right. Ricoh doesn't recommend shooting action with the ES mode, but I've heard some reports that this works just fine. While it won't serve every situation, for those times when stealth or subtlety is of the utmost importance, this is pretty cool, and just isn't something the M9 can do.

I've never heard an M9 before so I can't compare the shutter noises. The regular shutter on the GXR sounds quieter than the E-P1, though it could be that the E-P1 is just a high-pitch. The GXR is quieter than the R-D1.

I think the lack of AF will improve battery life. Unless one uses an external optical viewfinder, the EVF or LCD is on pretty much all the time either way.

As for shooting off the back LCD, I don't think of it as "like a point and shoot" since up until recently most P&S cameras didn't have such a thing. I think of it as "like shooting off a focusing screen on a [twin lens reflex or crown graphic, large format camera, etc]. It works quite well, I can't see not doing it because of what it might connote. Unless of course you're in full sunlight.

Sep 21, 2011 at 02:01 PM

licorisher
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p.2 #17 · p.2 #17 · Still no love for the Ricoh GXR?

Ron, I will test them tomorrow again, it is just past midnight now.
The GXR with the mechanical shutter sounds roughly the same. Slightly different sounding, but not loud. The after shot sound is quieter than on Leica (recocking of shutter I presume). Using the electronic shutter it is dead quiet.

The built in flash on the GXR does a terrible job at balancing the output. Terrible.

The Ricoh separate flash does a remarkable job on the other hand, nice even and well balanced output. I don't own it as I almost never use flash but I have tested it in tricky light and it is very good indeed and covers down to 18mm.

First report:
the first half hour with the GXR felt awkward, really awkward, since I am used to the RF of the M9 as well as top notch optical viewfinders. After the initial break in period and clumsiness I started to get the hang of it and now I even enjoy it and have sped up the action of composing, focus checking and adjustments so there is still hope for me and the GXR. The ZM lenses make a very good pairing for the GXR and by the looks of it the sensor will perform better than the existing modules though they share the same sensor.
Arguably thanks to both the ZM lenses and no AA-filter.

Sep 21, 2011 at 05:27 PM

licorisher
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p.2 #18 · p.2 #18 · Still no love for the Ricoh GXR?

I still use PS/CS3 (I know...) but the DNG files work great. No problems there. However the AUTO WB in the raw conversion does a poor job on the M module (and not on the other A12 modules) but as I always set my WB manually with the sliders I couldn't care less.

Sep 21, 2011 at 05:29 PM

licorisher
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p.2 #19 · p.2 #19 · Still no love for the Ricoh GXR?

Hey, how about we start the loneliest thread on FM - the GXR M thread?

If nobody beats me to it I'll start one when I get back from my first outing with the M-module. I'm off in an hour or so.

PS
Bigkidneys - welcome to the club.
A12 modules 28/50 should be welcome too.

Sep 22, 2011 at 03:02 AM

rscheffler
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p.2 #20 · p.2 #20 · Still no love for the Ricoh GXR?

So, how are things going with the M module? Would love to see some images.

Sep 23, 2011 at 10:19 PM

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