I've been waiting to upgrade my P&S (Canon SD700IS) until the Sigma DP1 came out, but unfortunately the DP1's movie mode is stuck at 320x240. That nixes the deal for me.
As an alternative, a number of people suggested the Olympus E420 with pancake 50mm, but it's not all that pocketable so I focused on the Ricoh offerings.
At this point I'm leaning towards the GX100 over the GRD2 becuase it's cheaper, wider, faster, and it zooms. Plus from what I've read & seen online, the IQ is pretty close to the GRD2's prime.
Based on flexibility & price, I'm not sure why anyone would pay twice as much for the GRD2. But am I missing something?
The beauty of the G9 is the Raw capability. I'm thinking that you either got a bad copy or didn't keep it long enough to realize it's potential. I have been shooting with mine for about 9 months now and am completely satisfied with the images the camera produces. I am not alone in my opinion. The high definition video mode is also a plus.
I had a G9 and sold it to get a GRD II. The G9 is a great camera for a lot of people, but 35mm equivalent isn't wide enough for me, and the G9 is too big to fit in my pocket. Two small details that make a big difference.
I considered the GX100, but the RAW write times are supposed to be really slow -- in the 5-6 second range. I'm not a rapid fire shooter, but the really slow write time is a deal breaker. The restriction of shooting with a prime leads to more consistency of vision for me.
Hope that helps. As a side note, I got a demo GRD II from popflash.com - still has the full 1 year warranty. They're really nice folks.
Mr Joe wrote:
I had a G9 and sold it to get a GRD II. The G9 is a great camera for a lot of people, but 35mm equivalent isn't wide enough for me, and the G9 is too big to fit in my pocket. Two small details that make a big difference.
These point & shoot comparisons are just too subjective, the right camera does depend on what is important to the shooter. For me, a fixed focal length on a point & shoot camera just does not work. Especially when you can get better performance and image quality for hundreds less.
The one thing about the GX100 that bothers me is no shutter priority mode, although I rarely use that on my dSLR. I wanted wide, fast, and small and in those areas the GX100 seems to rule the roost. The GRD2 might be better, but I can't find ANY comparisons of the two Ricoh's on the net.
