View Full Version : I got me self a GRD!
**Edited images with ISO data, also I should point out that I didnt use any noise reduction software and shot jpgs**
Yes I know, with all the news of them being discontinued and what not people are expecting an upgrade. Bah to upgrades I say, the GRD is all I need for a little point and shoot. I got mine for $425 dollars, new of course, with a quite clever Ricoh camera bag, and a sandisk 2 gig card thrown in.
Yes I know maybe some people will think its nuts on the eve of the possible new camera coming out but really, its all I wanted, but I do really want to get a viewfinder on the camera. The GR1v was a great camera but I wanted digital and the film cameras viewfinder was always hard for me to see everything.
The camera is a great handler, the GX100 I was looking at was neat too but I decided I wanted the thinner body above all else. The GRD's usb connection door is a disaster though, I wont copy images off the camera just so I dont have to open that door, get a usb card thing instead. Battery life for me is good, I didnt stop playing with it for a day and the battery lasted for a day, I will pick up a second batter just because though. BW photos from this thing are great, they really do have that film greyness and none of the high ISO banding that my canon 20D has. My iso 1600 photos area easily usable and I plan to try some prints soon.
Anyho, image fest!
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2310/1628220170_2d39ac862d_o.jpg
ISO 109
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2224/1627331669_c5ea712a8b_o.jpg
ISO 800
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2039/1627330495_da11daf536_o.jpg
ISO 200
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2282/1627333293_7c8bc9afd9_o.jpg
ISO 800
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2168/1628215598_4778085650_o.jpg
ISO 64
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2414/1628218688_37d7b68602_o.jpg
ISO 1600
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2018/1628217252_2009286b3c_o.jpg
ISO 154
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2244/1627334935_4243fba6da_o.jpg
ISO 1600
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2222/1628227300_01b4c1014d_o.jpg
ISO 1600
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2077/1628228798_6d542afd80_o.jpg
ISO 800
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2256/1628230494_991dc4061f_o.jpg
ISO 800
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2050/1628232450_c365c35389_o.jpg
ISO 1600
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2034/1627343089_9be72a855c_o.jpg
ISO 1600
Ok enough sitting on my ass, out to take more photos!
seems to be nice beast in right hands :)
Really nice shots, but the price is too much for me and the images look a little too sterile or bland as opposed to film for my admmittedly untrained eye. Have a lot of "free" (no film) fun w/ it!!!!!
p.s. maybe the digitals will have a "film" mode esp. in B&W someday to give us that old film look?
congratulations, very nice photos. the grd is a fine camera, i'm thinking of buying
one too.
please tell me: what is the craftsman doing in the last photos?
tom
SteveM(PA)
10-18-2007, 22:16
Wow, nice...I especially love the blue portrait...is that macro?
sienarot
10-18-2007, 22:24
Wow, that's great! I was considering getting one for a while, but passed on it.
How are you finding the noise on higher ISOs?
please tell me: what is the craftsman doing in the last photos?
He was carving out cuts in a plaster negative for a bronze sculpture. His end result looks something like this:
http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=50876&stc=1&d=1192804528
Wow, nice...I especially love the blue portrait...is that macro?
Nope, not macro, I like the blue too, two different light sources worked together well in that shot I think.
How are you finding the noise on higher ISOs?
It really isnt a problem. ISO 1600 lacks the detail of 100 of course but thats the trade off. No problems making a3 sized prints with the 1600's, later will try some 40 inchers or larger just for kicks. Im not much of a pixel peeper, the camera is good enough for most applications when a dslr or whatever larger high quality camera and optics cant make the trip with you. Reports say that raw takes 15 some seconds to write to the card, my experience is that its about 4-5 seconds using my run of the mill sandisk 2 gig sd card. But still I shoot jpgs mostly and have been happy enough with the quality. One thing that I am very happy about is that the noise has no banding, which plagues my canon 20D and gives the shots a very nice character.
rogue_designer
10-19-2007, 06:47
Avotius - great images. Thanks for the "real world" review of how this camera works for you... not just for the pixel peepers.
Avotius - great images. Thanks for the "real world" review of how this camera works for you... not just for the pixel peepers.
Your very welcome. I believe in real world camera use because that is where I use my cameras. If I truly need the pixel peep thats what my medium format and hopefully (future) large format is for.
kalokeri
10-19-2007, 06:59
I´m using the GRD for some time now and - though it should be used more if time allows - agree with your opinion. After installing all available firmware-updates the camera runs perfect, I´m very content with the handling and the quality of the pictures.
Btw: great shots as always.
Thomas
Burlap Jacket
10-19-2007, 07:14
I got mine for $425 dollars, new of course, with a quite clever Ricoh camera bag, and a sandisk 2 gig card thrown in.
Where did you find it so cheap?
Some great results you posted!
Where did you find it so cheap?
Some great results you posted!
Local camera store, seems like they were desperate to get rid of them. They throw in a 1gb card but I bargained them to make it a 2. Great prices we have in china sometimes...
sockdaddy
10-19-2007, 07:33
for the pictures that you posted above, did you use the B&W shooting mode, or did you make those conversions from color outside of the camera?
regardless, they look great.
i just recently bought the GX100, but haven't really had the chance to explore what it's capable of. i can tell you that it's got great ergonomics for a pocket camera, and that it seems like it will be a winner.
for the pictures that you posted above, did you use the B&W shooting mode, or did you make those conversions from color outside of the camera?
regardless, they look great.
i just recently bought the GX100, but haven't really had the chance to explore what it's capable of. i can tell you that it's got great ergonomics for a pocket camera, and that it seems like it will be a winner.
I shot the bw mode with contrast jacked all the way up, then post processing some contrast, brightness etc.
I looked closely at that gx100 and the canon g9, the g9 just didnt float my boat, the gx100 was neat indeed but I ultimately wanted the compact and nostalgia of the gr1v. Cant go wrong either way I think.
BillBingham2
10-19-2007, 07:51
Thanks for sharing your shots. Very well done.
B2 (;->
shadowfox
10-19-2007, 08:00
Avotius, I'm a big fan of your pictures, but I have to agree with Bill up there. There is a certain lack of depth that your film pictures had.
It's not that these are bad pictures, they are great, but it is... well, digital :)
Those are freakin good hey, I really appreciate your reviews on lenses and cameras. I've been eyeing off a GRd for ages now. You may have pushed me over the edge.
BillBingham2
10-19-2007, 08:28
IMHO, in a digital world depth is hard to say why it does or doesn't occur. I think some of what you are looking for might be because of the settings of the camera or post processing. Increasing the contrast might mess up depth, no? The lens looks wonderful so perhaps I am not understanding what you mean by depth and it being digitial.
Help me understand.
B2 (;->
sockdaddy
10-19-2007, 08:29
i think that the images from the GRD (and hopefully my GX100) actually do give the impression of film images. especially the B&W images that it can create.
regardless, great pictures - please share more from this little camera!
Gabriel M.A.
10-19-2007, 08:31
Very nice, Avotius.
Are these *all* shot at ISO 1600?
noimmunity
10-19-2007, 08:38
Congratulations! That's a great price for a great camera. Not exactly a P&S at all. One of the really fun things about it, besides the total manual control , the sharp lens , and the pocketable size, is the fact that you also have to accept its limitations and learn to use them--which you are clearly doing and doing in an enjoyable way, both for yourself and for viewers!
I bought mine new in Hong Kong for $625 and thought that was a bargain. After that I finally convinced myself that I could justify the cost of film and some definitive lenses.
Your record of Chongqing conveys, quite unusually, an inimitable aesthetic and a concern or love for the common. undoubtedly the GRD will be another useful and ultimately quirky human tool in your gifted hands!
-jon 小強
Nice Avo! I'm visiting China for 2.5 weeks at the end of the year I'm thinking of bringing JUST my GRD!
Hey.. what did you need to use to use the GRD's battery charger? Just a plug adapter?
I'm lovin' this guy's GRD work.. http://www.flickr.com/photos/8364202@N08/
Looks like I need to upgrade my firmware to get the square crop option.
shadowfox
10-19-2007, 11:15
IMHO, in a digital world depth is hard to say why it does or doesn't occur. I think some of what you are looking for might be because of the settings of the camera or post processing. Increasing the contrast might mess up depth, no? The lens looks wonderful so perhaps I am not understanding what you mean by depth and it being digitial.
Help me understand.
B2 (;->
Bill,
In my mind, composition and timing-wise, those pictures are excellent, typical Avotius stuff.
But to me (and I'm certain that I'm not the only one), digital pictures tend to be "flatter" than film unless you're using the close-focus/macro settings. Nothing to do with the lens quality, although big max. aperture certainly does help. It's the sensor size and as you said, in-camera post-processing.
I'm just saying that some of the pictures (especially the first ones) exhibit the typical characteristic I see in digital pictures. Some call it sterile, I call it "too faithful rendition of the real world" :D
Sorry Avotius, not trying to critique your pictures, just clarifying what I wrote.
I'm just saying that some of the pictures (especially the first ones) exhibit the typical characteristic I see in digital pictures. Some call it sterile, I call it "too faithful rendition of the real world" :D
Or characteristics of a 35mm film image shot at small aperture..
sebastel
10-19-2007, 11:57
arrrrgh!
from my own experience, i can only tell, this camera is no good.
you can only take pictures with it.
no "ahhhhh" "ohhhhhh" "great camera" comments.
no "when will my pic be in the papers?"
no grrrls jumping into the field of view.
no, it's no good. and expensive, too.
:-)
周模愉快
s.
So, Avotius.
What's with all the Robert Frank pictures pinned to the wall? Guess it's related to your post from the other day, no? What's going on there? Those aren't originals, are they?
Gary
So, Avotius.
What's with all the Robert Frank pictures pinned to the wall? Guess it's related to your post from the other day, no? What's going on there? Those aren't originals, are they?
Gary
Nope, my friend is a robert frank fan and printed off a bunch of his photos he found online to stick on his wall next to his. Ya know....inspiration.
Avotius, I'm a big fan of your pictures, but I have to agree with Bill up there. There is a certain lack of depth that your film pictures had.
It's not that these are bad pictures, they are great, but it is... well, digital :)
I agree, its digital...but ya know....my favorite film processor in town, not to mention the only decent film processor....recently stopped doing film. I have to make the choice of shooting more digital or take my film to another town to be done up. Its alright though, I will keep up the film, in fact there are some bessa/zeiss planar color shots coming soon.
Those are freakin good hey, I really appreciate your reviews on lenses and cameras. I've been eyeing off a GRd for ages now. You may have pushed me over the edge.
Its a great one, keep a look out for deals as its discontinued or wait for the grd2 like everyone else seems to be doing. I thought about waiting but then again think of all the good photos I would miss.
Very nice, Avotius.
Are these *all* shot at ISO 1600?
No, I will label them
Hey.. what did you need to use to use the GRD's battery charger? Just a plug adapter?
My GRD's batter charger thing...if you look on the back it has the information and stuff, look for the part that says the input, it should say 110v-240v. They use 240 here so as long as it says that you can charge it here no problem. The basic two pronged wall plug works just about anywhere here so no problem.
Sorry Avotius, not trying to critique your pictures, just clarifying what I wrote.
Film isnt digital, digital isnt film, no offense taken. I do like the film look better but what ya gona do? Photography is all about sacrifices. Sacrifices to the camera size, sacrifices to the image quality, sacrifices to the wife....whatever.
More photos, I was at the street market today. After 500 frames in a few days with the camera im convinced its great. Sure noise could be less, but what ya gona do. All the shots below were taken with the snap mode, it works great. One of the advantages of having a small CCD is that 4.0 is more then enough to shoot street scenes in snap.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2176/1649999668_6bf89d8ced_o.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2098/1649132917_2874e2eb01_o.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2074/1649130365_c1ad39fac3_o.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2213/1649993342_9390152861_o.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2358/1649126259_6e28ce6543_o.jpg
sweet! do you shoot in Raw or JPEG?
I've found that there is less noise @ high ISO when you shoot with the in-camera B&W mode versus shooting in color and then converting to B&W..
Just processed a few pics from the trip to the farm.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2365/1666285874_c897baee43_o.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2317/1665473797_105429e0a4_o.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2007/1666285382_b5fb061d67_o.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2202/1665426397_0bdb13037e_o.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2063/1665426657_ffd4ee5288_o.jpg
very cool indeed. I have found that because of the random pattern of the noise and the way noise just melts together with black and white it indeed is nicer to shoot this camera in bw mode. I just jack contrast all the way up as that is my preferred look. Today I took some images to the printers to see how they come out, unfortunately im not set up at home to print photos, soon I hope, but until then just keep my fingers crossed that the images stand up in print.
I have shot a few photos in raw but the raw write speed its pretty pokey, I already think the jpg write speed is a little poky (compared to my 20d) so ya...
If you shoot in B+W mode, can you set contrast or sharpening settings?
Its seems from the menu, that you can set 2 custimized settings for color jpegs, but in B&W, are you stuck with the defaults?
Gary
principe azul
10-21-2007, 10:35
Some nice shots here.
gns,
Yes. This feature came with one of the more recent firmware updates:
http://www.ricoh.com/r_dc/download/firmware/grd/win.html
edit ¦ ...but only this one customised setting for b/w, AFAIK...
Yep, the most recent firmware allowed you to set B&W "film" settings and also colour bracket.
I'm just off out to use up a roll of Neopan 400 in my GR1V :)
Avotius,
I bought my GRD recently to take advantage of the price drop before they vanish off the shelves.
I'm very pleased with it and have just updated the firmware to 2.31.
This allows me to set up sharpening and contrast in B&W. More usefully, for me, I can adjust auto bracketing between .3 or .5.
My flkr link below leads to my GRD slideshow, if you care to take a look.
Regards, Richard F.
fish: I really like this shot.. http://www.flickr.com/photos/78955290@N00/1418054922/in/set-72157601887621457/
you pulled out some great range out of the GRD image.. did you shoot raw and played around with the fill and recover settings?
forgive my blindness but where can I find my firmware version? Its probably up to date but couldnt hurt to look.
ywenz, Glad you like the pic, I don't yet have the software for raw, I shoot fine jpegs at the lowest iso, usually in colour and then de-saturate in Ps.2, (adust color/colorize, and then adjust the top two sliders to give a hint of sepia)
One day I'll get Ps.5 and try shooting raw.
Avotius, If you click on Ian's link above and scroll down a little you'll find instructions on how to check your firmware.
Good luck,
Richard F.
Just a little update. I have been working with this camera for a while now. A few comments:
Sometimes the lens does not come out all the way when I turn the camera on, its rather annoying sometimes.
Many times the camera does not turn on at all. Im convinced its a battery contact problem, poping it out and back in seems to help most of the time, sometimes I need to pop it in and out a few times to get it working.
The charger and battery dont like each other too much. After sticking the battery in after a minute or two the charger shuts off. Another contact issue. Sticking something behind the battery to wedge it further into the charger works but is not very brilliant.
I refuse to open that USB rubber door thing after the first time I did, its poooooor quality. I have no doubt that opening it too many times would end up in a door that did not close right.
I dont shoot raw, its too slow. JPG's look good from the camera though and more then suffice for what I use it for.
JPG's printed to 24 inches seriously lacked detail. Mosaic patterns started to show a bit, nothing huge, but obviously not up to par with 35mm film or the sort.
Color response of this camera can be called very conservative, even tweaking with the settings its pretty conservative. This camera likes to make blue very saturated though.
Black and white mode is still how I usually shoot the camera, works great I think.
Snap mode is brilliant, the responce of this little point and shoot is great when you use snap mode, not that the auto focus is slow, its great, and very accurate, but snap mode takes that split second the auto focus needs and throws it out the door. Awsome.
The LCD screen isnt great, I have a plastic protective cover thing on it, that helps. Try to view screen straight on.
I wonder how many of these problems were solved with the GRD2
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