Bamboozled!? Or was the Accidental Purchase of a Ricoh GR Digital camera actually a Blessing?
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 7 июл 2023
- Did an ebay purchase gone bad turn out to be a good thing for me? In this video I discuss what happened when I ordered the wrong item based on the seller's description. Find out how and if the ordeal was resolved to satisfaction. Nonetheless, I took the opportunity to try out the camera in question and in this video I explain my first impressions and show some images I shot both indoors and outside.
I also explain how to tell the difference between the two versions of the Ricoh GR and Ricoh GR Digital cameras, and why there is a price difference so you don't get bamboozled into the wrong camera!
But the question is, if you did get bamboozled, would it be worth keeping? Check out the video and find out my impressions and opinion.
* * *
ebay - www.ebay.com/str/doziergraphic
Website - www.DozierGraphic.com
Instagram - / doziergraphic
* * *
Books Published by Jason Dozier on Amazon:
My 100 Top Street Photos from 2021
a.co/d/am02gDT
Puche': A Collection of Photography by Jason Dozier (My First Book)
amzn.to/3DN88MD
Urban Images: A Collection of Urban & CityScape Photography
amzn.to/3mT3NRZ
Urban Images: A Collection of B&W Urban and Street Photography
amzn.to/3DzlEmV
* * *
Equipment used in this video:
(Amazon affiliate links - Any purchase made through these links will give me a small amount)
Ricoh GR III (GR3) - amzn.to/2XZvBqr
Ricoh GR II (GR2) - amzn.to/2DWH5DY
Ricoh GA-1 Adapter - amzn.to/3auyyEr
JJC Metal Thumbs Up Grip - amzn.to/2E4gCVe
LightPix Labs FlashQ Q20II - amzn.to/2FYnsMV
GW-4 21mm Wide Conversion Lens - amzn.to/3akUzFM
Newmowa Li-90B Battery - amzn.to/30Vnq0d
Tiffen 49mm UV Filter - amzn.to/3fOErNS
Fotodiox 7 Metal Step Up Ring Set - amzn.to/33TBlWB
SanDisk 64GB Card - amzn.to/33Z28kq
* * *
Rode Go II Audio Recorder/Transmitter - amzn.to/3qzkhPc
GoPro HERO7 Black - amzn.to/2PNFovl
GoPro Performance Chest Mount - amzn.to/2PP1YDA
* * *
The Stealth Photographer Coffee Mug:
bit.ly/2QwUEwU
* * *
#ricohgr #streetphotography #ricohgriii 
Хобби
GRD: jpg, b/w, snap, high ISO … stone-cold unrivaled street destroyer. The mind-melting things that people have done with that. Absolute legend.
I didn't follow the brand until the GRiii came out, but wish I had known of them years ago!
The classics of the range are the GR1v, GR21, and this GR Digital. They are the best of the bunch. The new GR series is great, but not as special as those other cameras. The GR Digital is basically at it's best when you shoot flash, B&W, jpeg with the contrast and sharpness raised a little high on an ISO with visible noise. It's not really worth shooting color with it, or using any noise reduction. In fact if you use any noise reduction it will just turn everything into a smeary mess. You have to lean into it's strengths. You should do a video about shooting it like that. If you want nice CCD colors the GR Digital III, or IV is better.@@DozierGraphic
Keep up your honesty and good opinions Sir , and thank you for sharing.
will do - much appreciated!
Cool old GR, I have never even heard of this one before. Thanks for the video.
Thanks! Glad you found it interesting!
Nice, watching your vid while I'm doing my radio show in Australia :)
It's a dying industry with a few of us still hanging on! lol
Blessing in disguise 100%
The GR Digital cameras are really really great for their age, with the original GRD being the best, in my opinion. Sure the GRD4 has more features and megapixels, but the original GRD renders black and white in a way I have never seen replicated since (Lumix LC-1 is the closest but still not quite). Black & white shooting is their strong suit though with some wrestling you can get a good color image.
When shooting b&w the noise produced from the original GRD looks reminiscent of film grain because there is no onboard noise reduction software (later GRD models all had them in some degree). The noise does not look good in color though so keep the ISO low.
Dont let the 8.1/10.1 megapixels in the GRD models deter you, they are really capable pocket cameras. The macro mode will really suprise you and have gotten better shots than some slr/ macro lens setups.
All good points! I think people are starting to look at character and image rendering more than megapixels these days, as opposed to perfection, and that's where cameras like this come into play!
Between the two, which one would you say produces more film like photos in color?
Hi Jason
I enjoyed your video! I don't have a Ricoh and never putchsed one because of the price and some complaints on the dust. I always thought have thee GR1 would be great to have but everytime another good review comes out on RUclips the prices just goes up!!
Best wishes
Duane
LOL I've probably make Ricoh and a lot of individual sellers a lot of money! Thanks Duane!
Hi ! Cool video, I love that forgotten camera. I own this one from the time it came out (and also a GRD4). Mine also run into the issue with the dial freezing the camera or not responding sometimes. That's why I bought the 4th. Two years ago I used a spray for contacts and spray in it (camera should be turned off) and actionned the dial (left, right, push) for 2 mns. I waited a day to be sure everything is dry inside and tada ! It works like a charm. It's only a matter of dust and rust on the contacts inside 😉 I hope it will works with yours.
Thanks milwatt, but I've tried all that with the III on the crappy plastic wheel with no success, and angered that a camera that expensive would have such a problem. But with the GRD, it'd be worth a shot as I know others have had success. Appreciate the input and I'd encourage others to certainly try that fix!
Between the two, which one would you say produces more film like photos in color?
Also how does the b&w compare between the two?
@@StreetCow77 For B&W the GRD produce a unique and nice balanced grainy/soft look. It's because of the old sensor. The GRD4 is far way better for color and the B&W is also very good (and tweakable ie contrast, sharpness, etc).
I bought a s/h one of these on Ebay about10 years ago. Can only say that I've never held a camera that I felt so at ease to hold and use. At the time I only really used it for Ebay photos, with the tremendous macro abilities. I later sold it.
I've recently bought a GX100, so we'll see how that goes.
The macro is very precise. I don't use it for that often, but have tested and turned out very sharp!
Good review! I have a GRD-IV and I absolutely love it. The D4 imo is the best of the CCD GR's. It is much slower of course than the latest models, but we have got so used to modern tech that we forget that film could be as slow while winding on to the next frame without a motordrive. Writing a DNG to an SD card (get the fastest SDHC you can) is about 2 seconds, and you can also put the camera in continuous mode to shoot 4 DNG's in succession. I'd say the GRD4 is the best GR to get if you don't want to shell out $1000 for the APS-C version, just to get a feel for the GR system. That all said, the GR is still no way as good as an Olympus for example, but it certainly has advantages over the bigger small sensor cameras, such as pocketability. Plus the fact it makes you look cool!!
I wish I had experienced the GRD4, but it was fun to get an experience with the original. I'll likely pick up a GRD4 in the future just for the fun of it.
Thanks for the input. How would you say it compares to the GRD I. Between the two, which one would you say produces more film like photos in color?
Also how does the b&w compare between the two?
Great camera for B&W! I use it only in B&W mode, ISO 400 and it has a wonderful film look. Mine has the same issue that the ADJ button freeezes the camera, so I never touch it.
BTW, the flash does not flip out manually. If you set the flash mode on the selection wheel, it will pop up as needed.
Thanks for sharing! yes, after the video I realized how easy it is to flip up the flash! As I've said, these type of older cameras are an acquired taste, but can produce such unique images that newer models can't replicate.
A couple of sprays of contact cleaner in the adj wheel should fix it!
@@igz78 no, that does not solve the problem
I have a Ricoh GR digital 8.1 megapixel and use it for black and white at high iso for indoors and in poor weather.
I love it. If the light goes up I shut down the aperture with the wheel on the front.
i always use jpegs.
I put sharpness up.
Its my favourite camera. Great results.
I use a Canon Ixus 100s for colour. Old ccd sensors are the way to go for different looking results.
Thanks for the input. They're definitely affordable enough to experiment with and enjoy!
This camera got me into (street) photography back in 2007. I loved it. Only shot B&W and it reminded me of Tri-x. After that I got the GRD3, which was good but it never gave me the joy of shooting with the O.G. Just bought a GR3 - we'll see how that goes.
Thanks for the input! You're going to enjoy the GR3, and get better quality images, but it does lose a bit of the 'personality' of the older GRs. It's more technically 'perfect' but that's not necessarily what we look for in street. The GR3 is a one-of-a-kind camera that hasn't been replicated ... have fun!
The flash will pop up automatically when you select flash on mode in up button
Took me a minute to figure that out! Thanks for the input my friend!
I'm curious to know how different the black and white jpegs of the GRD are versus those of the first APS-C GR
In a perfect light situation, they're comparable if you just posting to social media/online, but in lower light the noise is magnified in the GRD. When Ricoh moved up to the APS-C sensor, the difference was certainly noticeable. In editing software, the noise and sharpness can be adjusted easily, but the jpegs out of camera would be rough in the GRD.
@@DozierGraphic Good to know, thank you
I was one of those people who fell for the Scam, any idea what the best settings for a beginner would be I cant find any ideas covering this camera
I recently purchased original GRD1. It is great in many ways. But I have one question: GRD1 does not have the option to choose your distances for SNAP focus mode…..so every time I try using the Snap focus, I’m never sure what distance(1m?, 2m?, 5m? Infinities?) is there solution to it? Firmware update would fix it? Or am I missing something?
It's set at 2.5m - which isn't the best for street photography. I believe you have to go up to at least the digital II before you can set your snap distance.
@@DozierGraphic That makes sense!
I always wondered and was guessing around 2m. I was close! I also felt GRD is more forgiving in terms of zone focus (snap) than other APS-C lines snap mode or even later Fuji x series zone focusing. Maybe because of its smaller censor?
Anyway thanks so much for the info on
GRD 1 !
More I get to know about this little temperamental old camera, more I fall in love with BW photography itself not the gears.
@@KohtarohZushi right, the way I understand it, the smaller sensor will give you a much wider depth of field, but that 2.5 also means you can't get too close.
You may want to check out the work of photographer/author Michael Ernest Sweet who has created some unique street photography using the Ricoh GR Digital 4, (the last version of the tiny sensor GR Digital line before the first APS-C Ricoh GR). I own a GR Digital 4 in addition to my GR iii and find it to be an excellent street camera!
Thanks - will check that out!
I have always wanted to try the older GR's just for fun but they are often being sold for eye watering prices. No way I would pay 200-300$/€ + shipping and VAT for two decades or so old cameras.
A fun suggestion, one way to 'play the game' with used gear is to come up with that 300-400, look for those 'old cameras' that keep their resale value, buy one, enjoy it for a few months, then sell it (whether you lose a few buck or make a few bucks isn't the point, it's just part of the 'hobby') then buy something else, and just keep recycling that same few hundred. If you keep your purchases at lines like Ricoh, you'll almost always be able to get what you paid for it.
Ricoh really failed with the naming convention on these things. What was wrong with GR 5, 6 and 7? Anyway, I have a GRD2 and love it. So small to fit into my pocket. Far better lens and sensor than all smartphones. RAW processing is up to 4 seconds with a fast SD card and you can shoot a few more images consecutively as well. I do have other high end kit such as full frame cameras but the GRD2 takes some beautiful images. Don't write these things off easily.
They're more than capable of awesome street photography, especially black and white!
Man. I feel dumb and gutted. I just ordered the Ricoh GR iii, thinking it was the GR iii, but I ended up with this GR iii Digital. I didn't know there was a difference and I only found out because I was trying to find the Bluetooth menu. I'm so mad. :(
Fortunately, the resale value doesn't go down because there is still a decent demand for the small sensor digital version, and you could actually make a profit on the digital. If you have an ebay account put it up for sale and charge a little more than you paid.
@@DozierGraphic I initiated a return on Ebay. I also asked if they might have the GRIII and I could just exchange and pay the difference. But I also may look into a FujiFilm XQ20. Thank you for responding. You got your self a new sub and a like.
@@mattr1554made the same mistake, what was your process w returning?
@@chrisoppong5543 I got lucky and the seller was a reputable shop on EBay in Japan. The let me return it for a refund and they even covered the shipping. They told me that it happens a lot with the GR III.
I actually went out of my way to get the 8.1mp because I wanted this early camera; I can honestly say the B&W mode is amazing, forget it's sensor size the way this camera processes B&W I think is nearest to film and better than the other GR's if your looking to produce that 'PROVOKE' look in your images. If you shoot colour don't bother with this camera as there are other GR's that are better unless you want that early digital look. I should say great Jpeg images you don't need RAW to print 10x8.
It's an acquired taste, but definitely has a lot of character! Enjoy!
@@DozierGraphic If you like Provoke images this little camera does it by the bucket load. Amazing little camera.
Is it wrong that I kinda like the noise?
Not at all! But it's pretty thick for some images. I love heavy grain in film, but digital noise just isn't as pleasant to me lol
Ricoh GR Digital 8 MP + viewfinder GV-1 + original case + GW-3 Wide Angle Conversion Lens w/ GH-3 Hood Adapter, purchased in February 2024 for €250. ✨🎉🎉
hope you're enjoying my friend!
I had one. I liked it, but then the lens would not go back in.
on no! I'm sure there are all kinds of things that 'can happen' with these cameras lol
For the last 25 years I thought "bamboozled" was just a made up word by FRIENDS.
Oh well...😅
Good vid.. Cleared some things up for me about the earlier Ricoh versions!
..😅😅
lol glad you enjoyed!