Really lovely images! I see so many YT videos of Ricoh GR'ists and despite having such a great tool, their photos are often appear very dull. It's so easy just to snap a photo of a random person as they walk by. But it's far more difficult to take a really good one. But then this rule applies to all photographers and all cameras. Just because one owns the latest GR or just any Ricoh, it won't necessarily make one a better photographer. I think one couple of tips that really helped in improving my photography were a) studying the work of William Klein and Henri Cartier-Bresson, and b) and this one really helped me when I first started out, being slightly drunk!!
I just wanted to add, I've recently returned from Italy where I had taken my Olympus E-M1 mk2 with a 15mm 1.7 DJI lens. I had to do this as my Ricoh GR II has developed the dreaded shutter fault and is therefore out of action for now. Ricoh's are lovely little cameras, but the Olympus (and Panasonic) range are just as good and 'fluid' and shouldn't be ignored. You can easily simulate the snap focus feature, which makes them as fast to use as any GR or Leica. The smaller m43 sensor (20mp in this case) also gets closer to the 10-12mp CCD that you wax lyrical about, and my images are often full of gorgeous grit and grain because of. Lastly, your work Juan is an inspiration. I really love all these videos and in particular your photographs, which are very human. Please keep up the good work and also keep producing your books/zines, and possibly consider doing a second edition of your existing one's as I'd love to buy them all.
Funny, I also have a GRII and got a GRDIV earlier this year. There's also a Ricoh GRIII in the middle of that. I've really wanted to love the GR as I love the concept behind it, but with the GRII and GRIII I had trouble pre-visualizing my compositions and so I never quite got attached. Initially I thought it was the 28mm FOV, but realized I didn't have the same struggles with smartphone cameras with a similar FOV. Earlier this year I decided it was the 3:2 aspect ratio of the APS-C GRs. About 90% of my shots I shoot vertical, so that 3:2 becomes 2:3 with two challenges. (1) It's just tall, and I'm not great a pre-visualizing compositions in that ratio, and (2) it doesn't share well to social media; Instagram wants squatter 4:5 images and always cropped my GR shots uncomfortably. Hence I bought a used GRDIV earlier this year, and I gotta say I love it. The 4:3 aspect ratio of the older GRs fits my pre-visualization habits much better -- maybe because I always shoot vertical, maybe because smart phones taught me 4:3, or maybe because I really cut my teeth in photography with Micro 4/3 -- and I really don't miss the bigger sensor at all. If anything, the added DOF from the small sensor makes me more confident with the snap focus mode. I haven't done as much photography this year as I want to be doing, but the GRDIV really is an inspiring camera to hold and to use. Makes me want to walk bustling city streets without a destination.
@@SuperReview yes it’s odd. It is a CCD sensor, so I my GX200 which is a GRD II with a zoom lens. Bu any setting above 400, as Juan rightly points out is really noisy. The GRD IV doesn’t seem to add any noise at all. But instead it does smudge any details. But that doesn’t really matter, especially if shooting black and white. And again, run it through Topaz, which of course was never available back in 2011. My only real gripe with the IV is it’s relatively slow write to SD card. If that was faster, it would be the perfect compact. I also have no intention to buy a GR III because my Olympus does everything that does, but so much more.
Dude, you are being influenced far to much by social media. You don't decide to shoot a certain ratio because instagram tells you. Shoot for you, not because social media platforms are dictating how you should shoot.
Enjoy your videos and am impressed by the quality of your photography. Which I would define as documentary with an aesthetic impulse. One question is over the years do you film in monochrome or colour and post process to black and white.. also raw or jpeg. Great content and apologies for posing the question in English and not Spanish.
I shoot raw. Coming from shooting mostly black and white film years ago, I got used to “seeing” in black and white, although I think that ability has diluted a bit over the years. I tried using the BW film simulations in the Fujis and the high contrast BW in the Ricohs that so many people love, but I just like having the control to do things in post.
For me the GRIii is a better choice. I don’t like the 28mm focal length. Too wide unless I’m in a parade or demonstration. LOVE the IBIS. Have the video button set to digitally zoom to 35mm. Maybe the iiiX might be a better choice for me. I don’t miss the flash on the GRii. Mask On Nurse Marty (Ret)
Valid reasons. I went out with the 27mm on the X-pro3 the other day (similar folcal length to the GRIIIx) and found it a bit long. I was in a parade though! :)
The pics you took are beautiful, thanks for sharing them with us! Between lots of creators that share images made just for the video, your images stand out as they clearly came from some curious eyes. It's also interesting the way you shoot without watching and still being able to compose properly. Great video :)
Great images! Thank you for your story with GR! I am a beginner in photography with a lack of experience, so I think that GR will be great for me to get this experience. I am surprised that your images are not flat, they are a like 3D. I am not able to do so with my camera. Can you please advise is there any retouching of your images?
I should make a video on my processing. But in a nutshell: I mostly develop in an old version of SilverEFX; I have a “Tri-X” preset that I always use as starting point; I dodge and burn, some times admittedly too much.
great photography!!!
Really lovely images! I see so many YT videos of Ricoh GR'ists and despite having such a great tool, their photos are often appear very dull. It's so easy just to snap a photo of a random person as they walk by. But it's far more difficult to take a really good one. But then this rule applies to all photographers and all cameras. Just because one owns the latest GR or just any Ricoh, it won't necessarily make one a better photographer. I think one couple of tips that really helped in improving my photography were a) studying the work of William Klein and Henri Cartier-Bresson, and b) and this one really helped me when I first started out, being slightly drunk!!
I just wanted to add, I've recently returned from Italy where I had taken my Olympus E-M1 mk2 with a 15mm 1.7 DJI lens. I had to do this as my Ricoh GR II has developed the dreaded shutter fault and is therefore out of action for now. Ricoh's are lovely little cameras, but the Olympus (and Panasonic) range are just as good and 'fluid' and shouldn't be ignored. You can easily simulate the snap focus feature, which makes them as fast to use as any GR or Leica. The smaller m43 sensor (20mp in this case) also gets closer to the 10-12mp CCD that you wax lyrical about, and my images are often full of gorgeous grit and grain because of.
Lastly, your work Juan is an inspiration. I really love all these videos and in particular your photographs, which are very human. Please keep up the good work and also keep producing your books/zines, and possibly consider doing a second edition of your existing one's as I'd love to buy them all.
Thank you so much!
Very interesting video - thanks. I’ve just bought a Ricoh GR, so good inspiration - great images too
These are some great photos
Good photos 👍🏻 camera seems awesome too, just bought my first one GRii and it’s green
1:09
Good photos! And stories :) I have GRD and GRD III. I use later often.
Funny, I also have a GRII and got a GRDIV earlier this year. There's also a Ricoh GRIII in the middle of that. I've really wanted to love the GR as I love the concept behind it, but with the GRII and GRIII I had trouble pre-visualizing my compositions and so I never quite got attached. Initially I thought it was the 28mm FOV, but realized I didn't have the same struggles with smartphone cameras with a similar FOV.
Earlier this year I decided it was the 3:2 aspect ratio of the APS-C GRs. About 90% of my shots I shoot vertical, so that 3:2 becomes 2:3 with two challenges. (1) It's just tall, and I'm not great a pre-visualizing compositions in that ratio, and (2) it doesn't share well to social media; Instagram wants squatter 4:5 images and always cropped my GR shots uncomfortably. Hence I bought a used GRDIV earlier this year, and I gotta say I love it. The 4:3 aspect ratio of the older GRs fits my pre-visualization habits much better -- maybe because I always shoot vertical, maybe because smart phones taught me 4:3, or maybe because I really cut my teeth in photography with Micro 4/3 -- and I really don't miss the bigger sensor at all. If anything, the added DOF from the small sensor makes me more confident with the snap focus mode.
I haven't done as much photography this year as I want to be doing, but the GRDIV really is an inspiring camera to hold and to use. Makes me want to walk bustling city streets without a destination.
interesting! I do the opposite: I’m very used to 3:2, so I crop the GRd IV images to that aspect ratio 🙂
I love my GRD IV too! It’s a great fun little camera to take out when I don’t want to bring my Olympus (also underrated gem).
@@tomfenn7149 IQ on the GRDIV is surprisingly awesome -- even ISO1600 is very usable, and 3200 I don't hate.
@@SuperReview yes it’s odd. It is a CCD sensor, so I my GX200 which is a GRD II with a zoom lens. Bu any setting above 400, as Juan rightly points out is really noisy. The GRD IV doesn’t seem to add any noise at all. But instead it does smudge any details. But that doesn’t really matter, especially if shooting black and white. And again, run it through Topaz, which of course was never available back in 2011. My only real gripe with the IV is it’s relatively slow write to SD card. If that was faster, it would be the perfect compact. I also have no intention to buy a GR III because my Olympus does everything that does, but so much more.
Dude, you are being influenced far to much by social media. You don't decide to shoot a certain ratio because instagram tells you. Shoot for you, not because social media platforms are dictating how you should shoot.
Enjoy your videos and am impressed by the quality of your photography. Which I would define as documentary with an aesthetic impulse. One question is over the years do you film in monochrome or colour and post process to black and white.. also raw or jpeg. Great content and apologies for posing the question in English and not Spanish.
I shoot raw. Coming from shooting mostly black and white film years ago, I got used to “seeing” in black and white, although I think that ability has diluted a bit over the years.
I tried using the BW film simulations in the Fujis and the high contrast BW in the Ricohs that so many people love, but I just like having the control to do things in post.
For me the GRIii is a better choice. I don’t like the 28mm focal length. Too wide unless I’m in a parade or demonstration. LOVE the IBIS. Have the video button set to digitally zoom to 35mm. Maybe the iiiX might be a better choice for me. I don’t miss the flash on the GRii.
Mask On Nurse Marty (Ret)
Valid reasons. I went out with the 27mm on the X-pro3 the other day (similar folcal length to the GRIIIx) and found it a bit long. I was in a parade though! :)
Great video - new sub here. Really amazing and inspiring photos. Would you consider doing a tutorial video on how you process your black and whites?
I've been wanting to make such a video for a while!
The pics you took are beautiful, thanks for sharing them with us! Between lots of creators that share images made just for the video, your images stand out as they clearly came from some curious eyes. It's also interesting the way you shoot without watching and still being able to compose properly.
Great video :)
Great images! Thank you for your story with GR!
I am a beginner in photography with a lack of experience, so I think that GR will be great for me to get this experience.
I am surprised that your images are not flat, they are a like 3D. I am not able to do so with my camera.
Can you please advise is there any retouching of your images?
I should make a video on my processing. But in a nutshell: I mostly develop in an old version of SilverEFX; I have a “Tri-X” preset that I always use as starting point; I dodge and burn, some times admittedly too much.
That picture with the VW Bug was simulated in camera or by you? That is such a rich photograph. 👌
Thanks! all in camera, converted to BW in Lightroom, with minimal dodge/burn work 🙂
Hi Juan!
Do you shot RAW or Jpg black and white?
If it’s JPG, could you tell me your settings for the colors?
Thank you!
I shoot RAW. Usually process wither in Lightroom or in an old version of SilverEFX.
Thank you, Juan!
Came for the pictures, but the talk was great as well.
Cheers!