My new take-everywhere camera the Ricoh GRIII
The one you have with you
A couple of years ago I wrote in my notes here about my new compact camera. The main thing that I was trying achieve with a smaller camera was to have a camera with me at all times and start documenting things with photography the way I did when I gpt my first digital camera. While the Fujifilm X100T is an incredibly powerful and fun camera it was just a little too bulky for me to take everywhere.
By the way, I know my iPhone is a powerful camera that I literally have with me all day, but… it’s just doesn’t feel like photography to me, it feels like a tool, a utility to capture the mundane like serial numbers or things I need to remember later. There’s something about the form factor of a camera with a tactile shutter release button that you can feel that just grabs me in a different way to the touch screen on a slim rectangle of glass.
Enter the GRIII
I watch a lot of photography content on Youtube, like, a lot. As I got more interested in street photography, it wasn’t long before I started to see photographers talking about the Ricoh GR line.
Samuel L. Streetlife
Samuel L. Streetlife is one of my favourite GR focussed Youtube channels. Particularly Samuel’s GR Project series of videos. The premise is simple, travel to a different city and talk to a photographer about the Ricoh GR.
Initially this seems like a very overpriced little point and shoot, but it’s so much more than that. Some of the main aspects of the camera that made me decide to pull the trigger were…
- Extremely compact and portable
- APSC sensor in a very small body
- Touch screen to focus and or shoot
- Snap focus
- High quality build and materials
- Positive Film and High Contract Black and White effects
Got one. Now what?
After waiting patiently and putting in countless ‘Best offers’ on eBay I finally got one at a decent price second hand. Out the box this was a totally different experience than I am used to with DSLRs or bigger camera bodies where most of the controls are at your finger tips and not buried in the menu.
It has taken me quite a few weeks to ‘get it’ and now I’m absolutely hooked. This camera is small enough to drop into my pocket, even trouser pocket. I’m still amazed at the punch this little camera packs.
To encourage me to take my camera everywhere I have set up a little daily photoblog at https://daily-gr.craigmclachlan.co.uk.
I’m learning more about this camera every day and getting better at getting what I want in-camera and not in Lightroom.
Ok, you probably want to see some example images now?
