Is there a way to configure CL Setting like Ricoh GR's "Snap Focus"?

[Guest Nowhereman]

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Small or big? A matter of taste and personal preference, as well as the purpose for which the photographer wants the camera. Moriyama Daido explains in this four-minute video his approach to street photography using small cameras and what he calls "no finder shots". 

[Guest]

@Nowhereman 

The big advantage of the new  GRIII is that it has a relatively fast lens as well as good high ISO + snap focus so it's usable in low light when I want a small, light & discreet camera. The wider angle 21/25mm Voigtlander lens options I'm considering for my CL are pretty limited in low light so I may very well be tempted by the GRIII at some point. I still miss my old GRD4 though....I've got A1 sized exhibition prints from it that are hard to distinguish from M9 prints.

 

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[a_b-c]

On 4/10/2019 at 9:17 AM, hemlock said:

if you're shooting such close range (which I like to do sometimes) then centre spot focus with the CL + 18mm has a higher hit rate than the other focus modes. I miss focus if I'm in too much of a hurry with face recognition. I don't know about the new GRIII but I prefer the smaller sensor GRD3 or 4 to the GR2 for close range shots.

 

I'was using face recognition last few days and miss some focus, din't use centre spot focus much, guess I'd try it sometime... 

[jaapv]

We tend to forget that autofocus is just a dumb automechanism to focus the lens. In the end it still needs a photographer to tell it what to focus on.

[Kyros Moutsouris]

On 4/8/2019 at 12:58 PM, jaapv said:

You should be able to get fast focus. Experiment with the settings. Try setting to AFs and face recognition.

Thank you Jaapv, never thought of this...

[Guest Nowhereman]

On 4/10/2019 at 10:10 PM, hemlock said:

The big advantage of the new  GRIII is that it has a relatively fast lens as well as good high ISO + snap focus so it's usable in low light when I want a small, light & discreet camera. The wider angle 21/25mm Voigtlander lens options I'm considering for my CL are pretty limited in low light so I may very well be tempted by the GRIII at some point. I still miss my old GRD4 though....I've got A1 sized exhibition prints from it that are hard to distinguish from M9 prints.

I agree about the GRD4: luckily I never sold mine, despite not having used it since 2013. While still in Bangkok, I took it out and started shooting with it again to reacquaint myself with the interface; that was in anticipation of going to Paris two weeks later, where the Ricoh dealer had told me he would have a GR3 for me on March 19. But I still thought I wouldn't buy the GR3 because I was thinking about backing away somewhat rom street photography; but in the end couldn't resist when I saw the camera in Paris. That, and having been shooting again with the GRD4, brought back the feeling I have always had that the small Ricoh digital cameras were the contemporary Barnack camera — liking them the way I had liked the Leica IIIc years ago.

Now, I'm happy with the GR3. I'm surprised at how much I like the 35mm/50mm EFOV crop facility, and how good it is. On the GRD4, I had missed the 40mm EFOV tele-converter of the GRD2. If you are still interested, I now have the link to some of my pictures with, and thoughts about, the GR3: you can start with this post and continue until this post, under the name of "TempUser" since I'm having trouble with the "Mitch Alland account on the FM Forum.

[jaapv]

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Although the rendering is not quite to my taste, Mitch (I think I would call it a bit on the "digital' side -  de gustibus etc....), I can fully see why you are happy with your images, I do like the colour.

[Guest Nowhereman]

Jaap - I agree with you on the rendering: these are the initial images and I still have to work out what sort of B&W I want — that's easier to do in the context of a project. For example, the two B&W images of the "TempUser" post wouldn't work for my book project — they would have to be "less digital" or "less medium-format"

Edited April 12, 2019 by Nowhereman

[SrMi]

On 4/11/2019 at 8:59 AM, jaapv said:

We tend to forget that autofocus is just a dumb automechanism to focus the lens. In the end it still needs a photographer to tell it what to focus on.

There are two ways to use AF: tell the camera where to focus (my preferred kind) and expect the camera to find the correct focus point (eye, face, wide-area focusing). Unfortunately, many buyers are judging the cameras by the second focusing approach only, as the first approach requires more practice and work.

Edited April 14, 2019 by SrMi

[Guest Nowhereman]

^ Sure, but the AF of the GR III is too slow in low light — the lens slowly going in and out before finding focus — even when you use any of the selective focus facilities. However, I think this is a great camera and like it a — and this doesn't bother me at all because, for dynamic situations in low light, I use Snap Focus, which is easy since the 28mm lens has a large depth of field; and for static subjects the speed of the AF is not important.

Edited April 14, 2019 by Nowhereman

[Guest Nowhereman]

On 4/12/2019 at 12:28 PM, jaapv said:

Although the rendering is not quite to my taste, Mitch (I think I would call it a bit on the "digital' side -  de gustibus etc....), I can fully see why you are happy with your images, I do like the colour.

@jaapv - You may want to look at this image, which is my first step in going in the direction of high contrast more expressive images that I like and which shows GR III to be malleable, even when using the 50mm EFOV crop facility.

[jaapv]

It tells me more about your skills than the camera's   I really like the moody, low-key effect. If may add a personal opinion, I would like a hint of detail in the shadows,, i.e.the left-hand side of the face  but I am unsure whether the lens is capable of differentiating such subtle tones..

[Guest Nowhereman]

@jaapv - No the lens is very good in this respect: on the page before the latter image I posted a color version (p.4 #19), which has some more shadow detail in the left-hand side of the face — and the OOC version, of course, has still more. Sorry for the late response.

[nicci78]

After trying the GR III twice, I am really seduced. 

Totally imperfect camera, really so many flaws. But at the same time, so small. Really pocketable, much more than Sony RX100s. Because the Ricoh is 1 cm thinner. Thickness is what counts for your jeans pocket. 

GR III is not perfect, but it is a mighty little camera. Love the 21mm wide converter, even if it doubles the GR III weight. 

Having in less than 500g a dual focal camera 28mm f/4.2 + 21mm f/4.2 FF equivalent is quite awesome. 

Only 15 buttons or dials with the GR III same count than the CL. Much less than the 25 used by D-Lux 7 / LX100 II

Seriously considering buying it next week. Seems to make more sense than upgrading Q to Q2