The ultimate compact camera?
Written: Jan 23 '02
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Product Rating:
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Pros: So beautifully designed, easy to use, with such reliable and amazing results!
Cons: A little expensive for some.
The Bottom Line: The ultimate 'shirt pocket' camera - beautiful optics and ease of use. Leave your Nikon at home...
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| groenhout's Full Review: Ricoh GR-1 35mm Film Camera |
Ever been handed a point and shoot camera at a party, or on holiday and struggled to take a photo with it? Seems ridiculous doesn't it. Surely a professional SLR would be more complicated, though it seems that many of the current crop of point and shoot cameras have such an abundance of features and controls that you need to have a rocket-science degree to operate them!
A few years back, several manufacturers started targeting the 'classic' market with cameras such as the Nikon 35Ti and the Konica Hexar. These expensive point and shoot cameras appealed to photographers interested in build quality and fast, high quality optics (zoom lenses and LCD panels were nowhere to be seen). An unlikely contender, Ricoh released the GR1 with little fanfare or marketing and somehow has managed to cultivate a dedicated following of devotees who never leave home without it.
To those unfamiliar with the GR1 (not surprising as Ricoh no longer distribute the camera in the USA), it is a 35mm (not APS) compact camera, made out of metal (magnesium alloy as seen in Nikon professional cameras) rather than plastic with a fixed 28mm f2.8 wide angle lens. Weighing around 180g (6.3oz) and only an inch thick, the GR1 has to be one of the smallest 35mm cameras in the world! And somehow they've managed to pack one heck of a lot of stuff inside...
Firstly, this is an auto-focus camera with an easy focus lock and direct feedback as to the actual point of focus (center or slightly either side of center). Not being a huge fan of autofocus, I tried to trick the system and found it to work on most subjects regardless of texture or tonality. The camera will focus down to 35cm (1.1ft) which is sort-of macro and there are a couple of automatic parallax correction lines that appear near the top of the frame when you're shooting this close. For landscape photography or shooting through the window of a moving vehicle, there's an infinity mode and for parties, try the 'snap' mode which preset focuses to 2m which seems to work quite well due to the depth of field you get with a 28mm lens. For low light conditions there's also a red focus aid light which fascinates small children, animals and myself.
The shutter has two modes - program and aperture priority. In the later, you select the aperture from f2.8 to f22 and the shutter speed is selected for you in a range of 2 seconds to 1/500. There is visual warning that you may over exposure your film and any shutter speeds under 1/30th are indicated with a flashing '30' in the viewfinder. Also, when flash is 'ON' (rather than 'Auto'), it works in slow-sync mode allowing those cool night shots in the city where the subject is frozen by flash and the background is nicely exposed by long exposure. The shutter is also release priority rather than focus priority, so there's no lag time after you press the button and yes, you can take out of focus shots if that's what turns you on!
What has to be one of my favorite features is the exposure compensation dial located on the camera top, rather than hidden 7 menus down on the LCD display. It ranges from -2 to +2 stops compensation and can be permanently left on when using transparency films such as Velvia. This feature makes up for the lack of manual ISO setting (done automatically with DX coding) - another common way to compensate for different exposure situations and films.
Also on the top panel is a button to select between self timer and 'T' (long exposure). This feature is rarely seen on point and shoot cameras and is well thought out with a digital count-up timer on the top panel and the provision to use flash for some really creative night shooting! You can also turn on red-eye reduction by pressing both the self-timer and mode buttons, a tricky operation for those who feel they need it.
Another discreetly hidden, though professional feature is the spot focus/exposure metering. Selected with the mode button, you can not only focus on a small area in the center of the frame but also expose for that area as well. I've found this to be very useful in contrasty situations where the camera's otherwise excellent center weighted metering would have been confused and underexposed the film. Though this may seem like an overkill for a point and shoot camera, any seasoned photographer will assure you that some spot metering is better than none at all - even if you only use it once a year. Apart from this, I've found the center weighted and average metering (provided by dual SPD photocell) to be excellent and very reliable even down to very low light levels (Ricoh claim it meters down to EV2 which is VERY dark!)
One criticism of the GR1 (yes, there is one) is the wimpy flash they put in. Partly due to space restrictions and the need to cover the 28mm lens (wide angle diffusers tend to reduce output by at least 1 stop), the flash is limited to about 3m at 100 ISO (GN 7). This can of course be extended with the use of faster film (6m at 400 ISO for example) and there's luckily also an 'insufficient flash' warning if need be. On the rear of the camera you’ll see a sliding switch - flash on - AUTO - flash off. In 'Auto', the camera will also light up backlit subjects such as a person sitting in front of a window, while 'flash on' just turns the flash on (big surprise there) and allows the use of 'slow sync' flash when shooting with aperture priority. This ease of flash control is definitely a bonus as is the provision of flash at all - you may not use it all the time, but it's handy to know it's there!
With all these wonderful features, it's difficult to fault this camera, but here goes...
* The viewfinder can be difficult to read in bright sunlight.
* Maximum shutter speed limited to 1/500 sec so overexposure IS possible with fast film.
* On/Off button is a little too easy to activate while camera is in case (5 minute power-off makes this less of a problem)
* 28mm lens too wide for many subjects - but of course, it's one reason why the camera is so damn small in the first place...
Recently the Ricoh GR1 camera was relaunched as the GR1s with the addition of an illuminated display panel (a nice shade of green/blue) and the provision to fit a small lens hood and filters to the lens via a bayonet mount.
Unfortunately, as previously mentioned, the camera is no longer available via Ricoh in America. Luckily B&H Photo in NYC are importing the camera direct from Japan and it's retailing for about US$450. As far as I'm aware, it's easily available in Europe, Asia and Australia - where I purchased mine for about AU$800.
The Ricoh GR1s is by no means a cheap point and shoot, but with optics on-par with those from Leica (Ricoh even designed a lens for the Leica M range based on the GR optic) and exposure metering as consistent as most 35mm SLR's, the GR1 may be the only camera you ever need to carry!
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
groenhout
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Member: Chris Groenhout
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Reviews written: 6
Trusted by: 3 members
About Me:
Professional photographer specialising in architectural and interior work.
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