Scenes Seen/Still In The Pixie Dust Phase: RICOH GRIIIx.

Scenes Seen/Still In The Pixie Dust Phase: RICOH GRIIIx.

Already about the what.

The Gear Churn Continues: A Return To The GR. GRIIIx This Time.

As far as the when it was day 2 of new stuff ownership.

The where was out and about.

I.E. The exact use case intended for this camera.

What I wanted:

An APS-C camera that is small and light enough to comfortably fit in a pants pocket with serviceable AF.

What I was willing to do without to get there:

A lot actually.

I say this because many folks spill a lot of virtual ink talking about what this camera does not have. I have been guilty of this myself in the past. Namely:

• An EVF.
• A tilt screen.
• Tiny battery=short battery life.

After first trying an OG GR and then trying to find an alternative I ran into some or all of the issues below.

• Too big.
  • Not large by conventional measures but large sat next to the GR.
• Too heavy.
  • Again, not heavy compared to any other camera.
• Too small of a sensor.
  • AI Denoise can only do so much.
• And… I missed snap focus.

Upon acquiring the GRIIIx I also gained some things I had not expected or are appreciated compared to the OG GR.

• 24Mp is nice.
• IBIS also.
• Face/eye detect.
• Same goes for the touch screen.

There are other additional features but those stood out to me. Enough of that. The pictures.

Repeat images in familiar spaces. Went to pick up food and spun a lap around the local area while waiting for the food to be prepared. Nothing Earth-shattering. Putting the camera through the paces. Here are the pics with some thoughts after.

Using preset U1 with snap focus on and set to infinity in shutter priority with a fast shutter speed. I set this up in memory slot 1 on every camera.

A little macro action thank you very much.

Off to cut a loop as I wait for my food.

https://flic.kr/p/2qP2Tup

https://flic.kr/p/2qP3Vmm

Was pushing things in the diminishing sun at this point. Most of the rest of these were hit with the Lightroom AI Denoise stick.

Thoughts.

I leave you with this. Was having an exchange with a friend of mine, Anthony. In the exchange I wrote the following:

I really like the GRIIIx. Quick note. This is not a competitor for the X100VI. The X100VI is more of a competitor to the A7C in my book. The GRIII/x really has no rival. An APS-C camera smaller than the smallest MFT camera with one of the best lenses I have ever used. All for about $500 less than the X100VI. More if you pay the current market markup for recent X100 models. If you have a small interchangeable lens camera, get a pancake lens, in my opinion. It makes sense as a fashion statement (A perfectly reasonable justification in my book.) or if it were my only camera. It would make a perfect camera if you just wanted one.

It is a camera with the Leica problem… and to a lesser degree a SIGMA Foveon problem. Makes no sense on paper. Seems like it asks that you make a lot of compromises. But for certain folks (Me. I am certain folks.) it all makes sense once you use it and see the resulting images. And you gladly put up with the perceived shortcomings. And anything you say trying to defend sounds like utter nonsense to a sensible person who has never tried one. Which makes sense. Because on paper it does not make sense. To some it still may not make sense, even if they do try it. And that is alright also. Everything is not for everybody. Whatever floats your boat.

That about wraps things up for now.

Until the next post in the “Will the GRIIIx pixie dust wear off?” chronicles.

Happy capturing.

-ELW