Scenes Seen/Our Choir Sang In Raleigh/Greatness Rediscovered: RICOH GRIIIx.
Lately I seem to be having a season of epiphanies.
Before this after expecting to have fun with and make excuses for a 2009 DSLR…
…no such thing happened.
It needed no excuses.
Sure, it lacks:
- An EVF for real time exposure monitoring.
- An touch/articulating screen so low and high framing will require guesswork.
- Phase detect AF in Live mode which renders it useless to me.
- Consistent AF when compared to modern cameras.
But I regularly use film cameras that have none of those things so this is no big deal to me. Especially when you look at the price.
$118.
So I use it as I would a film camera, take more safety pics than I usually would to offset the lack of accuracy, pretend missed focus or exposure were intended artistic flourishes, and keep it moving.
Just like film.
So what does that have to do with the RICOH GRIIIx?
I am glad I imagined that you asked.
While I have had and enjoyed GR…
… and GR adjacent…
…cameras before I must admit that scarcity of another compact camera…
…played a part on my acquiring a GRIIIx.
Between that full feature beast of a camera and another tiny camera…
…the GRIIIX was left a bit neglected.
As I recently wrote about in this space…
…I was inspired by talented photographer Michael Young…
…to get out and about with the GRIIIx. And as I pointed out in that post above I am so glad that I did.
And that post went so well that I have yet to put this camera away over the last few days. More on the why below.
The occasion.
As it says on the tin “Our Choir Sang In Raleigh”. For what? The 2026 State of the County Address for Wake. Though the audio is compromised by one mic only we can be heard and seen in the last 8 minutes of the video in this article.
The pics followed by some thoughts.
The day before.
Day of the performance.
Pics from the green room.
On the way home.
Running errands. Took my wife’s car for an oil change and wash when I git home.
Thoughts.
The camera.
One word. Fun.
Adding another word. Capable.
Amazing when you consider the tiny package.
And that is the point.
Those things that some see as shortcomings…
- No EVF.
- No tilt screen.
- No flash.
- One focal length.
- …for the camera. technically GR’s now come in two focal lengths. But you must choose one.
…are exactly why this camera is so great. This comes as no surprise to anyone. But it is a valid summation regardless.
I would not change a thing.
Want those other features?
Buy another camera.
Want something as capable in the smallest possible package?
Here you go.
Not about pixel peeping. An experience thing. And I enjoy using this camera, and I like love the images it produces.
Thank you Michael.
Happy capturing.
-ELW
