Underground

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R0002071RICOH GR (18.3mm, f/5, 1/320 sec, ISO25600)

Some shots I took last year under Bangkok’s MRT. Even during the day it is dark down there so my street shooting setting led to some very high ISO values.

Just have a look at the exif data under the first shot. ISO25.600! On a camera roughly the size of a Canon Ixus. Incredible! On of the big advantages of the Ricoh GR. There is no ISO restriction when shooting RAW. My Fuji X-T1 is limited to ISO 6.400 in RAW and looking at the results of the Ricoh I can’t understand why. They look great especially in black and white.

R0002074RICOH GR (18.3mm, f/4, 1/250 sec, ISO12800)
 R0002076RICOH GR (18.3mm, f/4, 1/250 sec, ISO12800)

All images are shot from the hip with the camera in KAV and snap focus mode. Both make the Ricoh one of the best cameras for street shooting. Ricoh’s KAV mode allows you to set shutter speed and aperture while exposure compensation still works. This is just great. You pre-select shutter speed and aperture and let the camera choose the required ISO value. You can do this with every camera the only problem with most cameras is that now exposure compensation doesn’t work which renders shooting in this mode useless for all situations that require exposure compensation.

According to some rumors the new firmware update from Fuji should bring this option to my Fuji X-T1. Finally! What a relief! The work arounds are awkward.

Snap focus is another killer feature of the Ricoh. You put your camera in snap focus mode and define an average distance of you subject from the camera. I choose 2.5 meters most of the time. If aperture now is f4 or if light permits even f5.6 everything in-between 1.5 meters to infinity will be in focus. No chance that the camera chooses to focus on the dead insect on the windscreen or that AF delays the shot and as a consequence you miss the shot. Brilliant! This feature and the fact that the Ricoh GR is the most discreet and unassuming camera on the planet makes it perfect for street shooting. I only wish it would have a wider lens. Here is my wish for the upcoming GR II: give it a 16mm lens and have a look at Fuji regarding the image processing.

R0002142RICOH GR (18.3mm, f/5, 1/500 sec, ISO800)