Hey!

GX200, f4.4, 1/40, ISO 800, RAW, 72mm

Another picture from the airport, this time thankfully without any cancellations or problems. I forgot to install Noise Ninja on my UMPC so will have to do without or try to download it later. This picture was planned as b&w anyway so no noise reduction is required.

Bins

GX200, f2.5, 1/4, ISO 800, RAW, 24mm

Quick update today. I found a way to get better high ISO from RAW files with the GX200 but need to work on the processing a bit more.

The Wapping Series

While taking a walk after work I came across an old power station in Wapping and saw that there was an exhibition on so I decided to go in and have a look. The place is 'The Wapping Project'. It was well worth the visit since it is an old power station with some of the machines still inside so it makes for an interesting setting. This time I can also recommend something to Yesbuts, usually he is the one telling me about these places in London.
I need to go back there and take more pictures since I did not have a lot of time today. So for now enjoy this series, all taken with the GX200 and most are at ISO 800 and RAW.

School's Out

R10, f4.2, 1/150, ISO 80, JPG

Not much time for photography today and I also had to finish my report about the Ricoh meetup yesterday. So only a quick picture to showcase a bit the dynamic range of the R10. I am really impressed with it and after seeing the brown/bronze R10 yesterday I want one just because it looks so cool. Wish Ricoh would release a firmware to include RAW and manual controls, the joystick on the R10 is wastly superior to the fiddly one found on the LX3 so it could work very well.

Ricohforum Meetup

Today was the day of the first official Ricohforum meetup. You might remember we had a previous Ricoh meetup in London but this now was the official meetup.


Unfortunatelly, due to sickness no Ricoh representative could attend but we had another special guest in Frazer, the owner of Alpha Digital Services, the main distributor of Ricoh cameras in the UK. Ricoh also made sure to send me a parcel with books, calendars and other giveaways for the people attending the meetup.


The meetup was again really fun and very interesting. It is good to meet people with similar interests and hear their opinions about the cameras they use and also learn about how they use their cameras.


We started off in the Bridge Lounge and had coffee while getting to know each other, discussing Ricoh cameras, trying out the various models we had with us (Ricoh R10, GRD I, GRD II, GX100, GX200, Panasonic LX3, Leica Digilux 2 and Epson RD1s) and looking at prints people brought along.


Comments from people at the meeting about Ricoh cameras indicate that most wish for a bigger sensor and with it an interchangeable lens camera but some would be happy enough if Ricoh would have faster, sharper and more contrasty lenses in the GX series but also more dynamic range. The JPG engine of the GRD I was found to be quite superior and a few people are quite interested in "upgrading" from a GX100/200 to a GRD I. After hearing the comments here and also posts on my blog and emails I've recieved I can say that the GRD I is a very underrated camera. Ricoh needs to bring the GRD I JPG engine back and step away from the 'Smooth Engine' they are using now, although the GX200 is an improvement.


Since no one from Ricoh was at the meeting we could only speculate what Ricoh will release soon but Frazer as the main distributor had some insights and as per my chat with Ricoh at Photokina we can assume Ricoh will release something big next year with possibly a larger sensor and maybe interchangeable lenses. These rumors have been around for a while and wether true or not, this is what Ricoh will have to do in order to compete in the market.


After the inital introduction and chat we headed off to take pictures, afterall this is the main reason we bought Ricoh cameras. This is also the most interesting part of any meetup since it allows you to see how other people use cameras and go about taking pictures. The walk along the Thames and then at Borough Market provided some very good opportunities to take pictures of people and architecture.


We stoped along the way for coffee and headed off to the Tate Modern afterwards before going to a nearby pub for refreshments and to review the pitures of the day. By that time we were only a few people left but we cold still review pictures from 5 different cameras (GRD I, GRD II, GX100, GX200 and RD1s). The interesting thing is that each camera had it's own look and character.

You can also read Steven and Tom's reports of the meetup. Head over to their blogs to also see more pictures from the day.

Dilemma

Ok, this is another boring picture and shameless gear show off ;). Still, this time I am asking for your opinion. I will go to Hong Kong on holiday next week and plan to make it mainly a photo trip. Now the downside of having all these cameras is which one(s) to take along for the trip?
The GRD I with adapter lenses is certainly in but what about the rest? Should I bother carrying the heavy and bulky Panasonic LC1 for the higher dynamic range and very good low ISO pictures although it is limited usable for street photography and unusable for any low light photography? How about the small R10 with the highly versatile zoom but no manual controls and slow lens? Is it worth taking the GRD II along if the GX200 can do everything it does but better and is more versatile? Or how about the GR1, it is a great camera but film is highly limited and restrictive?
So what would you take along? I am thinking to limit myself to only 2 or max. 3 cameras but which?

A reminder, the Ricohforum meetup is tomorrow. So if you are around do join us, even if you don't have a Ricoh camera but are interested in them it could be worth coming along.

Saatchi Portraits

There won't be any update on my blog tomorrow, this is the only day I will take off from posting anything so I decided to have a slightly longer than usual series. Following Yesbuts' recommendation I went to see the new Saatchi Gallery in London today and see the exhibitions. It was very interesting and well worth the visit. I tok quite a few pictures but realized that most are portraits so I decided to post a full series based on this.
This month's Ricohforum contest theme is also Portraits. While I don't think I will use any of these pictures for the contest it makes a change from my usual pictures. All are taken with the GX200 in RAW mode at various ISOs but it's mainly between 64 and 400.

On a side note, there is also a new firmware available for the Ricoh GRD II you can download it from here. I already installed it and the new "shutter priority" mode is very nice and should come in handy.
Finally, it also has a moving AF target but no AE target? This is something Ricoh implemented since the R8 in cameras except in the GR series. I still don't understand why it hasn't been implemented fuly like in the other cameras, afterall the GRD II is the flagship camera. Still, good to see another firmware update for the GRD II.