Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2010/02/01
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Steve Barbour wrote: I'm wondering with the recent interest in the Panasonic GF1 with the 20mm pancake lens and an external optical VF, has any used/compared this to the Ricoh GRD-III with its 28mm lens and the optional external viewfinder.. ===================================== Steve, I'm a little late on this but here's my take on the Ricoh (I've never used, or even seen, the Pana GF1). I have the first version GR. I bought it used on the LUG and I love it. First, it's beautifully made -- really in a class by itself among digicams I've used and not a stretch to compare it to Leica in the build department. Small enough to pocket but big enough to hold properly and the controls don't confuse. The 28mm efl f/2.5 lens is great -- no vignetting and little or no rectilinear distortion -- a welcome relief from the usual p/s zoom issues. Image quality is VG for the sensor size (1/1.8 -- same as the Canon G series). Raw processing is slow, as mentioned, but for this kind of camera I shoot jpeg so not a prob for me. Noise not a prob up to ISO 200 and film-like at 400, and Lightroom 3 cleans up the chroma noise in a sec. No zoom? Great -- since none of the Leica primes I've used for the last 50 years were either and the IQ advantage is significant. LCD brightness is not as good as the more recent models but I'm OK with it, and it has an accessory shoe (!) if you want to use an optical finder. It took me a while to get used to having 28mm as my standard lens but now I'm kind of liking it, and cropping to 35mm (or 40) is no issue really. No way I would compare it to the GF1 (which I crave) but the Ricoh's what I have in my pocket all the time these days. And did I mention that it's beautifully made? ;-) -- Phil Swango 307 Aliso Dr SE Albuquerque, NM 87108 505-262-4085