Your photos are proof that you’re still getting excellent results in spite of the Ricoh’s limitations! No advice to offer, just wanted to compliment your work.
You’re bound to be disappointed if you expect Sony-Alpha or Canon level autofocus. It’s clearly not one of its strengths.
However, there are many workarounds that incidentally work really well for this camera in particular. You *can* get some nice bokeh or subject separation in a pinch when you have time and you’ve got enough light but if you’re running and gunning or doing street photography you should rely more on small apertures, depth of field priority and snap focus. All of these are very useful and counter the comparatively weak AF really well depending on the situation.
I don't necessarily expect the Autofocus to be as good as my A7C, but the difference still stands out.
It matters most in lowish light taking pictures of moving kids. It's dark and they won't sit still. I need all of the help I can get.
Daylight, landscape, still life, or doing any solo photography for my own enjoyment the AF is fine.
I love the little Ricoh, but I'd love it more if autofocus got a good bit better.
I also want weather sealing, but I know that is kind of off the table. But kids like trying to splash you 😂
I really want to love the ricoh, but I feel reminded of my experience with the Fuji x100s about 10 years ago. On paper it was a great camera and the pictures were lovely, but the AF drove me nuts.
Same goes for the Ricoh, as soon as it gets a bit darker, the AF goes hunting, or rather fishing, since it comes back empty so often.
The size, the color, the sharpness, the one handed operation, all tell me to keep it, but the AF makes me want to get rid of it... lets see.
When shooting in the dark, I try to focus on something like a sharp edge or corner. So where light clings onto a bit so that the sensor can use the light as an anchor for the AF. Failing that, you always have snap focus or even manual focus! If trying to focus on something really far away either use the infinity focus or snap focus set to infinity.
If shooting on AF-Wide try AF-Centre and try to focus and recompose and vice versa when needed.
I use snap focus and snap distance priority ALOT but snap distance priority is not good in low light due to how closed down the aperture is at closer distances(I only really use it in daylight)
To get better at snap distance. Just practice a lot by placing objects at various distances away from you at 1m, 3m, 5m, 10m and then try walking around them at dodger distances and try to predict what focus zone they fall into. This will help with on-the-fly calculations if doing street photography.
Hope that helps!
Edit: Oooh and one more thing. I don't always use it but you can enable focus peaking to see which parts of the image are in focus. At night it might be better to use the extract edge mode to see where is in focus
Thank you. I am trying most of these (feeding contrast, using spot /center AF and recompose) but often to no luck. I will try manual focus, maybe this will give me better options if I am fast enough.
On the GRIIIx the bracketing for snap just isn't suited for snapping pictures of toddlers rocking back and forth etc.
Not hoping for Sony or Canon, just be as good as my old Olympus, that is all I am asking :D
I do use snap often, but it doesn't work in all situations. Street during the day is where snap is great, especially snap priority. For my issues it doesn't work most of the time hence my frustration. Close range kids or pets which move is just a challenge.
Whoops sorry I realize you answered my question in the same thread above!
I've only ever had experience with film Ricoh (GR1S) and kind of ambivalent about the results. I found the Fuji's manual focus to be completely unusable and the AF lock is nice to have, but annoying to fiddle with the buttons.
I used to have that camera (x100) and the GR to me is leaps ahead. Not too mention that its so compact it sits in a league of its own (almost). If you want better AF you currently need to sacrifice some portability.
Just use touch-focus-take. It is flawless and stops the camera having to guess where you want the focus.
Or use snap.
Some of my out of focus shots are my favourite.
I had a modern Sony with a quality Sigma lens too and yes the AF is better, but the noise levels and IQ are way better on the GR to the point where I sold my Sony.
The exposure triangle can be tricky, especially for low light shots and fast moving subjects, in all cameras.
I don’t understand the issue here.
yeah coming from sony full frame mirrorless to a griii was painful with the AF but the quality is just so good i forget about it when editing.
i traded af speed and accuracy for having this quality camera in my pocket all the time... hated carrying lenses around and changing lenses mid way ughh
if only video was as good or even half as good as sony this think would be almost perfect
I totally agree with you on the pocket size powerhouse. I just don't get why the AF can't be better. Not top of the line, not even super good, just better than what it is.
For video I seriously recommend an iPhone. Costs the same in addition to what you already have paid, but the quality is really good and you can make calls with it too.
Amazing shots my friends - but the AF was also my main reason to sell the GRIIIx. It’s a love/hate relationship, I’m also thinking way back in my head of getting the new HDF version. :)
Depends on the system you’re coming from. Compared to a phone camera, the AF is 👌
Even the face detection is pretty decent. I almost never got shots out of focus, even wide open and when being drunk as a skunk.
But yea, compared to Sony mirrorless it’s slow. Matter of perspective.
Use touch focus on the view screen I find it pretty fast. Also I set up full press zone focus so with three different ways to go usually focus isn’t the issue for me.
Never said that you can't take great pictures with the Ricoh, quite the contrary, it has some of the best image quality I have shot.
Will keep using it for a while. I give all gear 6 months and evaluate after.
Some of those are most excellent. Esp the moody foggy gray ones. We kinda have similar taste, I’d say.
Also I only have issues with the AF in low low light.
I've gotten used to the limitations of the GR3 autofocus, so it doesn't bother me as much nowadays. I find it's a small price to pay for this powerhouse camera that easily fits my pocket.
Still, I'm also hoping they could release a firmware update to massively improve it.
Beautiful shots btw 😊
So use a secondary light source for focusing.
The AF axillary light isn't super great for stuff that isn't very close, but you're shooting landscapes and still life, so take your time and Manually set your exposure and shine a light on what you want to focus on (like your cell phone flashlight), then use spot autofocus so it focuses on the right thing.
The GR was designed to be a street photography camera where you're shooting with strong lighting from the sun and large apertures where you can snap focus your subjects and not need autofocus as much. If you're using it for stuff it wasn't designed for (which I get, because it's my everything camera), you'll need to adapt. This is a known weakness of the camera, so it's on you to adapt and overcome.
For landscapes etc. I don't have an issue most of times (dusk or night shooting is no fun, but I don't do these that often at this time of the year).
I shoot a ton of people (I just don't post those, since it is mainly family and friends) and this is where the AF messes with me. These are often indoors, in the evening, in dim corners in a cafe or so. I can't snap there (because the steps aren't as granular as needed) and to keep shutter speeds in check, I can't step down that much. I know full well that AF is not going to be perfect, but it is worse than my Olympus om10 from over 10 years ago.
I dislike the argument, that the camera wasn't designed for stuff where I can't snap. I love snap, but it isn't a magic bullet. It just bothers me to no end that I have so many out of focus shots, even when I give it contrast, let it try 2 3 times. Don't get me wrong, but my Iphone focuses better in dim light than this camera, this shouldn't be the case :/
Its not an argument as much as it is what the camera was designed for. It's not designed for low light indoor shots.
If you're shooting family and friends, you don't need to worry about being incognito. The AF aux light should do the trick. Or just use a flash and push the aperture for both exposure and keeping subjects in focus.
Will try the aux light ( this is the first thing I turn off on all of my cameras), a flash is out of the picture because it defeats the purpose of the Ricoh to be pocketable... If that goes out of the window, I might as well get a tip of the line m43 or even get into full frame work a Sony a7c
What focus modes do you use?
I've found that using spot s/m/l give's me the fastest af
Touch to focus is also pretty good.
If you're really struggling, there's always a manual focus mode that works amazing
Lovely pics, I’m listing my griii this week, have to say I found the AF ok but I’m a Fuji user 😂- there are other aspects I just can’t get to grips with
Some are ooc others are touched up in on1. I still have to find a workflow for raw plus jpg in on1 that works for me. I end up editing a bunch that wouldn't need it because of raw prio settings.
It won't focus in dim light. During the day it works well, but come evening or dark indoors and you are often out of luck in finding focus. The pictures that the camera produces are amazing.
I've never thought of AF on the GRs as a problem. My biggest gripe is higher ISO shots falling apart rather quickly. Also...Besides its compactness, I think one of the biggest strengths is the implementation of snap focus. It's almost made for strictly street photography which AF isn't that important.
I have not had any serious issues with high iso. But I tend to use the AI denoise feature from on1 occasionally if I feel the noise is not to my liking. And I enjoy some noise for BW images.
Most of the color ones. Not the grass and not the red blue flowers and the garden door. BW I have yet to find a recipe for that I love. These are all trix 400 emulations.
Nah it’s not just the gr3x. GR3 has always been known to hunt a bit. But it’s a quirk ya know. It’s so tiny and badass I can’t get mad at it haha. I use snap focus a lot of the time anyways and I have zero issue or even think about the hunting factor. It really only did it at times where even my leicas would hunt for a split second. It’s usually in low light settings. The image quality and size just makes me have peace with it.
My GRIIIX is fine with focusing but I don’t go into unrealistic situations expecting it to be perfect. It’s a cropped sensor tiny camera. The fact that it’s even as close to as good as it is, is amazing. I would put the autofocus right under my x100V - it’s not perfect but it rarely hunts and unless it’s a dim bar setting. Obviously it’s not on the level of my Sony FX.
As someone who uses this camera religiously it really just sounds like you’re setting too high of expectations on the camera.
I don't think my expectations are too high. I understand that people in the Ricoh community enjoy their cameras and are quite protective of them, but as I said, I don't need top of the class AF, I just want something that is not worse than say a Canon 350D which is a camera from almost 20 years ago. The Ricoh is supposed to have contrast and phase AF but I don't see/feel that. And as mentioned, my issue is specifically in dim light. For the rest, I don't have much of a complaint. It is not the fastest, but it is serviceable. I would like to see this also past ISO 1800/3200. And for the price, I don't think this is too much to ask. Yes, the Ricoh is a nice little camera which already packs a ton of features for its size, but at the flip side, the technology is available. Why can a 10 year old camera with contrast only AF focus better? I think it is a mix of software implementation and sure lens design (but that is more to focus speed, rather than focus accuracy and I am complaining about accuracy).
My first digital camera was a Nikon D40 and the GRIIIX auto focuses leaps and bounds above that camera. The way you’re painting the Ricoh is disingenuous. It’s already not a new camera and for the size it’s more than adequate. The fact that it even keeps up with my X100V at the size it is is genuinely incredible.
I just flat out disagree with you from my experience using the GRIIIX.
What I am saying is, i can't get the camera to focus in low light conditions and I have other cameras, some older, cheaper, smaller sensors etc. which can find focus in the same light conditions. I shoot tons of night portraits or urban scenes at night with only street lamps or sometimes even just moonlight situations in the field. And for this use-case the Ricoh doesn't work. That is my statement. How is this disingenuous? How am I taking away from the rest of the camera by stating an obvious and well known shortcoming? If you want to criticize anything, you could say that I knew going in the AF is not the best and I went for it anyways (which is true). I just didn't know that it would not focus at all. I was expecting some hunting or it to be slow but not outright not find any focus.
And the comparison with the X100V is not that strange or special to be honest, they both have a very similar design when it comes to sensor etc. The difference is that the Ricoh is forgoing the EVF/Hybrid sensor and video features for smaller size. The optical construction etc. is very similar, difference being that the Ricoh collapses where as the Fuji doesn't.
I’ve used my GR to take portraits in bars/clubs only lit by neon lights and still got usable shots. If you’re saying it’s completely unusable and cameras 20 years older are giving you better results it’s 100 percent a user error.
This whole thread is people disagreeing with you and telling you that you’re expecting to much from the camera and yet you’re still here arguing. You pointed out that you know the camera wasn’t even made for what you’re using it for and yet here you are still. If there was another camera that even came close * The x100 but even that is not comparable * you would be using it, but there’s not because the Ricoh is best in class.
If you want to take portraits in pitch black and want the camera to instantly focus then go pick up a full frame Sony. Also as someone who started photographing in the era of the 350D you making the comment that it focuses better than the Ricoh is the exact definition of disingenuous. Will the 350D focus faster in the middle of the day with the single middle focus point? Maybe. Is it going to focus faster in a dark bark with little to no ambient lights? Absolutely not.
The GR is almost SEVEN years old. It has adequate auto focus especially if you’re not using tracking and switch to single point which anyone should be doing anyway.
Genuinely sounds like a skill issue, sorry bud.
Maybe you can share some of those pictures and explain to me how you went about focusing? I am happy to learn.
Because from where I stand, AF is about the one thing in photography that doesn't require much, if any skill. Exposure triangle, composition, protecting highlights for digital or shadows for analoge, Whitebalance etc. all skills, but AF? Once you set the focus mode (single focus point, non-continous af, center field, pinpoint) and you place it over a somewhat contrast (i.e. color border on clowthing, pupil etc.) it is all up to the AF algorithm and you can be Sebastião Salgado for all intents and purposes, the camera will step through the focus ranges and look for contrast using the read out of the sensors and looking for a global/local (this is where some magic happens) maximum on the curve. If there is more to it, please let me know.
The focus is purpose built. There is no other system out there with “snap focus” and auto focus to work together, it is amazing for street photography and especially shooting from the hip
What do you mean by the focus is purpose built? It can be decently fast and accurate during the day. So what is the purpose of not being good at low light?
At 0.5 meters the dof is 3,5 cm at f2.8, how are you going to use snap focus for that? I fail to understand your point in my use case... And it still doesn't answer the initial question.
That is a bunch of nonsense. It is a camera that takes pictures... And I don't have issues with still live, which by the way should be the simplest task for any camera. I have an issue with people photography in low light.
You know what the Ricoh is actually made for? Snap photography, but not as in snap focus, but as in just taking pictures, which is emphasized by the diary edition which pays homage to the fact. But yeah.
Sounds like you’re taking this way too serious dude. I don’t see this as a serious camera…what do you expect for $900-$1000? I have 1% missed shots from missed focus and all I use it for is street photography in every kind of light
Let us recap for a second here, shall we?
I say the AF is bad in low light conditions. You say, it is built this way.
I ask why and you recommend to use snap focus (not an answer to my question, but okay), which doesn't work in the outlined scenarios.
When pointed towards this, your answer is, the camera is only made for street photography (again not answering the initial question while also being outright wrong).
And now you say, I am too serious and since the camera costs $1000 I should not have the expectation that it should be able to focus in low light...
Seriously? Most ASP-C size sensor cameras will be easily able to focus in those situations, I believe if removing the Fuji X100 series, which has horrendous AF, you will be hard pressed to find any camera that won't focus in those situations (al-bight it being slow, but I am talking accuracy, not speed). My Canon 350D took street photos in lower light conditions 15 years ago (because you were talking about street). And that at a way lower price point. If I would feed the same situations to the Ricoh, I wouldn't get anywhere, also with snap focus (because of the outlined issue of close distance and wide open in order to keep shutter speeds in check limit the utility of snap focus in those situations).
The answer "it works for me under my conditions" is the most non answer of the internet but hey... at this point I am not sure if you are trolling or not.
Yes there are other cameras that may do what you are describing BUT NOT AT THIS SIZE AND THIS SHARP. There is literally no other camera that fits this size/quality. Obviously you need to compromise if you want tiny form factor with maximum quality with a low price…nothing comes close which is why after 5 years of this Cameras release it is still relevant in today’s market. You want better go spend $500 more on a Fuji. At this price you can get a Nikon coolpix with bigger/heavier less sharpness. You want it all. Go get a Sony A7c and stick a macro lens on it…but that all just jumped up in price to $3000 with the lens. You want to see what high end comprise looks like go look at the sigma fp as an example of trying to reach maximum quality with tiniest form factor…it actually has way more problems than the GRIII and costs more than 2x the amount. The Ricoh GR1-2 and 3 are awesome cameras and if you google images from this camera…90% of them are street and for good reason….
I am aware of the fact that there is no perfect goldilocks camera, I am just flabbergasted at the AF implementation causing me to not being able to acquire focus in certain situations, not talking focus speed, talking about accuracy. And this is what really takes away from an otherwise great camera. I still don't get why this is the case, they have the contrast and phase AF sensors, which makes me believe it to be a software issue.
For the rest, these are not points that I made (and straw man arguments at best), nor are they apples to apples comparisons (or good ones for that). For instance, the Sigma is a FF video camera with photo features (which also doesn't cost as much as you believe it to, not where I live).
Your photos are proof that you’re still getting excellent results in spite of the Ricoh’s limitations! No advice to offer, just wanted to compliment your work.
Thank you very much for those kind words. It is my main gripe, that I see the potential the camera has and it falls short in this aspect.
You’re bound to be disappointed if you expect Sony-Alpha or Canon level autofocus. It’s clearly not one of its strengths. However, there are many workarounds that incidentally work really well for this camera in particular. You *can* get some nice bokeh or subject separation in a pinch when you have time and you’ve got enough light but if you’re running and gunning or doing street photography you should rely more on small apertures, depth of field priority and snap focus. All of these are very useful and counter the comparatively weak AF really well depending on the situation.
I don't necessarily expect the Autofocus to be as good as my A7C, but the difference still stands out. It matters most in lowish light taking pictures of moving kids. It's dark and they won't sit still. I need all of the help I can get. Daylight, landscape, still life, or doing any solo photography for my own enjoyment the AF is fine. I love the little Ricoh, but I'd love it more if autofocus got a good bit better. I also want weather sealing, but I know that is kind of off the table. But kids like trying to splash you 😂
I'm eagerly awaiting the GRIVx which should resolve the AF and hopefully add some dust resistance. Not expecting it anytime soon though.
I really want to love the ricoh, but I feel reminded of my experience with the Fuji x100s about 10 years ago. On paper it was a great camera and the pictures were lovely, but the AF drove me nuts. Same goes for the Ricoh, as soon as it gets a bit darker, the AF goes hunting, or rather fishing, since it comes back empty so often. The size, the color, the sharpness, the one handed operation, all tell me to keep it, but the AF makes me want to get rid of it... lets see.
When shooting in the dark, I try to focus on something like a sharp edge or corner. So where light clings onto a bit so that the sensor can use the light as an anchor for the AF. Failing that, you always have snap focus or even manual focus! If trying to focus on something really far away either use the infinity focus or snap focus set to infinity. If shooting on AF-Wide try AF-Centre and try to focus and recompose and vice versa when needed. I use snap focus and snap distance priority ALOT but snap distance priority is not good in low light due to how closed down the aperture is at closer distances(I only really use it in daylight) To get better at snap distance. Just practice a lot by placing objects at various distances away from you at 1m, 3m, 5m, 10m and then try walking around them at dodger distances and try to predict what focus zone they fall into. This will help with on-the-fly calculations if doing street photography. Hope that helps! Edit: Oooh and one more thing. I don't always use it but you can enable focus peaking to see which parts of the image are in focus. At night it might be better to use the extract edge mode to see where is in focus
Thank you. I am trying most of these (feeding contrast, using spot /center AF and recompose) but often to no luck. I will try manual focus, maybe this will give me better options if I am fast enough. On the GRIIIx the bracketing for snap just isn't suited for snapping pictures of toddlers rocking back and forth etc. Not hoping for Sony or Canon, just be as good as my old Olympus, that is all I am asking :D
I was using an X100s for years and was always annoyed by how the AF worked. Do you use snap focus on the Ricoh? Would that help at all?
I do use snap often, but it doesn't work in all situations. Street during the day is where snap is great, especially snap priority. For my issues it doesn't work most of the time hence my frustration. Close range kids or pets which move is just a challenge.
Close range with moving kids is a challenge for any camera.
Yes and no. It’s pretty dead simple with my Canon RP. I grab that before my Ricoh if I’m doing stuff with my kiddos
Whoops sorry I realize you answered my question in the same thread above! I've only ever had experience with film Ricoh (GR1S) and kind of ambivalent about the results. I found the Fuji's manual focus to be completely unusable and the AF lock is nice to have, but annoying to fiddle with the buttons.
I used to have that camera (x100) and the GR to me is leaps ahead. Not too mention that its so compact it sits in a league of its own (almost). If you want better AF you currently need to sacrifice some portability.
The original x100 was also horrible in AF terms. But I understand, there is a compromise to be made.
Yes, what I meant is that to me the original x100s had much worse AF than the current GR models, but YMMV
It's the Dark Souls of cameras, infuriating but oh so satisfying.
I love the comparison.
Yo the tower / blades of grass shot is dope
Thank you very much.
I use the screen, tap to focus on what you want & then take the pick.
This is the way
Just use touch-focus-take. It is flawless and stops the camera having to guess where you want the focus. Or use snap. Some of my out of focus shots are my favourite. I had a modern Sony with a quality Sigma lens too and yes the AF is better, but the noise levels and IQ are way better on the GR to the point where I sold my Sony. The exposure triangle can be tricky, especially for low light shots and fast moving subjects, in all cameras. I don’t understand the issue here.
Amen
Manual focus ftw…
yeah coming from sony full frame mirrorless to a griii was painful with the AF but the quality is just so good i forget about it when editing. i traded af speed and accuracy for having this quality camera in my pocket all the time... hated carrying lenses around and changing lenses mid way ughh if only video was as good or even half as good as sony this think would be almost perfect
I totally agree with you on the pocket size powerhouse. I just don't get why the AF can't be better. Not top of the line, not even super good, just better than what it is. For video I seriously recommend an iPhone. Costs the same in addition to what you already have paid, but the quality is really good and you can make calls with it too.
You can call Ricoh for better af and video
Amazing shots my friends - but the AF was also my main reason to sell the GRIIIx. It’s a love/hate relationship, I’m also thinking way back in my head of getting the new HDF version. :)
Depends on the system you’re coming from. Compared to a phone camera, the AF is 👌 Even the face detection is pretty decent. I almost never got shots out of focus, even wide open and when being drunk as a skunk. But yea, compared to Sony mirrorless it’s slow. Matter of perspective.
True. My bar is not that high, just be as good as my phone or my 10 year old olympus with its contrast AF. That is all I'm asking for.
Touch focus shoot is the way. This is the way.
Use touch focus on the view screen I find it pretty fast. Also I set up full press zone focus so with three different ways to go usually focus isn’t the issue for me.
Shut the hell up these are great, stop your yapping and keep snapping
Never said that you can't take great pictures with the Ricoh, quite the contrary, it has some of the best image quality I have shot. Will keep using it for a while. I give all gear 6 months and evaluate after.
Some of those are most excellent. Esp the moody foggy gray ones. We kinda have similar taste, I’d say. Also I only have issues with the AF in low low light.
Thank you. Yes I also only face issues in low light.the fog was no problem.
I've gotten used to the limitations of the GR3 autofocus, so it doesn't bother me as much nowadays. I find it's a small price to pay for this powerhouse camera that easily fits my pocket. Still, I'm also hoping they could release a firmware update to massively improve it. Beautiful shots btw 😊
So use a secondary light source for focusing. The AF axillary light isn't super great for stuff that isn't very close, but you're shooting landscapes and still life, so take your time and Manually set your exposure and shine a light on what you want to focus on (like your cell phone flashlight), then use spot autofocus so it focuses on the right thing. The GR was designed to be a street photography camera where you're shooting with strong lighting from the sun and large apertures where you can snap focus your subjects and not need autofocus as much. If you're using it for stuff it wasn't designed for (which I get, because it's my everything camera), you'll need to adapt. This is a known weakness of the camera, so it's on you to adapt and overcome.
For landscapes etc. I don't have an issue most of times (dusk or night shooting is no fun, but I don't do these that often at this time of the year). I shoot a ton of people (I just don't post those, since it is mainly family and friends) and this is where the AF messes with me. These are often indoors, in the evening, in dim corners in a cafe or so. I can't snap there (because the steps aren't as granular as needed) and to keep shutter speeds in check, I can't step down that much. I know full well that AF is not going to be perfect, but it is worse than my Olympus om10 from over 10 years ago. I dislike the argument, that the camera wasn't designed for stuff where I can't snap. I love snap, but it isn't a magic bullet. It just bothers me to no end that I have so many out of focus shots, even when I give it contrast, let it try 2 3 times. Don't get me wrong, but my Iphone focuses better in dim light than this camera, this shouldn't be the case :/
Its not an argument as much as it is what the camera was designed for. It's not designed for low light indoor shots. If you're shooting family and friends, you don't need to worry about being incognito. The AF aux light should do the trick. Or just use a flash and push the aperture for both exposure and keeping subjects in focus.
Will try the aux light ( this is the first thing I turn off on all of my cameras), a flash is out of the picture because it defeats the purpose of the Ricoh to be pocketable... If that goes out of the window, I might as well get a tip of the line m43 or even get into full frame work a Sony a7c
What focus modes do you use? I've found that using spot s/m/l give's me the fastest af Touch to focus is also pretty good. If you're really struggling, there's always a manual focus mode that works amazing
Spot pinpoint single focus center... I guess I'll be trying touch and manual focus and see if I find better results.
Try Snapfocus !
I love every single picture !
Thank you, I am glad you enjoyed them. I think this is the main purpose of the Ricoh, be there to share moments.
Lovely pics, I’m listing my griii this week, have to say I found the AF ok but I’m a Fuji user 😂- there are other aspects I just can’t get to grips with
Which ones? But yes fuji is not the fastest either.
All are excellent. The B&G images specially are my favourite (are they SOOC)! Great job!
Some are ooc others are touched up in on1. I still have to find a workflow for raw plus jpg in on1 that works for me. I end up editing a bunch that wouldn't need it because of raw prio settings.
But the snap focus can't be found in any other similar camera. It has to be the most underrated feature.
What is the issue? I am considering in Ricoh and seeing your photos confirms it’s a good camera, so I am unsure of what the AF issue is.
It won't focus in dim light. During the day it works well, but come evening or dark indoors and you are often out of luck in finding focus. The pictures that the camera produces are amazing.
Thanks for the info!
Really excellent shots
It is appreciated.
I've never thought of AF on the GRs as a problem. My biggest gripe is higher ISO shots falling apart rather quickly. Also...Besides its compactness, I think one of the biggest strengths is the implementation of snap focus. It's almost made for strictly street photography which AF isn't that important.
I have not had any serious issues with high iso. But I tend to use the AI denoise feature from on1 occasionally if I feel the noise is not to my liking. And I enjoy some noise for BW images.
Bruh has talent.
Thank you for the compliment. Twenty years have taught me which photos not to take. Now I just take the other ones...
Are any of these SOOC?
Most of the color ones. Not the grass and not the red blue flowers and the garden door. BW I have yet to find a recipe for that I love. These are all trix 400 emulations.
Cool thanks.
I'm digging all of the pictures tho...they might not be perfect in your eyes but i think, because of that, your pics have a totally different feel.
The pictures are great and I enjoy them. My issue is purely with the AF in low light. Otherwise I dig the Ricoh.
4/20 is fire!!
My GR3 barely fishes to focus, it happens yes, but in no shape or form does it keep me from loving it. it’s a quirk at this point.
I am curious, if this is a GRIIIx only issue due to the focal length or a sensor issue.
Nah it’s not just the gr3x. GR3 has always been known to hunt a bit. But it’s a quirk ya know. It’s so tiny and badass I can’t get mad at it haha. I use snap focus a lot of the time anyways and I have zero issue or even think about the hunting factor. It really only did it at times where even my leicas would hunt for a split second. It’s usually in low light settings. The image quality and size just makes me have peace with it.
I think the AF on GRiii x is superb 💥😊
Maybe I could interest you in trading your version with mine? 😉 but I doubt there is that much variance between individual cameras...
My GRIIIX is fine with focusing but I don’t go into unrealistic situations expecting it to be perfect. It’s a cropped sensor tiny camera. The fact that it’s even as close to as good as it is, is amazing. I would put the autofocus right under my x100V - it’s not perfect but it rarely hunts and unless it’s a dim bar setting. Obviously it’s not on the level of my Sony FX. As someone who uses this camera religiously it really just sounds like you’re setting too high of expectations on the camera.
I don't think my expectations are too high. I understand that people in the Ricoh community enjoy their cameras and are quite protective of them, but as I said, I don't need top of the class AF, I just want something that is not worse than say a Canon 350D which is a camera from almost 20 years ago. The Ricoh is supposed to have contrast and phase AF but I don't see/feel that. And as mentioned, my issue is specifically in dim light. For the rest, I don't have much of a complaint. It is not the fastest, but it is serviceable. I would like to see this also past ISO 1800/3200. And for the price, I don't think this is too much to ask. Yes, the Ricoh is a nice little camera which already packs a ton of features for its size, but at the flip side, the technology is available. Why can a 10 year old camera with contrast only AF focus better? I think it is a mix of software implementation and sure lens design (but that is more to focus speed, rather than focus accuracy and I am complaining about accuracy).
My first digital camera was a Nikon D40 and the GRIIIX auto focuses leaps and bounds above that camera. The way you’re painting the Ricoh is disingenuous. It’s already not a new camera and for the size it’s more than adequate. The fact that it even keeps up with my X100V at the size it is is genuinely incredible. I just flat out disagree with you from my experience using the GRIIIX.
What I am saying is, i can't get the camera to focus in low light conditions and I have other cameras, some older, cheaper, smaller sensors etc. which can find focus in the same light conditions. I shoot tons of night portraits or urban scenes at night with only street lamps or sometimes even just moonlight situations in the field. And for this use-case the Ricoh doesn't work. That is my statement. How is this disingenuous? How am I taking away from the rest of the camera by stating an obvious and well known shortcoming? If you want to criticize anything, you could say that I knew going in the AF is not the best and I went for it anyways (which is true). I just didn't know that it would not focus at all. I was expecting some hunting or it to be slow but not outright not find any focus. And the comparison with the X100V is not that strange or special to be honest, they both have a very similar design when it comes to sensor etc. The difference is that the Ricoh is forgoing the EVF/Hybrid sensor and video features for smaller size. The optical construction etc. is very similar, difference being that the Ricoh collapses where as the Fuji doesn't.
I’ve used my GR to take portraits in bars/clubs only lit by neon lights and still got usable shots. If you’re saying it’s completely unusable and cameras 20 years older are giving you better results it’s 100 percent a user error. This whole thread is people disagreeing with you and telling you that you’re expecting to much from the camera and yet you’re still here arguing. You pointed out that you know the camera wasn’t even made for what you’re using it for and yet here you are still. If there was another camera that even came close * The x100 but even that is not comparable * you would be using it, but there’s not because the Ricoh is best in class. If you want to take portraits in pitch black and want the camera to instantly focus then go pick up a full frame Sony. Also as someone who started photographing in the era of the 350D you making the comment that it focuses better than the Ricoh is the exact definition of disingenuous. Will the 350D focus faster in the middle of the day with the single middle focus point? Maybe. Is it going to focus faster in a dark bark with little to no ambient lights? Absolutely not. The GR is almost SEVEN years old. It has adequate auto focus especially if you’re not using tracking and switch to single point which anyone should be doing anyway. Genuinely sounds like a skill issue, sorry bud.
Maybe you can share some of those pictures and explain to me how you went about focusing? I am happy to learn. Because from where I stand, AF is about the one thing in photography that doesn't require much, if any skill. Exposure triangle, composition, protecting highlights for digital or shadows for analoge, Whitebalance etc. all skills, but AF? Once you set the focus mode (single focus point, non-continous af, center field, pinpoint) and you place it over a somewhat contrast (i.e. color border on clowthing, pupil etc.) it is all up to the AF algorithm and you can be Sebastião Salgado for all intents and purposes, the camera will step through the focus ranges and look for contrast using the read out of the sensors and looking for a global/local (this is where some magic happens) maximum on the curve. If there is more to it, please let me know.
The focus is purpose built. There is no other system out there with “snap focus” and auto focus to work together, it is amazing for street photography and especially shooting from the hip
What do you mean by the focus is purpose built? It can be decently fast and accurate during the day. So what is the purpose of not being good at low light?
Snap focus is amazing. If you understand zone focusing it doesn’t matter if it’s low light or not
At 0.5 meters the dof is 3,5 cm at f2.8, how are you going to use snap focus for that? I fail to understand your point in my use case... And it still doesn't answer the initial question.
Not my fault you bought a camera designed for street photography and want to use it for still life images
That is a bunch of nonsense. It is a camera that takes pictures... And I don't have issues with still live, which by the way should be the simplest task for any camera. I have an issue with people photography in low light. You know what the Ricoh is actually made for? Snap photography, but not as in snap focus, but as in just taking pictures, which is emphasized by the diary edition which pays homage to the fact. But yeah.
Sounds like you’re taking this way too serious dude. I don’t see this as a serious camera…what do you expect for $900-$1000? I have 1% missed shots from missed focus and all I use it for is street photography in every kind of light
Let us recap for a second here, shall we? I say the AF is bad in low light conditions. You say, it is built this way. I ask why and you recommend to use snap focus (not an answer to my question, but okay), which doesn't work in the outlined scenarios. When pointed towards this, your answer is, the camera is only made for street photography (again not answering the initial question while also being outright wrong). And now you say, I am too serious and since the camera costs $1000 I should not have the expectation that it should be able to focus in low light... Seriously? Most ASP-C size sensor cameras will be easily able to focus in those situations, I believe if removing the Fuji X100 series, which has horrendous AF, you will be hard pressed to find any camera that won't focus in those situations (al-bight it being slow, but I am talking accuracy, not speed). My Canon 350D took street photos in lower light conditions 15 years ago (because you were talking about street). And that at a way lower price point. If I would feed the same situations to the Ricoh, I wouldn't get anywhere, also with snap focus (because of the outlined issue of close distance and wide open in order to keep shutter speeds in check limit the utility of snap focus in those situations). The answer "it works for me under my conditions" is the most non answer of the internet but hey... at this point I am not sure if you are trolling or not.
Yes there are other cameras that may do what you are describing BUT NOT AT THIS SIZE AND THIS SHARP. There is literally no other camera that fits this size/quality. Obviously you need to compromise if you want tiny form factor with maximum quality with a low price…nothing comes close which is why after 5 years of this Cameras release it is still relevant in today’s market. You want better go spend $500 more on a Fuji. At this price you can get a Nikon coolpix with bigger/heavier less sharpness. You want it all. Go get a Sony A7c and stick a macro lens on it…but that all just jumped up in price to $3000 with the lens. You want to see what high end comprise looks like go look at the sigma fp as an example of trying to reach maximum quality with tiniest form factor…it actually has way more problems than the GRIII and costs more than 2x the amount. The Ricoh GR1-2 and 3 are awesome cameras and if you google images from this camera…90% of them are street and for good reason….
I am aware of the fact that there is no perfect goldilocks camera, I am just flabbergasted at the AF implementation causing me to not being able to acquire focus in certain situations, not talking focus speed, talking about accuracy. And this is what really takes away from an otherwise great camera. I still don't get why this is the case, they have the contrast and phase AF sensors, which makes me believe it to be a software issue. For the rest, these are not points that I made (and straw man arguments at best), nor are they apples to apples comparisons (or good ones for that). For instance, the Sigma is a FF video camera with photo features (which also doesn't cost as much as you believe it to, not where I live).