iPhone Diary Week 2 - Day 7

This is the last day with the iPhone, all pictures have been edited with the somewaht lacking Best Camera app by Chase Jarvis and are also on the even moe lacking bestcamera website.

The next blog update could take a few days. From tomorrow, I will be in Cuba for the next two weeks on a photography trip.

iPhone Diary Week 2 - Day 6

iPhone Diary Week 2 - Day 5

iPhone Diary Week 2 - Day 4

iPhone Diary Week 2 - Day 3

iPhone Diary Week 2 - Day 2

iPhone Diary Week 2 - Day 1

GR Digital III - A Serious Compact

In case you have been wondering why my GRD III review has been delayed that much, this is to do with me being quite busy recently but also because I want to make it a very extensive review that should hopefully answer all questions regarding all three GRDs.

Another reason is that I have been working on a project for Ricoh. They have asked me to make a book for the GRD III. This was a great project and I am really happy to have had the opportunity to work on this.
Now that the book is finished and printed, I thought I will upload it so you can have a look and see the book. It looks fantastic in print and it shows why looking at pictures on screen is not the best way to appreciate them.

You can see the full book here.
Now you can also order the book on Blurb by clicking here or below.

GR Digital III by Cristian Sorega

The full book is quite big so you might have to wait a bit for the pages to load for the first time. To be able to read the text you have to click on 1:1. If you have problms with the loading times let me know and I will reduce the size of the pages so it loads faster.

One other thing I am very happy about is that Ricoh has chosen a few pictures from my book to print a big poster and advertise the GRD III at Foto-Koch, the biggest camera store in Düsseldorf and the place I bought my very first Ricoh GRD I over 5 years ago.

In the meantime if you want to read some excellent reviews on the GRD III have a look at Carl's review and also at Wouter's review. Both have done a fantastic job with their reviews.

Flash Series #4

GRD III, f5, 8 sec., ISO 400, RAW

This will be the last of my flash series pictures before I start a new iPhone week.
Taking a macro picture when you can't see anything on the screen is quite challenging but I still like the result. This was also taken handheld since I don't own a tripod and would not take it with me anyway.

Flash Series #3

GRD III, f2.8, 8 sec., ISO 64, RAW

Although th picture does not look like it has been taken in a park, it has indeed be taken in Grenwich Park not far from the main road through the park. I never understood what this stone in there for and find it looks pretty ugly but maybe it has a point to it that I fail to see.
I have added noise and vignetting to the picture before converting it to b&w using the infrared setting.

Flash Series #2

GRD III, f2.8, 7 sec., ISO 64, RAW

Today, I decided to try out the Slow Syncro flash option on the GRD and play with the flash settings a bit. It is very interesting to take flash pictures in almost complete darkness where there is nothing but black on the LCD screen.

Flash Series #1

GRD III, f2.8, 1/32, ISO 400, RAW

The days are getting shorter, it is darker in the morning when we get out and motly grey during the day. While walking to work today, I got an idea for a short series on my blog.

There is not much I dislike more than flash pictures taken with a compact camera so it only makes sense that I base my theme around this. I will try to take pictures where the use of the built-in flash is obvious and to make it more difficult these pictures need to be taken outside in the park. This means one thing probably and this is that my next pictures will probably be pretty awfull so you have been warned. ;)

My experience with flash is very limited and I try to avoid the use of it whenever possible so this will be a challenge for me to hopefully experiment more with it and get some decent results by the end of it.

Me & My Map

GRD III, f2.8, 1/1700, ISO 400, RAW

As good as the GRD III quality is, I simply fid it difficult to push the RAW files as much as I can do with the JPGs from the GRD I. The noise pattern is also different and much more pleasant on the GRD I. If only I could get a GRD III with the GRD I sensor and processing it would be fatastic.

A Bit of Color

GRD III, f1.9, 1/750, ISO 64, RAW 1:1

Watching the Band

GRD III, f1.9, 1/10, ISO 800, RAW 2:3

I went back to the Cahrlotte Street Blues bar, this has quickly become one of my favorite places in London, the atmosphere is very good and you have live music 7 days a week.
I took a few pictures of the bands playing with the GRD III but noticed that even a f1.9 lens with ISO 1600 is not always enough to capture the motion. This picture is taken at ISO 800 but with the EV at -1 and in 2:3 format but I felt 16:9 worked better. The focus was on the two guys on the side and not on the band so this is why the background is slightly out of focus and overexposed.

Looking Around

GRD III, f1.9, 1/270, ISO 64, RAW

Marketing Space

GRD, f4.5, 1/310, ISO 200, JPG b&w

Watching

GRD, f3.2, 1/1000, ISO 400, JPG b&w

Morning Frost

R10, f5.2, 1/2, ISO 400, JPG, 200mm

I love early mornings and it was a really nice morning today. It was pretty cold but also a clear sky. While walking across the heath I had to stop and take in the great view with the ground frost rising and creating a nice atmosphere when illuminated by the passing cars, street lights and the quarter moon. Looking up I could see a lot of stars and constelations. This was simply amazing in this moment and I wish I could have taken a picture to show all of this but think this picture works quite well and leaves some things to the interpretation.
These things might be small but we don't really take time to appreciate them, we keep rushing from one place to another and in the mornings just drive by in our cars or in the bus without stopping and looking around us. Early morning is the best time of the day for me because it feels like a different world out there.

The Gentleman

R10, f5.1, 1/125, ISO 125, JPG

This is one of my favorite pictures with the R10 but at the same time I wish I would have taken it with a better camera. It was not easy to get it due to him being across the street and the screen freeze and people and cars being in front made it even more difficult.
I had to process it quite a bit to get the desired result, the JPG smudging that Ricoh does is not nice and destroys any form of detail. Adding some noise to the pictures gives them at least a nicer feel and they seem more crisp.

Ricoh GRD III Review Teaser

I am still a bit behind with writing my GRD III review so I thought I will post a small teaser today. There will be more coming up in the next days and I hope the review will be done soon.
I will not comment this picture but will leave it up to you to get to your own findings. What I can say is that these pictures should show quite well why I like the GRD I b&w JPGs so much.

The cameras were all set to A-mode and f4.5, ISO 400 and b&w JPGs.

Staircase

GRD, f2.4, 1/45, ISO 400, JPG

When you get out of Old Street station you can't help but feel you're in a derelict building. The whole underpass leading out of the station is a dump and you have to wonder why it has not been demolished a long time ago.

The Three

GRD, f2.4, 1/20, ISO 1600, JPG b&w

A Rose For You

GRD, f4.5, 1/68, ISO 200, JPG b&w

Took this picture while walking around Covent Garden today. The weather finally improved and it was a lot more fun to take pictures.

Reading The Weatherforecast

R10, f4.5, 1/25, ISO 400, JPG

It has been grey and raining so not great for taking pictures with the R10. This is a picture I took while having coffee. I converted it to b&w and added some noise to it.

Spice

R10, f5, 1/540, ISO 100, JPG, 28mm

Took this picture on my way home after missing a few pictures and getting frustrated with the screen freeze of the R10. As much as I like the bronze color and wish the GRD III would come in bronze, I always wish I have the CX1 when using the R10. The CX1 is a massive improvement over the R10 an the CX2 even improved on this.

The Fountain

R10, f4.5, 8 sec., ISO 80, JPG

I really like going out very early in the morning, the world seems differet in the early hours before the rush starts, when everything is quiet.
I took this picture on my way to work while being one of the first people in Greenwich park. Unfortunately the R10 only has a exposure of 8 seconds, a bit longer would have ben nice in this instance.

Father and Son

R10, f5.9, 1/190, ISO 383, JPG, 200mm

It was a quiet Sunday and while I should have been working on my GRD III review, I decided to take it easy and went for a walk. I took this picture with the R10 but almost missed the moment because of the screen freeze, the CX1 is so much better in this respect and I am glad Ricoh fixed this issue now.

Charlotte Street Blues

R10, f5.2, 1/35, ISO 800, JPG, 200mm

While out in town and having a coffee in Charlotte Street I saw this Blues place. I was not aware of it befre and think it's quite new so decided to go and check it out.
This picture is with the R10 at ISO 800 so the quality if not fantastic but I still like it.

Behind The Clouds

R10, f5.2, 1/540, ISO 100, JPG, 200mm

Today, I recieved my 'Ricoh Around the Globe' camera so have now a few days to use it till I have to send it on.
I quite like the R10 and the bronze color is simply fantastic, it's a shame Ricoh stopped using it in later models.

Riding Together

RD1s, f5.6, 1/2000, ISO 400, JPG b&w

Another picture from the RD1, this time I made sure I focused beter and have also used the out of camera JPG.
The Epson RD1 is a great camera but it attracts a lot of attention from people, like all rangefinders do these days. I am also not too big a fan of the whole manual focus experience and rather use a good, fast and reliable AF system. I am also not a big fan of the 2:3 format and prefer the 4:3 format or 16:9, if I want something wider.
The experience however is great and the manual controls are as they shoud be with a proper manual focus on the lens and not the rubbish dSLR lenses with the video camera focus ring. I wish a manufacturer would start producing proper dSLR lenses with proper mechanical controls on them.