It's been very quiet on this blog for the past year and a bit, I planned some updates but somehow never got the right inspiration or motivation to post again.
You might have noticed some photos being posted automatically from Instagram but I didn't like these posts and it wasn't what I had in mind for this blog. I've since removed them to clean the blog up a bit.
So what happened in the last year?
Well, after 6 years of use and abuse during my travels, my trusty Ricoh GR died.
Way before it died, the sensor was full of dust, the handgrip rubber came lose and the adjust switch broke. Towards the end, the lens had problems retracting and the shutter blades became stuck until after the first shutter actuation. One morning, i=the lens barrel just got stuck and now it can't retract anymore or open the shutter.
I sent the camera to Ricoh but unfortunately it wasn't possible to revive it so now it serves as decoration.
I've been looking for a while to get a proper replacement for it though.
There was the obvious choice of the Ricoh GR II but also choices like the Fuji XF10 or a Sony RX100, even the Nokia 9 at some point.
After Ricoh announced the GR III, I thought the choice would be easy.
The GR III looked like a great camera and quite a change and improvement from my old Ricoh GR.
Still, I wasn't very keen on the changes Ricoh made to the to the controls (removing the EV compensation toggle is the worst decision they could have made), nor the very high price or some of the reported problems with it.
The new sensor looks great though and IS is a nice addition and should also help with dust. While I couldn't care less about losing the flash, I also don't really care about the touch screen or the smaller size it brings (given the previous GR cameras were already small enough).
There is still no weather sealing, still no flip up screen and the controls seem to have gone backwards (although I didn't actually get to shoot with one). This all is disappointing but the main issue for me was simply the lack of compatibility with the old 21mm adapter lens. Given the already high price of the GR III, I didn't feel like spending yet more money for the new hood and adapter.
So instead of buying a Ricoh GR III, I decided to get the older GR II (as you might have guessed by looking at the photos). I would have been equally happy with a new GR I but it wasn't available anymore.
So, where do I go from here? Do I start the "One Day, One Photo" project again, do I keep this blog running or stop completely?
Well, after a year or going back and forth about what to do I am still not sure. I kind of miss keeping a blog and posting photos and it was also nice to have a reason to go out and take a photo every day.
Taking a photos and updating this blog became a big part of my life during the 10 years, I've been doing it but felt that the quality of my photos started dropping and my posts became less and less relevant.
I also feel that Blogger as a platform just isn't good enough anymore, despite it being simple enough to use, I just can't find any theme I actually like to use.
I have looked at moving to Wordpress in the past, only to come back, but I feel their interface has improved enough and it allows me to do more with my blog.
So for now, this will be the last post on this blog. Maybe not surprising and I am not sure how many still follow this blog or check on it after the long break.
I will look for a new beginning and a different format, one that focuses more on stories and content, not just on random photos every day. For that, I might use my
Instagram account instead as it's easier to post simple photos (despite the stupid restrictions on portrait sizes).
Again, thanks to all of you who have or still are following this blog and to all the friends, I've made through this blog!
Hope you'll follow the next project when it's finished (I'll post a link and announcement here).
