Red Flag

GR, f2.8, 1/800, ISO 100, RAW

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.

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.

Focus on Imaging 2009

This year the 'Focus on Imaging' exhibition celebrated it's 20th year. It was not quite as glamorous though since there was little new to see from the manufacturers. It was a good opportunity to get some hands-on with some cameras but overall there was nothing very exciting.

Triangle

R10, f4.8, 1/470, ISO 80, JPG 1:1

Today Ricoh has announced the new Ricoh CX1 camera. This is a new camera series that seems to follow the R10 and is aimed at consumers. It has some interesting specs with a 9.29MP 1/2.3″ CMOS sensor and a new high resolution LCD screen offering 920,000 pixels at VGA resolution (!!), 4 fps continuous shooting and in-camera HDR.
I was disapointed to see that there are no manual modes or RAW though. It looks very interesting though and will be worth a look. Need to ask Ricoh if I can get a review model.
I did not have time to take pictures but looking through Rui's photos on Flickr and with the CX1 looking like a R10 successor I ´went along and took a few abstract pictures with the R10. This is the one I like best because it's simple, although it is not really as good as Rui's work.

Ricoh R10 Testbericht - Teil 2

In Teil 1 des Ricoh R10 Tests habe ich mir die Verarbeitung und die Bedienung der Kamera angeschaut. Aber wie sieht es mit der Benutzung im Alltag aus? Glücklicherweise folgt die R10 die Tradition von Ricoh, Kameras herzustellen die man mit Freude nutzt. Dies ist für mich die wichtigste Eigenschaft an einer Kamera und wichtiger als irgendwelche mehr oder minder sinnlose Funktionen, denn letztendlich sind Funktionen nicht wichtig um gute oder interessante Fotos zu machen. Die Kamera sollte aber dennoch eine gute Bildqualität bieten und auch schnell genug sein um keine Gelegenheit zu verpassen.
Wie schneidet die R10 in dieser Hinsicht aus?

Ricoh R10 Testbericht - Teil 1

Wer nach einer Kompaktkamera sucht hat es nicht leicht, es gibt mehr Auswahl als man möchte und es ist leicht den Überblick zu verlieren unter den ganzen Modellen der verschiedenen Hersteller. Die meissten Modelle unterscheiden sich nur in den verfügbaren Farbvariationen oder den verfügbaren Szenen die mehr oder minder nützlich ausfallen. Unter all diesen Kameras finden sich nur wenige wirklich interessante und aussergewöhnliche Modelle, eines davon is die Ricoh R10.

Window

R10, f4.1, 1/570, ISO 80, JPG

After the yesterday's assignment it was time to take it easy and relax a bit today. I went for a walk around Blackheath since it was nice and sunny to take some pictures. I decided to take the R10 with me since it is small and different than the cameras I used yesterday. This picture shows the pretty good dynamic range the R10 has and that there is no fringing visible.

Ricoh R10 Review - Part 2

In Part 1 of the R10 review I looked at the build and controls but how is it to actually use the camera. Due to the excellent controls and great build it follows Ricoh's tradition of cameras one enjoys using. This for me is the most important thing and way more important than silly features and even more so than image quality since none of these are responsible for taking good or interesting pictures. Still, the image quality needs to be acceptable and the camera needs to be responsive enough to take the picture when you want it.
Read on to find out how the R10 fares in this respect.

Ricoh R10 Review - Part 1

If you are looking to buy a compact point and shoot camera you probably have more choice than you would like and can easily be overwhelmed with all the models by the different manufacturers. Most of these camera models differ only in the colors available or will mostly offer you more or less completely obscure scene modes. In the midst of all these cameras you will find only a few really interesting and unique cameras and one of them is the Ricoh R10.
It is a small point and shoot camera with a very versatile 7.1x 28-200mm zoom lens, great build quality and very good controls. Be warned though that it is not a simple point and shoot where you just press the button and get great pictures. Ricoh has this to say about the R10: "A camera to realize the photographer's intent." So while the R10 might have an 'Easy' mode on the dial, to get the most out of it you need to have a basic understanding of how a camera works or at least be prepared to make some adjustments. If you do however take the time to learn how to make some basic adjustments, it will reward you and your pictures will look much better. I had the camera for a while now and really enjoy using it, it has some limitations but which camera doesn't.

Ricoh R10 Review

If you've been reading my blog for a while you know that I really enjoyed using the Ricoh R10 and think it's a very nice camera. It is in my opinion the best R series camera so far and one of the best built cameras from Ricoh.
It follows Ricoh's tradition of cameras you enjoy using. This for me is the most important thing and way more important than silly features and even than image quality since none of these take good or interesting pictures. Read my full review of it here.

Time

R10, f5.2, 1/25, ISO 400, JPG, 200mm

This is the last post and picture for the year.

Happy New Year to all and thank you for following my blog!!
Have a great time and all the best for the new year. Enjoy the celebrations and keep taking pictures.

Flying By

R10, f8.1, 1/1250, ISO 100, JPG

Been out today during lunch to take more pictures with the R10. It was a cold but sunny day so great for taking pictures. After all the recent color pictures I decided to use a b&w picture for today.

December Sun

R10, f5.1, 1/800, ISO 100, JPG

Took this picture on my way to work this morning while walking across London Bridge. This is a picture where the R10 was best due to the extra zoom. I cropped it to the 16:9 format since it reminds me a bit of a scene from a Michael Bay movie.
Changed the levels in Photo Shop and used the highlight recovery tool but did not change much else. Turning sharpening down to -1, contrast to +2 and color depth to +1 gives great results with the R10 as long as you don't underexpose much. RAW would be great to have or the option to turn the noise reduction completely off.