Ricoh The Unofficial Unauthorized GRD3 International Street Thread

Ray Sachs

Ray Sachs

Legend
Location
Not too far from Philly
Name
you should be able to figure it out...
There are so many specific threads popping up for the GRD3, each on their own. But like a lot of cameras, there are street, non-street, color, monochrome, people, etc. Well, the X100 has its own street thread and non-street thread. So, whether I have the authori-TAY (that's a South Park reference) or not, I'm starting a GRD3 Street thread. Because its a ridiculously good street camera. I'd have to say that in good light, I actually prefer it to the X100 (for street only - not making a general statement about the overall wonderfulness of the two cameras!).

If the various administrative folks think this should be better off done otherwise, feel free to move stuff around. But it seemed this camera is worthy of a street thread if any is.

-Ray
 
Ray, you are hereby authorized to start the thread.
The SC top administration also appoints you as the...
"Official GRD3 Street Tread Image Stimulator."
We thank you for your continued support and efforts.
Don
 
Great shots, Ray and Will. Ray, you're getting really up close! The ability to choose a closer snap focus distance with the GRD 3 is very handy.

I think I showed this one somewhere else, but here goes:

5223478829_a1513a6ed4_o.jpg
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
 
Amin, as you know we have many members doing wonderful streetwork here on the forum.
I see now that you also do some streetwork.
I never thought of you as a Streetologist but your changing my way of thinking.
Thanks for the enlightenment.
 
Alright - three contributors. NOW its a thread!

Amin Sabet said:
Ray, you're getting really up close! The ability to choose a closer snap focus distance with the GRD 3 is very handy.
Click to expand...

I think getting up close is where the GRD3 really shines. Between the snap-focus and the discrete nature of the camera (very unobtrusive both visually and dead silent), the absolute lack of any lag, and the field of view, I'm amazed how many of these shots are working, at least technically. I think the 28mm is really kind of the sweet spot for this kind of shooting. 35mm is great when you get it, but is just narrow enough to miss some shots when framing on instinct. 24mm is so wide it really starts pushing the subjects away. 28mm may be the goldilocks focal length for shooting from the hip. It's a fine camera for raising up and composing a shot also, but I'd just as soon use the X100 for that because 35mm is plenty wide when you actually see what you're framing and the camera is so much more flexible in other ways. I'm not convinced I couldn't have done pretty much the same thing with the LX5 as the GRD3, but I guess I never quite figured out the right combination of settings for it to feel quite as natural.

Hopefully we'll get some other folks to show some stuff here - maybe even Michael Penn if he sees the thread - he's really doing some impressive work with this camera.

-Ray
 
BBW said:
Very nice you all! I've never seen a GRD3 in real life and don't really understand what snap focus is - but clearly it's working out really well for you.:2thumbs:
Click to expand...

Snap focus is just a shortcut to manual focus set to a certain distance. It doesn't DO anything you can't do on an LX5 - it just makes it a lot quicker and easier to get to a certain point. And its perfect for street shooting with zone focussing because, like the LX5 and other similar small sensor camera, the DOF is amazing with these cameras. So, with snap focus set for 1.5 meters in good enough light to set the aperture to around f5 or f5.6, more or less the whole world is in focus. And you can set the camera up to be in "snap focus" mode very quickly and easily in a number of ways. So you could be walking around using the camera in auto focus for general shooting, see a street opportunity present itself, hit one button to switch to snap focus and just shoot with zero lag and know you're shot will be in focus. You can get to the same place with the LX5, but once you've set it up for manual focus at the right distance you don't want to switch out of that mode because it'll take a little while to get back to it. Not a really long time, but several seconds, definitely enough to miss a shot. The GRD3 also has a mode where you can be in autofocus and if you half press the shutter button, it will AF and then the rest of the press will trigger the shutter, BUT if you just press all the way through the half press, it will just shoot in snap focus mode and will not try to AF. I haven't had much luck with that setting because I find I have to push rather hard to bust through the AF spot and a lot of my shots have some camera shake in them. I'm sure it can be done if you develop the touch, but I have one of my fn buttons set to switch between AF and Snap focus modes, so with one press of a button I can get to snap focus rather than trying to use that "press through" setting.

Its just a very handy setting to have easily available for street shooting.

-Ray
 
Ray said:
...BUT if you just press all the way through the half press, it will just shoot in snap focus mode and will not try to AF. I haven't had much luck with that setting because I find I have to push rather hard to bust through the AF spot and a lot of my shots have some camera shake in them....
-Ray
Click to expand...

So *thats* whats been happening. I've been having to delete almost everything. I thought it was me and I was on the brink of selling the GRD off and just using cameras with stabilisation. A bit more practice required then.
 
kyteflyer said:
So *thats* whats been happening. I've been having to delete almost everything. I thought it was me and I was on the brink of selling the GRD off and just using cameras with stabilisation. A bit more practice required then.
Click to expand...

More practice is one option, but just assigning a function key to switch between AF and Snap Focus makes the practice unnecessary. If you're in AF, hit the function and you're in Snap Focus mode and you don't have to worry about any halfway point for AF or busting through that for Snap focus. I find that snap focus mode is very easy and works nearly every time, but the "full press snap" mode is where I was running into trouble.

-Ray
 
Ray said:
More practice is one option, but just assigning a function key to switch between AF and Snap Focus makes the practice unnecessary. If you're in AF, hit the function and you're in Snap Focus mode and you don't have to worry about any halfway point for AF or busting through that for Snap focus. I find that snap focus mode is very easy and works nearly every time, but the "full press snap" mode is where I was running into trouble.

-Ray
Click to expand...

Thanks for that tip Ray, will save me some grief. I did have concerns about full press snap because I find the shutter release a bit iffy and am sure I've fluffed a few shots by pressing too quickly. You gotta be real smooth and with full press snap the speed is probably critical. Smooth and fast don't come easy!
 
Gosh, when you make an re-entrance you sure do make it with great style! Let me just say that I love the three of these - the highlights are wonderful and the black and whites zones are just fantastic! I'm not going to go on and on, but I really mean it - they are super. Your first is very moving - for me it brings a sad and lonely feeling, with stunning light. The second is my favorite for all that it has. I also really like the moment and the light in your third very much.

Very glad to see you whenever you can make it, Wouter.
 

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