Ray Sachs
Legend
- Location
- Not too far from Philly
- Name
- you should be able to figure it out...
OK, so I've been intrigued by the great stuff I've been seeing from the GRD3 and when I saw one for close to $400 I jumped on it. I'm stupid that way - sometimes I just have to try something. Which is why the GF1 is for sale and the LX5 may follow. In any case, last night was the first of monthly Thursday evening street fairs in my small town, it was a beautiful evening, and my wife and I walked the two blocks to the center of town and partook. Two bands (a pretty damn good Allman Bros cover band and a closer to purist blues band) at either end of the street. And I got a chance to carry both of these cameras around and compare 'em for street shooting.
Well, the GRD can't compare to the X100 for low light shooting - nothing I've used can but the Nex and the m43 stuff does better than the small sensor cams like the GRD and LX5. But the GRD isn't bad at all and its gotta be the most discreet camera I've ever shot with. Particularly with the snap focus turned on to either 1 or 1.5 meters, you can just shoot endlessly at very close quarters without anyone being alarmed. I don't really have a feel for the camera yet, but I like it. I like the sharpness and clarity of the lens a lot - I think I'm getting more and more sold on the idea of fixed lens cameras where the single focal length is really well mated to the sensor. The X100 and GRD are the only two of these I've tried and I really like them both a lot. I also love having something a bit wider than the X100 available. And the GRD fits very comfortably in a front pants pocket, which the LX5 doesn't. As others have said, it really disappears into your hand - highly transparent in use. GREAT LCD too, a shame it doesn't tilt up! I could see getting a lot of mileage out of just these two cameras - one on a strap, one in my pocket.
So, enough of that, here are some images from both, intermixed. I'm betting you'll mostly be able to tell which is which, but guesses are welcome:
-Ray
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Well, the GRD can't compare to the X100 for low light shooting - nothing I've used can but the Nex and the m43 stuff does better than the small sensor cams like the GRD and LX5. But the GRD isn't bad at all and its gotta be the most discreet camera I've ever shot with. Particularly with the snap focus turned on to either 1 or 1.5 meters, you can just shoot endlessly at very close quarters without anyone being alarmed. I don't really have a feel for the camera yet, but I like it. I like the sharpness and clarity of the lens a lot - I think I'm getting more and more sold on the idea of fixed lens cameras where the single focal length is really well mated to the sensor. The X100 and GRD are the only two of these I've tried and I really like them both a lot. I also love having something a bit wider than the X100 available. And the GRD fits very comfortably in a front pants pocket, which the LX5 doesn't. As others have said, it really disappears into your hand - highly transparent in use. GREAT LCD too, a shame it doesn't tilt up! I could see getting a lot of mileage out of just these two cameras - one on a strap, one in my pocket.
So, enough of that, here are some images from both, intermixed. I'm betting you'll mostly be able to tell which is which, but guesses are welcome:
-Ray
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