Oct 2, 2012

Meet Ricoh

I never thought I'd want a dummy point and shoot film camera (like the ones my parents used when I was growing up), but after enjoying my Fuji x100 so much, and becoming less and less of a fan of lugging my heavier film cameras around on my days off from shooting, I decided to look into my best options for this category. J pointed out the Ricoh GR1 to me, saying that it was the classic, sort of analogous to what a Hasselblad is for the 6x6 category.

I was instantly sold because it had a nice 28mm f2.8 fixed lens; i.e., it's like my iPhone on film! Just a teensy bit slower than my iPhone lens. And now that I'm so used to "seeing" things in 28mm, I thought this would be perfect. I scoured eBay for a few days, missing a few good deals, and then finally making an offer on one that was listed in auction style. (On a side note, I almost always offer a Buy It Now price when I want something and the seller has listed it as an auction. It usually works!)

When I received the camera, my first thought was, "DANG this thing is tiny!" It weighs almost nothing and I was wondering how the film even fits in it hah. See the first photo for scale. I shot a test roll on it and got it developed at Walgreens with pretty crappy prints. Overall I am pretty pleased with this little guy. Of course, there's still the parallax issue (so it's not quite as easy to compose with) but the viewfinder has a guidance line that shows you where the top of your photo actually starts.


So cute and tiny! Can't wait to put some black and white film in this.

iPhone shot of a few of the crappy quality prints (you can't tell from this distance but trust me). I didn't get scans so this is all I've got to show for now.

Hope to share more soon!

23 comments :

  1. How fun! I love the farmers market shots above.

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  2. I love my Olympus mju2 , it's a nice ps camera :)

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  3. your photos look lovely, I have a Ricoh and I really like it.

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  4. love your photography! :)
    http://inspiredexperimental.blogspot.ca/

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  5. I hope you don't mind my asking this, but do you touch up your iPhone photos at all? I don't have an iPhone, but I'm constantly amazed by the quality of photos taken with an iPhone. The bottom shot looks like it has a slight grain to it, although that may be the photographed photos themselves!

    I love the composition of that top photo and all the fall colors in the bottom.

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    1. HI CW, I edit my iPhone photos in Snapseed (an app on the iPhone). There probably is some natural grain in that photo since it was pretty dark when I took it!

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    2. Ooh, thanks!

      (That bottom photo also reminds me that I have to get myself to the Doughnut Plant.)

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  6. As a person who has shot many rolls of film, I suggest that you might receive better print quality if you have the film developed at a professional film shop and not a drug store.

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    1. Oh for sure! I only took this to Walgreens because it was a test roll. Didn't want to spend more at a professional lab.

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  7. Your photos are beyond beautiful no matter what camera you use (I'm a little bit obsessed with your instagram feed, hah!). And I'm with you on the Walgreens quality...so terrible! I only use them in a pinch and I almost always have to get them to reprint because of their silly auto-correction system. Seriously though, Alice, these are wonderful.

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  8. 'my iPhone on film' - I would love to have something like that. This looks like a great little camera!

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  9. Nice pics!!! Waiting for more!!!


    http://jazzille.blogspot.be/

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  10. Hi Alice! Isn't it so much fun getting a new toy to play with? I just bought a Pentax K1000 to play with film out and about in the city and I love it. I also took my test roll to Walgreen and they did an excellent job initially but on my second roll, they weren't so good so I guess it's a hit or miss thing... Your photos are lovely as always.

    xo

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  11. Hello Ricoh. May you make many pretty pictures... which seems natural given Alice controls the shutter button

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    1. Aw thank you Peter! I had to smile reading your comment.

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  12. Love those pictures... they are so gorgeous!!!

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  13. I have the Ricoh GRD4 and toted it around with me in the UK - they're great cameras!

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  14. I really wish I hadn’t seen this as I really want one now!

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