Ricoh GR Digital First Impressions
Packing for my trip... the Ricoh GR Digital will go along. Might be interesting to see how it compares to the Fujifilm X-E1 (conventional vs oddball sensor).
The Ricoh GR Digital shows promise. First impressions: a quite intelligent menu system which I rate better than most (better than Nikon Coolpix A, vastly better than Olympus E-M5), vastly superior grip to Coolpix A, razor sharp lens wide open (at least centrally) with what looks to be very nice bokeh at close range, sensor seems surprisingly noisy at ISO 100 with 1 stop push even in high-key areas— immediate thing that jumped out. It shoots DNG, so I don’t know if anything is in ACR to handle it specially.
In a nutshell: I wish it had an EVF, because I felt comfortable using it immediately, and it just operates better in my hands than a Nikon Coolpix A (the grip helps a lot). Though I have my doubts about the autofocus speed (some hunting), it does have a pinpoint spot AF which is my preferred way to operate.
Ricoh GR is available at B&H Photo for about $800.
