(按:這是GX200評測第三部分．全文完)
(Note: The text and photos below are published by courtesy and with copyright of the original author, Wouter Brandsma. The copyrighted Chinese translation is done by Nevin. Permission is required for use.)
Appropriate workflow
The success of a digital camera is probably most determined by someone’s workflow. And that workflow consists of the camera handling, photography making, and editing. A well handling camera is more likely to be picked up by a photographer, even when the camera won’t give you the best results (this matters especially for amateur photographers). The photography making has all to do with how well the camera exposes, your personal skills, and learning the limitations and possibilities of your camera. And for the editing you try to find the application that works the best for you, and achieves the best possible results you envision.
I for instance use Adobe Lightroom as my primary editing application. When I want to do more with editing like burning and dodging, I edit the photographs in Photoshop. I have tried several other application like Silkypix, RAW Developer (Mac only), LightZone, and Capture One for editing my RAW files, but I still prefer the user interface and results of Lightroom. Some applications might give you better end results, but are not necessarily the most user-friendly applications.
When I first opened my GX200 RAW files in Lightroom I had some problems with my favorite B&W conversion technique. This was mostly the result of more noise in the blue channel. But also underexposing affected the RAW files more than the GX100 RAW files (because of the different sensor and processing engine).
Instead of using the luminance sliders to brighten or darken particular colors in Lightroom, I started to experiment with the exposure, black point, and brightness slider to give a pleasant contrast that didn’t give more noise. Especially RAW files that were exposed with the most information captured in the brightest section were so much better to be edited.
Another application (or better said plug-in) that is pleasant to use, is Nik Silver Efex Pro in Photoshop (can also be used in Apple Aperture, but that is Mac only). Edit the RAW file basically in auto mode with ACR and then use Silver Efex Pro. It is absolutely a stunning piece of software that delivers great looking results.
Ricoh GX200, f4.6, 1/12 sec, 24mm equivalent, ISO 200, -0.3 EV (DNG edited in Adobe Lightroom)
Conclusion
For whom is the Ricoh GX200 intended? The GX200 is intended as a versatile, but serious high-end compact camera with serious photography in mind. It enables photographers to shoot a wide range of scenes including landscapes, portraits and close-ups. If you know a thing or two about photography you will probably like this camera. It is a great travel camera, or a second ‘where-ever-you-go’ camera next to your larger camera system.
Nevertheless Ricoh has little presence in some of the largest consumer markets, like the US and Canada. They are very popular in Japan, and they have a pretty loyal fan base worldwide. For long it seemed photographers, manufacturers (and reviewers) didn’t notice Ricoh, despite the fact that the GX100 and the current GX200 have some very unique features. I mention the 24mm wide angle, the step zoom, the three registered personal settings, the additional DW-6 wide angle and TC-1 teleconversion lens, and the VF-1 electronic viewfinder (although I don’t use that). Most consumers looked at the Canon Powershot G9, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX2/Leica D-Lux 3, or the Nikon P5000.
Panasonic/Leica are the first manufacturers who looked at the GX200 and tried to improve their top compact cameras. The market reacted enthusiastic and basically said that the new Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3/Leica D-Lux4 are one of a kind cameras with a very fast 24-60mm lens, and extra accessories. But when you take the domestic market of Japan, it becomes obvious that the LX3 is directly targeted against the GX200. And it is likely that Ricoh will respond adequately with a GX300, as they acknowledged to me at photokina. They will remain fully committed to further improving their GX (and GRD) cameras, especially the image quality.
And is the Ricoh GX200 a suitable camera for you? If you own the GX100 and you are pleased with that camera, I might say that an upgrade isn’t really necessary. When you still own the older GX or GX8, than the GX200 will be a major improvement. If you want a fast responsive, and versatile camera capable of shooting RAW, than I can really recommend this camera. It is excellent competition for the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3 and the Leica D-Lux4. The Panasonic/Leica combo have the edge in their fast lens with a maximum aperture of f2.0, but that lens does seem to suffer from more barrel distortion and chromatic aberration. Currently you can only use Silkypix (for the Panasonic) and Capture One (for the Leica) to process their RAW files since both manufacturers worked closely with the developers of these RAW processors to automatically adjust some of the lens flaws. I am not being fair though, because also RAW Developer (though Mac only), RAW Therapee (beta) and dcraw can open and process the RAW files from Panasonic and Leica. But these applications don’t apply any correction.
The GX200 DNG RAW files on the other hand can likely be opened and processed in your favorite editing application, ranging from the Adobe Photoshop family, Apple iPhoto and Aperture, and the mentioned RAW processors above, and many more. That way you can easily integrate this camera in your current workflow.
Ricoh GX200, f4.3, 1/1000 sec, 28mm equivalent, ISO 100, -0.7 EV (jpeg edited in Adobe Lightroom)
The Ricoh GX100 has some caveats. Some owners, including me, had problems with dust in the lens or on the sensor. The lens assembly and sensor are produced as a single unit, and therefore Ricoh will always replace the lens assembly when dust problems occurred. Although Ricoh at first hesitated acknowledging this problem with the GX100, they were aware that either the rather unprotected battery compartment or the telescopic retraction system of the lens could be faults for this problem. Also some owners had problems with a stucked lens on the GX100 and had to remove the battery completely in order to make the camera functional again. In the last three months I personally had no problems with the GX200, and also haven’t seen any mentioning of problems with the GX200 on forums. I really think that the GX200 is a much more reliable camera and they pushed the limits of what is possible with a small sensor camera.
More than with any other small sensor camera, you might have noticed that many Ricoh owners prefer to use their camera primarily for B&W photography. Search for instance on flickr, or see the numerous forums with Ricoh topics. The nice thing about the Ricoh GX200 is that you can set the in-camera settings to B&W, see your scene in B&W on the screen, and still save an unedited RAW file. In particular the fine noise structure of the RAW files gives a pleasant texture to the B&W photographs from the GX200.
I should say that this camera performances best up to ISO 400. If that is perfectly fine for you, and you still want a zoom lens with a little, but very usable zoom range (although I personally never use the 50 and 72mm focal lengths), than this camera can be a strong contender against the new Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3 and Leica D-Lux 4. Where the image quality probably will be better from the LX3 and D-Lux 4, especially at higher ISO’s, the GX200 will absolutely be the better handling camera. The grip and user interface are unrivaled by any other manufacturer.
Ricoh GX200, f2.7, 1/160 sec, 28mm equivalent, ISO 200, +0.3 EV (DNG edited in Adobe Lightroom)
And if you want to learn about this camera and the decision making continue here.
All photographs by Wouter Brandsma
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