(Very, very busy hands with three great cameras in one go) The three inseparable friends in The Three Musketeers, a novel by Alexandre Dumas , live by a well-known motto, “One for all, all for one”. Last Saturday, I managed to arrange a meetup in my citadel for the three modern musketeers (LX3, G10 and GX200). A variant version of the motto sprang to mind, “One camera for all purpose, all great features for one camera”. Before the meetup, I had a shootout with both the LX3 and the GX200. Then I returned home and played with the G10. I had actually played with the LX3 and the G10 before. But this was the first time I could sit down, compare notes with the users and feel the differences of the three in real time. (Focused: I walked behind the lady and, noticing the captivating gaze of the little girl, turned on my GX200 to MY2 which is set to MF at less than 1m and shot) The Focus This post is not going to compare the photos and give a review. There are already enough of them. I am m...
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(My Minolta Dynax 7 with 24-105mm and GX200 with 24-75mm)
Comments
"As a GX200 user for some time, I
wish to add the following issues:
1) Corner sharpness
Gx200 does well in this area. But its JPEGs are sort of soft indeed. Shoot RAWs for more serious shots IMO.
2) Vignetting
Agree. GX200 is very well done.
3)ISO Performance
I wish the next GX will put a faster len at f2. I don't mind the high ISO noise (well, indeed, not really complimentary over ISO 400 but PP work will handle the noise) but a faster len will help a great lot in dim shooting ocassions.
4)Start-up Time
Not slow but on some ocassions I missed the shots because of that.
5)Shutter Priority Mode
Wish the next GX will put it there even though the lack of it can be worked around in M mode.
6)Fn and M123
GREAT features I must say. Take for example I set M1 to snapshot mode and it saves lots of shots I would have missed otherwise. Also remember to put one of the Fns as M Focus -> A Focus to be able to lock the focus easily. M2 for 1:1 format in Continous B&W, Colour, B&W (colour-filtered) mode. M3 for dedicated combination for special shots.
7)Portability and Controls
200 marks out of 100. No match whatsoever. After using the GX200, I even don't miss the controls on my Dynax7, which has been known for its great control.
8) Dataless black stripe
Untill the next instalment of firmware, the RAW will show the dataless black stripe when opened in some PP software.
9)AWB
This is about G10's. I tried it in the showroom and it's AWB was ugly. Was it my fault? Dunno."
Nevin
One of the custom features I have is the FN1 button set to Snap focus (hyperfocal). When lighting situations make it tough for autofocus, or I don't want to worry about the camera having to lock on prior to taking a shot, I simply press the FN1 button and bam, mostly focused sharp for most shots. I assigned my FN2 button to toggle between Autofocus and Manual focus.
Since there are literally a myriad of combinations and choices for customization for the GX, it really gives you the impression that it is a custom design, all for you. Ricoh is intelligent engineering, hands down.
Some DSLR manufacturers (er hem!) could stand to take a notice on some of the design choices Ricoh has implemented.
For the next GX, I'd like to see one of the newer generation sensors that seem to perform miracles at higher ISO's like the Canon G10s. NOT necessarily the resolution, but the performance. 12mp is plenty. Could be Canon's processing extracting out the better ISO performance, but most likely it is a majority of the sensor's design (imo). This could help sales at Ricoh a bit more too possibly in the US. I'd never use the higher ISO's but for some who live there, it would be welcome.