(Ricoh GX200)
For street photography, the Ricoh GX200 still proves to be my dearest darling which quite surprises me sitting next to my camera cabinet filled with photographic gear including a SLR, a DSLR, a Leica X1 and the D-Lux 5.
It has always been clear to me, and it is not really a random opinionated big talk to conclude so, that to a predominant proportion of amateur photographers who have seldom a chance to make a print larger than A2 size (an example here if you wonder how big A2 is) what matters the least is a camera's image quality. I am not saying that IQ is not important. But when comparing IQ becomes a matter of comparing her to her, we're just talking about a matter of preference. What applies to comparing beauties to beauties, the same logic applies to comparing similarly impressive cameras of the same class.
For sure, technology has made quantum leap in increasingly shorter circles. What is the best camera now can easily descend from the throne in less than a year's time. Undoubtedly, by today's IQ standard, the Ricoh GX200 sucks beyond ISO 200. But with some self-importance and some experience in testing and trying out a number of them, I can easily say that the GX200’s photographer-friendly ergonomics, function accessibility and (choice of really relevant) functionalities still excel in face of many of today's same-class peers and even the mirror-less machines. An exception is probably Samsung's EX2F. I tested the EX1 back when it's first up for grab in the market, and was impressed enough to suggest it to people until the EX2F came out earlier this year. Its user interface is nearly on a par with Ricoh’s handy serious cameras. The EX2F's functionalities are great too (check out a video review here from 1’53” to 3'33”)
I initially hoped to get a camera to replace my D-Lux 5 and GX200. But I can't find a worthy replacement. The GRD4 is great but I am a VF user and will therefore need to shell out extra for a dedicated VF in that case. Now I am not giving up the GX200 and so will also keep the other.
A mugshot of my darling GX200 by the D-Lux 5, grain added in Lr4:
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