I still use a film camera as my main camera, but the continuous rise in the price of film and the cessation of production of high-sensitivity film forced me to get into digital cameras, and the camera I chose was the GR3X.
It is not that I have never used a digital camera before, but this is the first time I have decided to use a digital camera as my primary tool in a particular shooting situation.
I would like to give my personal opinion on why I chose this camera and focus on the 40mm angle of view that I am most interested in.
Reasons for choosing Ricoh GR3x
I chose GR rather than GR3x mostly for the following reasons, but I’d like to write them down in order.
Fits in the back pocket of pants
Without it, it would not be my choice as a compact camera.
It is thicker than the film GR, but can be stored as long as the pants are not tight.
If I had to put it in my bag, I would choose another model, I don’t feel the image quality advantage of the GR series is that great.
Good description (I think).
Looking at the examples of the GR3, including the 28mm, I still feel that it is GR-like.
Although it does not have the easily recognizable “GR-ness” of the film era, I think the sharpness of the images can only be achieved with the GR.
If you don’t like FUJIFILM’s rounded, lumpy, filtered rendering, the natural GR is a good choice.
It also has an APC-S size sensor, which is the best among the smaller cameras (though there are not many competitors).
In the end, when we consider the “body size x sensor size” balance, we have to choose one.
How about 40mm focal length
Why did you choose 40mm instead of 28mm?
intended use
This is the main reason I chose the 40mm, but I didn’t want a record photo.
I think 35mm is best for shooting everything in town, and 24mm is best for a travel camera that includes nature and architecture, but I have no plans to do any serious traveling.
As long as I live in the same place, I feel that I cannot surpass the old days when it was easier to take pictures of snaps in the city…and with that, I have lost my motivation.
Furthermore, I feel that a smartphone is sufficient for my own record photos.
The use I arrived at as a result is night photography, which smartphone is still not very good at.
where he said, “28mm is too wide angle. I can put it in my pocket when I go out for a drink. This is the reason why I decided to use the GR3x.
The versatility of 40 mm
Frankly, it is not very versatile.
When I walk around with one camera, I would like to use the GR3x to take some documentary shots, but I still need to keep my distance.
If you carry it around with the intention of taking pictures, it is not a problem, but if you are just looking for a casual snapshot, it is quite a hassle.
As a result, I alternate between using my phone and GR3x, which is stressful.
For example, if you think “shutter chance” and decide to take a picture with the GR3x, you are feeling narrow.
Then I take two steps back, but it is rather difficult to pull back when you are in the middle of a city walk. Also, when people are around, if I make unnatural movements, they will sense it.
Taken from the same position with the default (28mm) of the smartphone.
The low quality of the smartphone photo is noticeable by comparison (it is a Huawei p30 pro with a Leica lens), but I think cropping this is the strength of the record photo.
Then, “Why don’t you carry two cameras with the GR3?” But I can’t imagine having two cameras when I chose GR because I want to go out without a bag.
With a wallet, phone and GR3x, there is not enough room in my pocket, and even two GRs are heavy in their own right.
If I decide to shoot a work of art, of course I will have two cameras, and I will do my best with a full-size camera to begin with. My focus is to take photos at a level that I want to keep as a casual snapshot. I am focused on taking photos at the level I want to keep as a casual snapshot.
utilization rate
So, since the purchase, the utilization rate has been low. Well, this is not so much because of the focal length, but because of the lack of activity in the city due to the Corona disaster.
Example of GR3x
Before I say this and that, let’s take a look at some examples. So, I would like to look at the features of the camera by taking some sample photos.
First of all, you want to take wide-angle shots of cityscapes. If you want to keep a record of the scene, 28mm is probably the best choice, but 40mm is a bit half-way.
28mm might be too wide, but 40mm is also subtle. I still think 35mm is better for cityscapes.
The angle of view is somewhat middling; if I were shooting at 28mm, I would have taken it one step further.
What bothers me more is the bokeh; I was shooting in P auto, so I think it was wide open, but you need to pay attention to the aperture.
This is a pattern that makes the most of bokeh: with a 28mm lens, I have to get very close to the subject, but with a 40mm lens, even if I take a random shot, I can gain distance from the subject.
The greatest advantage is the distance It can gain when taking pictures secretly.
This can also be made easier by the need to get unnaturally close to the camera if it is not 40mm.
GR3x Night depiction (high sensitivity)
Shot at ISO 3200-6400.
A quick snap while eating food at a food stall. It is halfway through, but it is nice to be able to focus on people.
Dark areas are slightly noisy, but quite good.
Good points of GR3x
I have talked about the GR3x in a somewhat negative way due to my unfamiliarity with the 40mm angle of view, but if you ask me which is better, the 28mm or the 40mm, I would definitely say the 40mm.
It is better to have more pictures that want to keep than beautiful record photos. After all, I don’t look back at photos for record purposes.
So, I will summarize the good points again.
get close
What I want to photograph is people. It is very difficult to get close with a 28mm lens in the city.
Even with people in the landscape, a 28mm photo is unlikely to be one of the best.
If you want to take a lot of 70 point photos, 28mm is the way to go, but if you are aiming for 90 point photos, 40mm would be the way to go.
bokeh
I don’t like photos that rely on bokeh, but the bokeh of the 40mm is rather natural and pleasing.
This was considerably better than I had imagined.
Beautiful focus point around the periphery of the aperture
As with people and objects, it is not so much that the blur is beautiful, but rather the point of focus in the blurred photo that is beautiful.
I thought “well, this is what it looks like…” for scenery, etc., but this point has exceeded my imagination by quite a bit.
But to be honest, I would have preferred to be able to get as close as 50mm to 60mm.
With a compact camera and distance to the subject, it is difficult to notice that you are being photographed. But in fact, it is in focus. If I could do that, I would be the best snapshooter.
(It just use a 50mm crop…)
I think it’s getting that much harder to take pictures in the city, and since it’s clearly differentiated from the 28mm, I’m almost tempted to go for it and have two of them.
If you want to enjoy the film including for recording, please use the 28mm.
competitor
Here are some of the models we considered at the same time.
FUJIFILM X100V
I don’t really like Fuji’s rendering, but I think this 35mm single focal length is rather good.
Furthermore, 35mm was attractive for versatility. The size is a bottleneck.
Cyber-shot DSC-RX100M7
Size-wise, it is passable. But the sensor is 1.0 type. But the lens is Carl Zeiss. And it has a zoom.
In terms of artistic photography, the GR3x is the best choice, but I was quite worried because of the overwhelming difference in versatility.
I was thinking mainly of shooting at night this time, and I felt that a zoom lens would take more good shots when I was drunk or traveling abroad.
I asked myself, “Do I really want to take pictures of my work of art with a digital camera in the first place?” If the 28-50mm zoom lens had an F2.8 extension, I might have chosen this lens. It seems to be easy to take movies.
SONY VLOGCAM ZV-E10
I initially decided to choose this model. In the first place, I wondered if I needed to take still images as a work of art with a digital camera, so I thought that a camera with an APC-S size sensor and specializing in video would be my main choice.
Still images are smartphones. Film is for the artwork-like. Leaving videos, even lazily, will be the mainstay for recording purposes. I still think so.
I feel that a video that is viewed only occasionally is more valuable than a record photograph that is viewed only occasionally. However, the video was not well received, so I dismissed it. I reconsidered using my smartphone for video as well.
