Ricoh GRD IV, the camera so nice I bought it twice… 

I wrote earlier about how I had the Ricoh GRD IV for a little over a year – from right when it came out until last November, when I bought the Fujifilm X100. I ended up selling the Ricoh GRD to fund the Fuji, but it turns out the X100 really wasn’t that great – I like it, but I don’t love it. Fast forward to January, and after only 2.5 months without it, I ordered the Ricoh GRDIV again. I ordered a used one from Amazon, and it showed up with some terrible blue lines down the middle of every file, so I sent it back. I got another one though, and it’s been great.

I’m glad I bought it again. It’s an expensive point and shoot camera considering it has no zoom, poor video, and the sensor is easily outclassed by more recent cameras. But what it does, it does really well. Every single function is only a button away, and very little is buried in the menus. The amount of control over the flash is amazing and it’s only a button away. I’ve never had a point and shoot where you could manually adjust the flash for 1/64 so easily – it’s never been easier to use fill flash on a point and shoot. The flash is so easy to access and control that shooting backlit subjects is more a pleasure than a challenge.

The file size is easily adequate for most post-production, even if it’s not as large as some other cameras I own.

Since I bought it again, Leah and I went to Arizona and toured around a little bit and I was able to shoot lots of photos with this great little camera again. Last week I added a gallery to the collections page called An Hour in Holbrook, Az, and those photos are all shot with the Ricoh.

Of course, there’s a downside to almost every purchase I make. The internet is now buzzing about the Ricoh GR and the possibility it will have an APS-C sized sensor. I was aware they would probably come out with a version V, but I really thought it would be later in the year – late enough to qualify as a 2013 Christmas present to myself. But there are rumors now that it may be announced at the end of the month… I better start thinking of what camera to sell this time – but it probably won’t be the GRDIV again – at least not until I’m happy with the 5^th version.

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Don’t forget to check out some of the fine art prints for sale in my Etsy shop. I’ve also written and illustrated a children’s book for the Kindle Called Coyote Life. If you’ve got kids, check it out. If you enjoy it, please leave a review. Thanks.

My wife Leah makes and sells some pretty neat leather stuff like minimalist wallets and camera straps. Check out her Etsy store for some cool gear.