Excellent color rendation Great sharpness Solid body Low F number Bright viewfinder excellent contrast/flare/vignetting/distortion

Flask is weak somewhat noisy

The Ricoh GR1S is very fine PS camera. Its color display very noble character and the contrast and sharpness in picture/image is great and color is deep. Excellent color rendation.

Customer Service

I never contacted with them. Absolutely no problem so far.

Similar Products Used:

Leica Z2X, Yashica T4, Yashica T4 Zoom, Rollei Prego 90, Leica Mini, and many.

Handling and ergonomics are very good. All the controls are easy and positive to operate. The viewfinder is clear and reasonably bright, with noticeable barrel distortion. Viewfinder information is less than you would expect in an SLR but much more than most compacts and is user friendly. The viewfinder shows approximate shutter speeds down to 1/30 sec, approximate focussed distance, flash status, and focus confirmation. The lens is excellent giving very good image definition right into the corners. Best aperture is around f 8 but performance is very pleasing wide open.Overall the lens is as good as a high quality SLR prime. Shutter lag is pleasingly brief. Exposure are corect in the great majority of situations.

Viewfinder frame lines appear slightly off alignment. Lining up verticals is a bit difficult. Sometimes the film does not load, but its OK the camera indicates this so you try again. The leader has to be pulled out to just the right length. Mine is black, and a bit of paint flaked off around the on/off switch on the first day. No further problems since then. Sometimes the camera fails to find focus It warns you by flashing the focussing frames in the viewfinder. A slight shift of camera angle will usually fix the problem.

This is a review of the GR1V, the latest and best version of the GR1 series, with the ability to manually control film speed ( in one third stop increments ) and focussed distance. Manual focus presets are 1,2,3 and 5 meters and infinity. This is an adequate range of settings for the 28 mm focal length. After 10 rolls of film the camera has performed very well with no reliability problems thus far. The camera comes with a lens hood and can take 30.5 mm filters with an adapter, available separately. The camera with spare battery, roll of film, filter and adapter or lens hood, HFD card and hand strap all fit nicely into a Lowe Pro Z10 pouch. Date recording function is built in.

Customer Service

Not needed yet

Similar Products Used:

Contax T3, Nikon 35 mm compact, Olympus mju 2 ( stylus epic ) The Ricoh is the easiest of this group to use and is on a par with the Contax for quality.

Excellent wide angle 28mm lens Small and light

Shutter spped not fast enough Flash power is too small GR-1 has no remote self timer (GR10 has) Date imprint function can be accidentially turned on

I take photos in positive slide film almost exclusively when I travel overseas. Therefore I also need a small and handy camera loaded with negative film to take the kind of travel photos that most other people take during their trips – with myself and my wife in the photo in front of the scene. I first have the GR10. It was not reliable. After 1 year the lens component inside the viewfinder fell apart, then another 10 months the flash stopped working, and finally the wheel inside the film compartment developed sharp edge due to old age and scratched the film. The good thing is that Ricoh in Hong Kong provided 3 years warranty so all 3 problems were fixed free of charge. However, I still gave this camera away and bought a GR-1s. The GR-1s is supposed to be more robust when compared to the GR10. It does in my case – it works fine for 2 years now and has no problem at all. The good thing about these 2 camera, as others have pointed out, is the excellent 28mm lens. I was not surprised about the problem in my GR10, and will no if it also happens to my GR-1 – they are not professional SLR and you cannot expect them to be as reliable. I have friends using other Canon/Nikon/Olympus P&S cameras and they also have various problems. Even if I wish to change I am not able to find an alternative if I want a new camera (not used one) in similar size, weight and having an excellent lens. Contax T3 also has an excellent lens but it is only 35mm (it is expensive also). To me this is not wide enough for my travel photos.

Customer Service

As mentioned above. The good thing is the 3 years warranty

Similar Products Used:

Olympus P&S Canon iXUS Fuji P&S

lots of function snap focus depth of field

can turn on unintentionally sometimes (in some occasions) noisy

I bought the 's' model with date option in may 2001 for its small dimensions; very fine camera. Small enuogh, I've captured lots of beautiful shots and was really satisfied. I came from NIkon SLR manual focus bulky and heavy (but I still use it): the GR1s was with flash, EV compensation, light and fast, wonderful for my style of photography. During feb 2003 the Ricoh camera went out of order with no explanation after, maybe, 25 rolls. For me that was the first time a camera stop working, over the Nikon I own 2 point&shoot (Yashica 1994 and Oly 1994) and a twin Rollei 1954. Very unpleasant! The shutter device broke, the repair cost runs round 400 US dollars! I decided to abandon Ricoh. So I am very dissatisfied, and heard in this list that this is not uncommon. BEWARE

Customer Service

lacking, costly, slow to give an estimate

Similar Products Used:

P&S SLR

small. nice black & white shooter.

not durable. when loading a film IT FIRST ADVANCES THE WHOLE FILM TO THE END OF THE ROLL !!! thus not possible to change the film mid-roll....(an option EVERY camera should have)

Small camera. disapointing results. black & white shots better than color. bought this to have a nice GOOD little toy to always take with you... take care...if you just put it in your cote-pocket to have a CLEAN pocket , cause the camera attracts dust , tobacco rests ect.ect.which get into the thing and are a disaster for this mashine... so you need a ' small ' camera bag for the gr1...so then it's a big lump again in your pocket... flash- pics are awful... after 25 rolls , the film advance winder stuck....had to take it to the importer..for repair. costs $110.- after that , the mode selector didn't work anymore.... this thing has a stupid habit : When you load a film , it first rewinds the film... the philosophy for having this done is ,that you cannot open the camera-back mid-roll and then mess-up your roll....(if you happen to open a cameraback midd-roll , you'll deserve to have a wasted film-that will teach you) film advance is noisy.... The lens: nice focal lenght of 28/2.8 , but images produced are nothing special. pity.'caus the feel of the gr1 is good.good material.(though black paint comes of eventualy) and the size is great. though the view through the finder is poor..

Convenience (portability) A very good 28mm lens perspective. Magnesium body

Notice a slight vignetting is some cases. You must be very careful when putting the filter to avoid loss thread.

The convenience of using a P&S camera when your traveling with your kids lessens the weight and body pains you might experience afterwards. I bought this camera as a backup of my Leica Minilux. It has 28mm perspective. Filters available is useful when doing outdoor photograhy. It has the aperture priority and exposure compensation which is available for your creative mind. For the price, quality of photo and the convenience of carrying maybe a good investment for yourself.

Similar Products Used:

Leica Minilux, Leica C1

Sharp lens and outstanding picture quality

Fragile Not cheap

My camera is actually GR1's little brother, GR10 which shares the same lens. Quality of picture is outstanding thanks to the GR lens. Very sharp pictures. After a few rolls I thought it could replace my Nikon camera for most of the time but sooner I knew I was wrong since reliability of the camera is not upto standard. The shutter went out of order after 9 month's use. RICOH took two weeks for repair but I lost my valuable picture during my trip in China. A few month later, the camera went out of order again and stopped working. Finally I decided I could not trust the camera any more and sold it right away.My advice to owners is to check the camera carefully when you are going to take some important pictures.

Customer Service

Prompt service in HK.

Similar Products Used:

Yashica T5

Excellent contrast and sharpness with slight softness at the coners. Very compact. Nice manual controls.

Fragile. Lots of mechanical malfunctions. 4 repairs in 3 years. Camera now dead (see summary)

I own 2 Ricoh R1's and a GR1 camera. They all took remarkably good photos. However, they are very fragile and break easily. To compound the problem, Ricoh DOES NOT stand behind repairs and service and most photo repair services will not accept them for service after they are out of warranty. All three of my Ricoh's are dead from mechanical malfunctons. The cost to repair them is greater than the replacement cost. In the case of the GR1(which is in mint cosmetic condition and never abused) was $495. Buyer beware.

Customer Service

Non existant. If you go to Ricoh website. There is no listing for film cameras. I have never received a reply from eMails to Ricoh customer service. Buyer beware.

Similar Products Used:

Yashica T3, T4, Contact T2, TVS. Rollie 35S.

Incredibly small Bulletproof magnesium casing Excellent image control (aperture knob, EV+- knob...) Fast lens Zeiss, Leica equivalent optics... IMHO

Viewfinder is a bit fiddly and small at first till you get used to it. Not weatherproof like the Yashica T-4 (but the Yashica is much larger...so hey)

Well, after purchasing a Ricoh GR-1v, with the help of review sites such as this one I felt it was time I gave back. So here's my review. I was lost in the technical mess which is the world of rangefinders: comparing lens lineups, size, wieght and concealability etc...(because I shoot a lot of candid/street photography) and having many sleepless nights wondering over whether to buy a Hexar RF or a Leica M6. Then it hit me. For less than $500 you can buy the GR-1v! It is incredibly small, I carry it in my front pocket ALWAYS, and it can do anything a rangefinder can (well not EVEYTHING, but you never can have everything)without being noticed as anything more than a crappy little point and shoot. It has a wonderfull 28mm lens which is as crisp and contrasty as any Zeiss or Lieca lens prints I've seen, and to me, this focal length is ideal for those wanting to quickly snap a fleeting image with complete image control. The depth of field with such a wide lens helps avoiding focus problems and the lens is so fast (f2.8)I almost never turn the flash on. If Ricoh made a 50mm GR-1v I would buy that as well and carry both, with different film in each if needed, and have the PERFECT street and or travel photography setup. The only glitch is the finder which is a bit tiny, but hey nothing is perfect, right?

Customer Service

Not needed. Also my camera came with a 7-year US warranty for an additional $20...not too bad I guess.

Similar Products Used:

Yashica T-4 Nikon N65 Nikon F4 Bronica ETRsi Hassy 500CM

Very light and compact Perfect ergonomics, even for big hands Built like a tank, as opposed to the fragile Rollei Micron I love the looks, like a small Leica!

Price Lens can be moved 1 mm from left to right. Tolerances are too high! Selectors too easy to move accidentally. The auto or neutral position should be VERY stiff, all the rest very soft. Not as easy to slip in pocket as Rollei Micron Slower shutter speeds would be a bonus Viewfinder a bit crowded {

This review of the GR21 supposes you are already familiar with the GR1 series, so I won’t go into things that are similar, but explain the differences. The first surprise is that the GR21 is bigger than the GR1, being half a centimetre higher. The lens doesn’t retract entirely into the body either and isn’t protected. Apart from that, it has all the features that make the GR such a great camera: perfect ergonomics, light, compact… wonderful viewfinder. The 3.5 lens has a filter thread and –hurrah!- the filters from my Rollei 35 fit. The sun hood bayonets over the lens barrel. This camera is clearly for semi-professional use as it includes a flash socket (no shoe) and electrical remote release socket. It also features a day/date function which to me seems completely useless and out of line for a camera with professional ambitions. A flash socket might come in handy, although with 21mm focal, this is definitely not a portrait or studio camera. However, the exterior flash is not taken into account by the metering system, so watch out for overexposure! As I was travelling through Marokko and Marrakech where people will not allow themselves to be photographed, I appreciated some features specially: The camera is very discreet and quiet. Put it on SNAP or INFINITY (5 metres) and it’ll fire instantly and quietly. With a 21 focal you get a huge depth of field so focussing isn’t really an issue. I wondered if 21mm wouldn’t be overkill, but I sometimes found myself wishing for an even wider view. Yup, I like the similarity to my eyes’ arc of view. Instead of the aperture setting knob, I would have preferred a manual distance setting. I guess it’s a matter of taste… Great is also that the lens remains extended when the camera switches off automatically. Usually with P&S cameras, after a few minutes, everything retracts and shuts down completely. Here, you only need to lightly touch the shutter release button to switch on again after autoshutoff. And yes, at long last the on /off switch is now a little better protected by a raised edge around it. A nice touch is that spot focussing is always combined with centre metering (all GR’s and Micron’s have this). The camera is made in Japan as opposed to Taiwan for the GR’s. Maybe because of the more demanding lens construction. Lens seemed to be pretty good under the microscope. But I had nothing to compare it with. For example the GR-1 lens is less sharp than the Rollei Micron Schneider version in the centre, but sharper on the edges... r

Customer Service

?

Similar Products Used:

Rollei 35, Yashica T5, Rollei Micron, Olympus XA, ...i