The intelligent design of the camera is what makes me use this camera so much. You get to see what the camera has focussed on. You get an estimate of the distance it has focussed at. You can use the program mode or aperture priority mode and see the shutter speed, whether or not your speed is less than 1/30 or that greater than 1/500 is needed. You can prefocus in SNAP mode and use the camera as a snapshooter. You can play with the ASA settings or use DX. You can do exposure compensation for filters. You can automatically shoot sets of bracketed exposures. The lens has a hood & it works well. The lens is very sharp, has low distortion & great contrast even wide open. I have no experience with the Contax T3 to advise you one way or the other if you are choosing between the two, but I am very, very pleased with my GR1V. This is the best small camera that I have ever used.

I wish the lens was set up for screw in filters like the GR21. I wish the camera showed the exact distance (in meters) it has focussed and exact exposure time when greater than 1/30. It would be nice to have faster top shutter speed but recognize that 1/500 for leaf shutters is already pretty good (Hexar 35/2 autofocus maxes at 1/250). I wish it were cheaper but to be honest, I think it is a decent value for the camera. This is not your grandmother's point and shoot camera. These are quibbles. Having used the camera for many dozens of rolls of many different types & speeds of film, I can say that there is nothing that I havd found to be a real weakness with this camera other than the flash, which typical of point and shoot cameras, is weak. Despite that, I have had very few problems with redeye. Oh, I suppose for those of us in the US, the lack of official imported cameras & warranty is a weakness.

This is a great camera if you want the ability to have creative imput, understand what the camera is doing for focus and exposure, and need a small, lightweight camera with an excellent 28mm lens.

Customer Service

Gray market only in the US. :-(

Similar Products Used:

Olympus Stylus Epic, XA, RD, Canon Elph, Canonet QL17 G-III, Yashica Lynx 14E, Nikon (F, F2, FM, FM2, FE, FE2) SLRs, Canon (7S), Leica (M3, M4, M6), Voigtlander (Bessa R, Bessa T, Vitessa) rangefinder

slim type design and aluminum build. very sharp and contrasty.

slightly soft and warm when I compare with Leica and Contax cameras.

Excellent and well designed PS camera. It is sharp and and coloring is superior. viewfinder is so far the best among PS cameras yet. I have extensively examined this one with other PS cameras such as Yashica T4, Yashica T4 Zoom, Rollei Prego 90, Olympuss Stylus Epic Zoom 80, Leica Mini and etc. Each one has it own merit. Some situation one thing is better than other, but most situation, GR1S shows very top quality picture with Yashica T4 Zoom, T4 in its sharpness and color quality. Olympus Stylus Epic Zoom 80:sharp and good camera in its size. But its coloring is still behind of others mentioned here. Rollei Prego 90:At 28-35mm. It is quite very sharp and excellent coloring except somewhat significant vignetting. But beyond 50mm,its performance is medicore. Yashica T4 Zoom:Excellent design and coloring. Very sharp and unformly sharp in all focal lengths and f-numbers. Some insignificant vignetting at 28mm. Yashica T4 Super: Very sharp and contrasty. Excellent T* coating show excellent color rendation. uniformly sharp in all f-numbers. Ricoh GR1S:Its MTF is quite remarkably good. Very Sharp and excellent contrast. Color also very noble and modesty. Strongly want to keep this !

Customer Service

not needed

Similar Products Used:

Yashica T4 Rollei Prego 90

capable of producing excellent photos good flash accurate light meter long battery life, even when using the flash alot good red-eye reduction

auto-focus is quirky and can be a pain in the butt, esp. when trying to "capture the moment"; reliability is an issue (maybe I have a lemon?)

This camera is capable of taking amazing photographs, given its small size and light weight. I, like others, wanted a high-quality 35 MM camera that I could slip into a pocket and take anywhere. I have several other cameras but find myself using this camera more often than not. Great at things like weddings, parties, etc. My only disappointment was a $200 repair to some gears about a year ago. Unfortunately, the same problem seems to have emerged again. If not for this, I'd give it a 4/5

Customer Service

Had it serviced by an independent repair technician who did a good job but the problem repaired has resurfaced once again after one year.

Small and light well built great lens f2.8, 28mm

Quirky autofocus..... Doesn't work properly sometimes. Poor quality viewfinder: Dust can enter the viewfinder.

Great Camera!!!! with a body which feels solid. It is small and light, which takes very sharp and high contrast pictures. I have been having this camera for 3 years and just love it...... Decided to buy it because of its size so that i don't need to carry an SLR to take good photos.

Similar Products Used:

Canon EOS 5; Olympus mjuII; Nikon TI;

Very sharp photos. No one will believe they are taken by a p&s camera.

None

I only paid $250 for a new GR1s last week in a sale. The original price was $350. I am glad with it. My brother in law has a GR10 and my brother has another GR1s. We are all attracted by the quality of photos it produces. The lens is even sharper than my Nikon 28mm F3.5 SRL camera.

Customer Service

1 like the 3 year warranty.

Similar Products Used:

Prego 70 (which is a disaster); Nikon lite touch, Olympus Mju:

small, light, high qual. lense-finally a controllable camera, but depends how much you need it.

the flash is too weak

This is a great camera value: Light- weight, excellent 28mm f2.8 lens, SNAP hyperfocal feature is very handy, fill flash, exposure compensation, aperture priority. Great hiking camera!

Customer Service

Ekasilp, Thailand

Similar Products Used:

Leica C 1

Small size. Sharp 28 mm lens. Excellent flash. And best of all, ability to control exposures way beyond normal point & shoot. Or, if you don't want to, let the camera do the job.

Viewfinder a little small, and you have to be careful with autofocus, espeically on close subjects. But these are minor quirks.

I love this little camera. Amazing sharp pictures, amazingly good exposures, and wonderfully small size. The flash is great, especially in making use of ambient light to rely as little as possible on light from teh flash. Autofocus is a little quirky, but you get used to it. Metering is great--even wtih slide film. Excellent photos from Day One.

Customer Service

can't say

Similar Products Used:

Olympus Stylus

Size, lens, good build quality

Would be good to be able to switch to completely manual control in some situations

I was after a small camera that I could take with me wherever I went. I wanted a good lens, enough control to keep things interesting and good value for money. I looked at a large range of cameras and settled on a choice between the Leica Minilux, the Contax T3 and the Ricoh GR1S. It was a difficult choice as the the first two have such big names. However the reviews that I read of the three cameras suggested that the Ricoh would be the equal of the other 2. I have not been disappointed. I have shot about 10 films so far, mostly Scottish scenery and the results are great. Most exposures are spot on, and I am starting to learn about the situations where the meter makes mistakes. The camera is very pocketable and takes filters. Of course I never bought the Minilux or the T3 so I can''t say how it rates against these two bit for me the camera is ideal. I just wish Ricoh would bring out a version with a longer focal length lens

Customer Service

Not required as yet

Similar Products Used:

None - but I don''t use my bulky old Minolta SLR any more. And I don''t miss it

Built, Sound, Capabilities, Cost, Ergonomy, Size, Lens

AF focusing hazy in some rare occasions.

This review is about the new GR1v. It has bracketing and manual focus modes included to the GR1s specs. NOW this is the best comact you can buy, if you find a 28mm not too wide.

Customer Service

Never needed

Similar Products Used:

GR1, Contax T and T2, Rollei 35, Nikon 35ti and more

Terrific lens, I will happly enlarge to a high magnification and rivals my Nikkors for quality.28mm focal length is my favourite. Choice of aperture gives great versatility.Metering appears accurate Good viewfinder information.2 stops +/- exposure compensation.Program mode never used. Small and lightweight which encourages you to take it out wherever you go when your main kit is bit of a faff. Price- good for such a useful and specified item. I have put a lot of film through it in a short time and is now in regular use. I love it despite its foibles- see below

I do hope Ricoh read this! Truly terrible manual, but lots of good stuff on the net. Bad on/off switch- too easy to turn on in a pocket. Horrible shutter button - lacks feel and suddenly takes the frame. Horrible viewfinder- hard to make out information and I have good eyesight.. To easy to go into slow sync mode with flash (although good when needed).DX only and therefore inability to pull/push film, other than with exposure compensation switch. Modes a bit fiddly and actually hard to remember when you want them. Max shutter speed is 1/500th only which does not give much headroom and means there is a constant risk of over exposure. I need smaller hands. Flash needs a bit more puff. The fact that the film winds allthe way out on loading and then is rewound "backwards" frame by frame as exposed may sound a good idea but if you do your own stuff in the darkroom it means that all work processes are upsidedown - think about it! It is not instinctive in use. As a P&S only it would be too expensive.

Excellent compact for the more experienced user. Not so easy to use as a P&S but capable of great results. Sophisticated. Good companion camera to a larger kit. Never leave it at home.

Customer Service

Never needed. How about a proper manual Ricoh?

Similar Products Used:

Olympus Trip. Olympus half frame, Ricoh FF70, Pentax Spotmatic, Canon A1, Nikon F50, Nikon F90, Pentacon 6 tl.