Ricoh GRD III - a mini marvel (From The Northern Echo)

Ricoh GRD III - a mini marvel

6:43pm Wednesday 21st April 2010 in

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RICOH GRD III.

RELEASING a camera with a fixed focal lens in these days of 10X and 20X super-zooms sounds like commercial suicide. But the GRD III from Ricoh is no ordinary digital compact.

Professional photographers know that the best kind of lens for taking super sharp pictures in all conditions is a non-zoom type (known as a 'prime' lens).

Zooms are great for snaps but their complex construction and the extra elements inside them degrades the light as it passes through to your camera's image recording sensor. And less light means poorer pictures.

The lens on the Ricoh GRDIII is very special. It's a very 'fast' f/1.9 aperture lens,which means it lets in loads of light and performs much better in poor light conditions, and the pictures it takes are tack sharp.

This third generation GRD has a new sensor. It still outputs ten million pixels but careful attention to detail means photos taken in low light situations should have less digital noise (the red and green mush you sometimes see in dark areas of a photo).

Physically it's beautifully made - the light alloy body sitting snug in one hand with all the major controls in close proximity. It looks a bit like one of those old pro-level compacts that were once used by war photographers who needed something tough and lightweight.

There's a command dial on the right which controls the shooting mode (fully automatic, custom function, aperture and the new shutter priority mode plus manual). It locks so you can't accidentally spin it around during an enthusiastic shoot.

Personal settings can be stored and assigned to the My settings on the command dial for snappers who like to fiddle.

On the back there's a massive screen that's perfect for composing your pics. The screen's higher than average pixel density makes it easy to see an image even in bright sunshine - a common failing on cheaper compacts.

A quick adjustment button brings up the settings for common photographic menus such as white balance, speed, jpeg compression (the GRD shoots in the RAW mode used by pro photographers, too), colour tone/saturation and focusing area.

The GRD also has Ricoh's clever high dynamic range mode which takes two photos simultaneously and averages them out to bring up more detail in the light and dark areas. If you are shooting in strong sunlight (when harsh shadows can be a problem) or failing daylight then the HDR mode is a potential life-saver.

Ricoh has even added a built-in spirit level so you can be sure your landscapes don't slope.

What all this hi-tech translates into is a small camera that can take photos that wouldn't disgrace a full blown single lens reflex camera.

Even tricky snaps revealed precious little chromatic aberration or pixel fringeing (the X-Files style glow you sometimes get on tree branches) and the lack of noise allowed for generous enlargements.

And if you really can't live with a fixed focal length lens then Ricoh has a range of add-ons that can expand the wide angle of view still further, making the GRD a dream for landscape photographers.

A nice little feature is the way the camera tells you how many pictures you have taken when it turns off.

If you are a serious photographer chances are you already own an SLR and a bag of lens, but sometimes the sheer bulk of an outfit means it gets left at home. If you need something that slips into a pocket but still produces professional results then the GRD is the compact for you.

The lowest price I could find the GRD III online was £399. That's a big investment in a small camera, but the Ricoh produces photos out of all proportion to its size.