Ricoh GR GH-3 and GW-3 Adapters

I just received my Hood & Adapter GH-3 and the 0.75x Wide Conversion Lens GW-3 for the Ricoh GR camera. Since they're currently not available here in the states, I ordered them from the same eBay seller in Tokyo I bought my Leather Jacket GC-6 from.

The ebay seller uses EMS to ship goods and it's a great service and only takes three days for items to arrive. Even our Cairn Terrier, Sam, was anxiously waiting for the Postman to drop off the package. He couldn't care less about the GR adapters, but he knows the postal carrier always has treats.

Since there's very little info about these adapters,
here is a snapshot of the packaging.

Here are photos to show what both adapters look like on the GR.

Here are photos of the .75x wide conversion lens...

Clearly the added weight and size of the GH-3 Adapter and the .75x Wide Conversion Lens GW-3 changes the compact size and great ergonomics of the GR. Here are a few photos to give you an idea of the relative size of the GR and Adapter/Lens in your hands.

A few sample photos shot at f/2.8, f/5.6 and f/8.0

Ricoh GR Birthday Party Snapshots

Our granddaughter turned four and had her birthday party in a secluded park in the back canyons of Orange County CA. She and her best friends all dressed like fairies which made for a photogenic afternoon. All images shot with the GR in RAW + B&W mode. Only processing to images was the addition of the black frame using Snapseed or Nik Color Efex. Hope the photos convey the fun we had.

GR Macro Photos of Classic Metal Type

While I loved the very close macro focusing offered by the GRD IV, I'll gladly give that up for the larger sensor and much higher IQ in the GR. However, I'll probably still use the GRD IV for macro shots of very small items which this camera excels at.

Up until now, I really have not played around with the GR's close-up capability and I needed some subject matter that would be good for my tests.

As I was very active in doing letterpress printing in my younger years, and I still have several typecases, a few fonts of classic metal type and some traditional boxes that were used for shipping and storing type, I thought the tones and detail in these artifacts would be a good test for the GR.

These photos were shot in macro mode in RAW and I simply converted them for posting here using CS6 and ACR.

Since metal type has such a lovely reflective quality to it, I also processed the original file using Nik Silver Efex.

Ricoh GR Jacket

One of the accessories that I thought would be ideal for the GRD IV was a leather half-case, so I was pleased to hear that Ricoh had designed the Jacket GC-6 for their new GR camera. It's currently not yet available in the states and I'm not sure if they've started shipping it to other markets. Being a somewhat impatient guy when it comes to accessories like this, I ordered one from a very reliable eBay merchant in Tokyo and got it in three days.

The jacket uses real leather, is very well made and fits the GR like a glove. The bottom features a nicely designed tripod socket button with an integrated collar you pull up to make it easy securing the half-case to the camera.

I'm sure one of the design goals was to not increase the overall size of the GR with case on and sacrifice the cameras compact size. It's still easy for me to fit the jacket-clad GR in my jeans and my only regret is that I didn't have this on my recent 4,000 mile trip through the western US to give it a real workout.

I've included photos below of the GC-6 jacket from just about every angle so you get a really good idea of its fit, construction and how it wraps around the GR. Photos were shot with the GRD IV. Click on any image to see a larger file.

Using GR in-camera effects

Unless you're familiar with past Ricoh GRD cameras, many new users of the GR have probably not used its in-camera effects which Ricoh refers to as "shooting photos with unique atmosphere". You can select these effects either as a shooting mode or when processing a RAW file in the camera.

While I typically prefer to shot in RAW (DNG) and process my files with CS6, there are times when these fun effects come in handy.

Case in point. On my last day in Zion during our recent road trip I went out late in the afternoon to get a few more nicely saturated sunset images of the cliffs. Unfortunately, the clouds had come in and it suddenly got very windy making nicely exposed landscapes impossible. Rather than go back to the hotel empty handed, I shot a few RAW images plus a JPEG of the "B&W (TE)" and "Retro" effects. When I got back to my notebook, I then used Nik Color and Silver  Efex to add a little softening effect to give me the look and feel that I wanted for these images.

I like to think of these images as more illustrative and not my typical work, but it was nice to have a few files to work with and in essence not make my afternoon hike for images a total bust.

(Note: Click on any image to view a larger file.)

GR B&W (TE) image:

File edited with Nik Silver Efex:

GR Retro Image:

File edited with Nik Color Efex:

GR Retro Image:

File edited with Nik Color Efex:

Here's another example using the B&W (TE) effect as a shooting mode when selecting RAW +. The only thing I did to this camera produced JPEG was adjusting the levels slightly in CS6.

Finally, since I think this will be my last post of GR images from the trip here are two GR images shot in RAW (DNG) and simply converted to JPEG for posting here using CS6 and ACR.

My attempt at a casual ad for BMW. Our 530xi wagon was a pleasure to drive on this 4,000+ mile trip and it certainly enjoyed all the steep inclines and twisting roads.

Cheers,
Ned