Nostalgia factor plus novelty. A lot of kids and young adults nowadays grew up taking photos on nothing but cellphones, and having a small pocketable with a different flavor is appealing to them. These things have a much more limited dynamic range and resolution than modern phones, but much sharper glass. Which gives them more organic feeling output. You can achieve the same with a phone, but it takes a bit more to get there. And thanks to the popularity of digicams and the wealth of knowledge out there about which ones provide relatively good output, old compact cameras with decent glass cost a whole lot.
I've found through collecting and high turnover of these old cameras that you really need several to round things out. They all have something they are really good at (sunsets, portraits, low light, harsh light, morning light, etc etc) and a host of things they don't do so well (sunsets, portraits, low light, harsh light, morning light, etc etc) . And it's different for each one. Great excuse to have a shelf full of them 😊
Instead of having a $5000 DSLR that will do absolutely everything well, I have $5000 worth of cheaper cameras that each do one thing somewhat passably. But I have more fun doing those things!
Long time lurker here Mr.Snappy. Love your channel buddy, it's a breath of fresh air in today's TH-camr/influencer landscape because you obviously love what you do. As a big time camera geek I'm just blown away by all these cool ancient cameras you show us.
I love this camera. I have one and I always pick it for daily carry. One of the my favorite feature is the ability to “jump focal length” by just a click of the zoom button. The zoom range has preset steps like 24, 28, 35, 50, 75 so you can have one button hyper jump up and down the focals. It so so useful and I don’t see it much on other cameras. There are lots of other nice features 😊 worth picking one up. BTW I also have the EVF accessory and the wide angle adapter, it’s not used very much by me it just sits at home most of the time…not sure you need it
I've repair many compact cameras. The focus issue is often caused by dried grease or dust & debris on the focusing threaded rod which gets truned by a tiny stepper motor .
@@AndyRSV i mean if you are dexterous enough & there is a video showing how to do it & you are able to follow the instructions , then sure . But otherwise i dont recomend it
The GX100 was my EDC camera for a year. I still own and use it but my EDC is the GR (2013) now. I was able to get mine for about 120 in excellent condition with the EVF. It taught me more about photography than anything else, it made me a Ricoh fan for sure. To anyone looking for one of the best compact cameras without breaking the bank this line is a must have.
I own a GX100. I did have the Ricoh EVF for it, but found that the view was very much of its time, ie not great, and also got in the way both of the pocketability, and also the usability of the camera. So I sold the viewfinder. Unfortunately the LCD is not so great either..., I commonly find that pics I've taken show up rather poorly on the LCD, yet when I view them on my laptop..., they're fine.
@@andrewpreston4127 yeah the screens on old cameras are really only good for the composition of your photos and dialing in your settings. Not for viewing pictures.
You bring to light so many neat cameras. I just picked up a new in box Samsung NX300 and one of their pro lenses, the 16-50 f2-2.8 S ED OIS and its such a shame they stopped making cameras, love this little thing!
Good presentation & nice shots. You have a knack of finding cameras I've never heard of. It looks like this model marked the end of the Caplio designation series. They pulled out all the stops here.
We need to make a petition for Ricoh to make a Gx300! Just bring few things up to date , but not touching the lens , the hotshoe and flash and viola we got the perfect iPhone killer !
‘Bout time the GX200 got some shine. Ricoh GR controls, snap focus, STEP zooming (so you can simulate switching between prime lenses), excellent macro ability, and an EVF is kind of a dream combo. I actually don’t have problems with the ISO performance up to 800, but the autofocus is dog slow and momentarily freezes the display. IMO use it in snap focus and toggle on macro mode when you occasionally want to stop and acquire more specific focus - like other Ricoh cameras, macro mode will focus at all distances not just macro and it overrides snap focus setting so it’s a quick one-button toggle on the directional of control.
I've had the GX100 for a number of years, in use I like the controls better than my GRII. My main niggle with it is that it takes about 3+ seconds to write RAW files. I got mine with the EVF for $50, but that was a number of years ago.
Just yesterday i reanimated the GX100 I hadnt taken out of the cupboard in almost 10 years and decided to bring it on the next trip i take. Really funny to see this video in my notifications right afterwards xD
i have GX200 for a long time, bought it when it came out in 2008 (quite expensive)... i sold my GR and retained this because i liked it better. Great landscape camera, and i use it for street shooting too. not very fast, but i love the BW handling. Its small, and pocketable. it's still working and going strong. i have 2 Fujis now, but i still use it when i need a small compact shooter during vacations.
I have a Ricoh GRD4 and I think of it as my best worst camera 🤣 when the lighting is perfect, it takes amazing shots. Waiting for raw files to save requires the patience of a saint
I love your vibe and philosophy toward gear. Do you have any suggestions for cool old cameras with decent video? I saw you video on the LUMIX FZ35 and I picked up an FZ40 on eBay for $45. But are there any other camera lines out there you’d consider for some fun video?
The Fuji XT1 can also save cropped raw files. If I wanted to shoot a series of 1:1 pictures I would appreciate this feature; gives a bit of authenticity somehow. Nice video too, as always ;)
I have the GXR with the Leica m mount module and a normal one converted to IR. Quite nice. Have the EVF too and when I use manual glass on m mount, it is useful. But not so much needed as I thought :) this one looks great too and I have it since a while on my radar... yet I have too many cameras hahaha
I got my gx100 through a japanese camera auction site using a broker, and I got the camera plus ther original lens kit, straps, lens cap, charger and batteries for around $150 USD. Might be a cheaper route for some people (but with the caveat that it is usually better if you are looking to buy several things).
Great review! There are not many reviews on the GX200 here. I have one that I bought used with the wide angle adapter and the evf. The 19mm adapter is nice but a bother to carry around and the evf is.....ok. not the best resolution but one has to keep in mind the time it was made. The evf does work and nice on those really sunny days. This little pocket gem saved me when my lens stopped working on my Olympus and I didn't have a spare so the little GX200 saved my butt when I was in the mountains on a remote Philippine island with no camera store in sight last year. I got some really great images out of that little guy and isn't the tech specs in this camera, it really is the glass.
I am still using my canon g7x ii when I travel because it’s an excellent compact camera. I bought it around 400€ a few years ago and now they sell them used around 600-£00€! I am so glad I didn’t sell it.
Nice photos! I tried the CCD cameras in 2023 but it ultimately wasn't up to par for me. I had the GRD IV which is the best one I tried but I went with the Ricoh GR 16mp.
My recent scores were a Lytro Illum (not here yet) and the Light L16, the latter being quite cheap and excellent. We live in an era where very unique cameras are fairly affordable. We just need to hang off for ~5 years.
Definitely looks edited. He recommends shooting in RAW so he's probably shot and edited the RAW files as well. Hues and tones have that late 2000s look (manufactured 2008) but shadows have enough detail they probably didn't come from the JPEGs.
Yes, almost all of these are edited RAW files. Some of my camera reviews have mostly sooc jpegs, but this was not my favorite jpeg camera. I think if I tweaked it more I could've done okay.
I got one like 2 years ago, fun little camera, great control but if you want to get one Getting an auto shutter should be your top priority, The flash release mechanism seems to be fragile, mine work but I need to open it halfway by hand, the release button doesn't pop it all the way It can be very slow sometimes/lock up while powering If you can't find batteries the MX1 from Pentax use the same
@snappiness .... I have a Ricoh R8 which I bought as spares and repairs on Ebay sold as spares and repairs for £10 in the UK. The camera was pristine, but came without a battery hence the spares or repairs status. The R series has a great spec with plenty of custom modes, zoom and preset / snap focus mode, 10 mp CCD sensor .... What's not to like.
I really enjoyed this video. Recently I decided to simply my everyday carry and looked into compact cameras. I had a few things I needed from the camera and this Ricoh was ALMOST there. Ultimately I went with a Lumix ZS50 due to it having a massive zoom range (24-720mm) and a digital viewfinder on the camera. Do you have any experience with the Lumix ZS line? They’re pretty affordable now and very capable in my experience.
One that comes pretty close to this would be the Pentax Mx-1. Have you ever tried it? While I do have a k-3 lll, the little Mx-1 is the perfect little backup camera, with a great lens with a leaf shutter, so you can trigger a larger flash with the little built in one, and get good results. While you might call it jacket pocketable, it is still a great travel camera, or the one to take when you just don’t feel like lugging around a dslr. Give it a try!🙂📸👍
Yes I owned one a few years ago and really liked it. I didn't fall in love with the lens (mostly just the weird alien flares) but the camera itself was great. And so beautiful.
This and old GRDs are stupid expensive. I just got a GRD III for $160 which is insane for a camera so old, but it's somehow a really good deal considering most others are double or near double the price I paid.
How did you find one for a 100 bucks? Also, my first camera was a Ricoh Caplio something something that I did not appreciate back in the day and has completely fallen apart over the years. Kinda wonder if I can still find the specific model. I've found pictures that I took back then! Metadata shows it was a Caplio RR530!
I wonder how this would compare to a Canon g9x. I already got that, and I wonder if the Ricoh would be a good pocketable addition. I'd love to see a GR/GR digital comparison, have been wondering about that for years!
How does this compare to a canon S90 or similar? I have one of those lying around somewhere and except for a negligible reduction in megapixels it seems better in every other way than the GX200 and almost half the price, probably because of the ricoh brand premium.
I've owned both the GRIII and GRIIIX and in my opinion the hype surrounding them was not justified, they are great cameras, but, not deserving of the all the cult status they've achieved. As I say, just my opinion, I know others will disagree. My everyday carry is the Pentax MX-1 which I guess is the OG of the Ricoh GX and GR series. It's a fantastic camera with a tilting rear screen, f1.8 - 2.5 6mm to 24mm zoom lens (35mm equiv is 28mm to 112mm), built in flash with pro settings. This is purely an aesthetic but the top case is brass which has a black paint coating, the coating wears to let the brass show through, it's just adds a nice look to the camera. They're well worth hunting down and buying. Like a lot of old cameras the prices are going up but they are still to be found, I picked mine up from a seller in Japan, it's in perfect condition and only had a shutter count of 400 (four hundred!!) when I bought it. Love the channel and thanks for your videos!
I have no luck on getting ricoh locally (or Pentax in general), do I need to look at Canon G series or Nikon P? 🤔 ...and 24mm at such sensor is amazing.
I have the GRD4, and it’s an amazing street camera. Even has snap focus. But the GX200 has a bigger MP sensor, and the zoom. Only real reason I don’t shoot my GRD4 is that it’s not supported by DxO DeepPrimeXD, which I use on all my old cameras for amazing NR.
for me, I found a fuji x10 on fb marketplace that costed around $50. Just love the old processing style of these compact cameras. And, even better, the value of the camera has gone up so much that I can sell it for 3-4 times the price I paid now 😂
My Olympus PEN E-PL2 I took a 16:9 image and for years I could only see the 16:9 crop. When I got a newer version of Lightroom I saw the full 4:3. There is a plugin to show the full raw file and I did try it but it did not work for me. So your camera might still be taking the full sensor size. I would load it up into DXO and Luminar and see what those programs do.
Maybe, but I think in this case it's not. The raw file is actually smaller in memory size. But maybe! I still prefer the whole raw anyway, even if I shoot a crop mode. Only seems like an advantage to me just in case I want to reframe.
Have the GX100 with Vf1 from new. In colour only shoot at iso80. B&W maybe 400.. your GX200 is faster writing RAW. Evf is really limited but still not a screen. Snap focus is still great, enjoy.
I was looking at getting one of these a few months back....to complement my GRIII but then decided to dig out the EX1/TL500. I do blame you for my P7100 purchase though (quirky but I do like it)
I have this Camera since new from 09 cost $900 full kit in mint condition one good feature you can run on 2 AAA batteries or rechargeable. 🐊is there a adaptor for different lenses I would like to try Pentax 110 auto lenses on it.
I have a fully functional one and love it (for what it is). I wouldn't bother getting the viewfinder (mine came with one and it is pretty crappy. Useful, but crappy). I also have the tele adaptor (pushes it to a 135mm eqv. This one is useful. If you find one at a decent price... Snag it immediately.
The only things I wish I could change on mine would be the removal of the mandatory long exposure NR, and the 3 minute shutter speed time limit; I like to do long exposure work with mine. Also the EVF is probably not worth it, I havent found a scenario where its actually better than the back screen, it's very small, and not that bright, I feel like it's harder to see the details in the scene vs the back screen.
Between this and the Samsung EX1/TL500, which one would you recommend? I got my EX1 at random a few weeks after watching your video on it, it just randomly popped up on the marketplace and I had to have it. Seemed like destiny had waited for that moment.
I have a model with electronic viewfinder, excellent image quality at native iso but as soon as you increase the iso the image is horrible but other than that it is excellent
Great camera. My first 'GR'. But beware because of the age of the GX200, the sensors are slowly dying. That's what happened to my GX, rendering it a bit useless. Better look for a GRD IV. No zoom, but more in common with newer GR's, including outputting DNG files.
@@snappiness no, just general wear and tear, but mostly and likely lead-free solder used on all the transistor arrays in the sensor. Sensors get hot and old school solder was more malleable because of the lead content. Today's solder which was introduced around 2010-11 is far more brittle. It's of course improved since, but around that time caused much grief for many companies. Look at what it did for the 2011 Apple Macbook Pro. I had one of those and it had to go back to Apple twice for repair. All was due to poor heat dispersion around the CPU causing cracks to appear (miniscule ones), but causing a myriad of hardware failures.
Samsung NX mini. There's nothing better for a small point-n-shoot (although it is an interchangeable lens camera). Yours is cool, too, though.
5 หลายเดือนก่อน +1
Sorry guys, I am not a photographer, but rather IT guy. I like the old tech, and enjoy watching videos like this. But is it just me or do shown photos look blurred, with no detail and appear to have too low resolution? I understand that physical dials make this camera interesting but isn't the generally hated gen1 Nikon 1 by far superior in terms of image quality?
I still have my GX100, which I like more overall. Had the GX200 as well, and shot with it when Ricoh compacts were almost unheard of in the USA. GX100 has better images is all, otherwise the GX200 was somewhat better
I have in fact considered this camera a while ago, when it was for sale at one of my preferred camera stores. However, the store had set the price far too high for my taste. I think the Ricoh brand and GX range pumped up the price significantly ( more than double what you paid for yours), so I let someone else overpay for it this time. Luckily I have cameras like the Olympus Pen E-PL 1 and plenty of compact MFT lenses, so I can't say I miss the the GX200.
The EVF is great for the street, it lets you look down to compose. I’m glad I got mine a few years ago, before the Snapiness effect 😂 The GR Digitals are also great, I almost like my GRD IV better than my GR 2…
This one has gone up in price too much to worth the trouble, you can get a GXR S10 for cheaper, which is the same lens and sensor size but upgraded everything. It’s actually the same sensor and processor from the last GRD (4). It’s also the last 1/1.7” CCD camera Ricoh ever made except for the rugged ones if I remembered correctly. 😊
I have both GX200 and GXR with S10 but somehow the GX200 is sharper (i had the luck to buy both GX200 and S10 module NEW!), plus, the S10 module starts from ISO 100 and GX200 starts from ISO 64
You are sooo young!! lol. 😉 “Ricoh is not very well known, but they’ve been around since the film days,” made me chuckle. If you’re speaking to anyone over a certain (young age) Ricoh is very well known and always was.
Don't confuse your knowledge with everyone else's. I've been to plenty of brick and mortar camera stores, with new cameras for sale as well as old and restored film cameras. Young employees and older folks who have been taking pictures for years. Only met one person who knew the brand Ricoh at all, and that's because they owned a GR III. Everyone else is like...uh who? Hey, their loss imo. I mean literally too, if they sold Ricoh cameras they wouldn't be able to keep them in stock I'm sure thanks to the demand.
@@330fyet again, it comes down to one’s age. Ricoh has been around for over 80 years and was known throughout the business world, like IBM, XEROX, AT&T, etc. I’m sure those who have grown up during the 21st century only associate it with the GR line of cameras, but it is far more.
Wild guess here - since vagueness of assertion is the game - but i'd bet that a large majority of people, outside of Japan, if challenged to name five camera companies would (either fail, whatever their age) or not mention 'Ricoh'. You're guaranteed Canon and Nikon, possibly Pentax (the R-connection isn't the point), every dentist would include Leica, and anyone over a 'certain age' would list Kodak. Perversely, you're probably more likely to hear 'Ricoh' from 'sooo young' people now, were they participating in the poll, because Ricoh has developed a certain Urban cred.
Pro tip from a fellow GX200 shooter: Set the image mode to black and white and select RAW quality. It'll give you black and white JPGs plus RAW files. Since there's no dedicated RAW+JPG setting I recommend using this method to get the best out of both worlds. Ricoh's excellent black and whites as well as RAW files.
i would argue taht the cropped RAW is a downside not a feature. My sony RX100 mk4 does it right while being a small pocket camera as well just that the crop options are pretty much inexistent
@@snappiness i strongly belive that having a cropped preview helps you with framing big time. but even then having the image from entire sensor when you get back home can provide opportunities for reframing or just clonestamping samping so i would love if my others cameras would do it as well. Sadly my big boy camera dose not.
@@snappiness now about the RX100 lineup. Theya re amazing. They are also ovepriced for 1inch sensors and a bit overhyped in the last 2-3 years. If you manage to find one on the local second hand market for cheap they are amazing blog / camera to have on you on person everyday.
@@vmoldo-com oh I see what you mean, a 1:1 mode that just previews but saves the whole raw. Yeah I agree, that's more useful. The only benefit for a cropped raw I see is saving memory, but I think we are long past the need to conserve memory since cards and hard drives are so cheap ... Maybe there's other reasons people use it.
Yikes, that particular copy has too many issues to make it an everyday carry. Missing a shot because I couldn't gain focus would really piss me off. But if you can get a good copy, this camera looks like a good performer. My EDC is a Sony RX100 Mk 1. I got lucky in that I got it for a decent price and everything works.
I'll be that jerk: Fujifilm F200 EXR is the current hot option. Large-ish sensor, excellent HDR with the EXR mode enabled, nice form factor, get the Champaign body.
Your review of that camera really reminded me of the camera I ended up going for myself as my small compact of choice : The Lumix LX5. I thought that the LX3 was a little too old and lacked some features that were important to me, but the LX5 reallt fits the bill admirably. It has a 24-90mm equivalent lens with a selector switch on the top of the lens to choose the aspect ratio you would want to use (1:1, 4:3, 3:2 and 16:9. All of those aspect ratios besides 1:1 (which is only a left/right side crop of the 4:3 aspect ratio) are using different parts of the sensor, meaning that the sensor itself is larger than the image circle and those aspect ratios are there to maximize the sensor we can use). It's a 10MP CCD with decent-ish ISO performance (It's okay shooting up to ISO 800) It doesn't have sensot stabilizxation, but it has an optical stabe in the lens, which works pretty nicely. Since it's the camera I have all the time with me, I also carry it to work and since I work in R&D in an electronics company, this camera has become my go to impromptu macro capable camera to use in my developments reports. It goes really close in macro mode. It also has a full hotshoe and also has an external EVF support... which I bought as well. It's not the most practical thing to use, but hey, it's super samll, came with a small carrying case and if you're shooting with that camera it's always nice to have access to a viewfinder if you're stuck shooting in the sun and can't see the screen well. The lens opens wide (f/2.0 at 24mm equiv) and is also super sharp wide open, it has full manual controls and it pretty much made entirely out of metal, with a nice little rubber grip which feels nice. You can also shoot full manual no problem as you have a back dial that clicks so it can do double duty for shutter speed and aperture. I paid 109€ for it on MPB and honestly I think it's a really great value. I'm not a compact camera person, so it's not really a camera I'm really passionate about, the smallest camera I would want to actually use is a Fujifilm X100S, and I regularly find myself using cameras much, much larger than that (once I was using a Nikon D2X as a walkaround camera... yeah go figure what went trhough my head) but having that little LX5 really allowed me to have a dedicated camera with a nice lens and good RAW image quality that could fit in my pocket and that's really invaluable sometimes. Sure, it might not be the most thrilling camera ever, but man am I happy I got it :D
@@jusbubz I don't get the sense of your question haha. Have I compared it with other compact? For what? image quality? Well it's worse than my LX100, it's wotse than my X100S, but it's leagues ahead of my Fuji Z200fd and my Nikon L5. Other than that, no I didn't compare it to any other compacts :)
@uncertainrelease i was a lil vague haha. I meant in terms of quality and overall experience and how it faired against other compact cameras you've tried! im considering a lx7, but I'm on the fence about if it'll be worth the investment and getting used to some of the features it lacks that my current compact camera has. thanks for the honest response!
Ricoh is a pretty big name, maybe not their imaging division, but their office equipment and stuff is fairly well known. They're also known as the company that bought and eventually butchered Pentax to pick at what was left to make a dollar. The half-frame discount camera that has been rumored is kind of proof of using the brand name to make a buck, like OM-Sushi existed just to make money off what's left of Olympus R&D/Reputation. Not to hate on only hate on Ricoh, the Q series was made after the buyout, and it was great, and I'd say it still is great.
Contrary to the comments, I actually don't think these videos inflate any value for these old cams. They are and were always old depreciating technology on the next step of becoming e-waste. One day the inevitable will happen and they're all worthless when proprietary batteries, chargers, spare parts or when their novelty factor runs out. People have to realize that these cameras don't unlock a secret in photography.
Image quality? Sometimes you don’t need it…. Recently I’ve watched a couple of classic 70s movies that’s been upgraded to 4K and I’ve hated the clinical image I’ve been watching
Why are ancient, originally cheap digicams so expensive now? Ebay in my country has these for around 320 dollars.
Nostalgia factor plus novelty. A lot of kids and young adults nowadays grew up taking photos on nothing but cellphones, and having a small pocketable with a different flavor is appealing to them.
These things have a much more limited dynamic range and resolution than modern phones, but much sharper glass. Which gives them more organic feeling output. You can achieve the same with a phone, but it takes a bit more to get there.
And thanks to the popularity of digicams and the wealth of knowledge out there about which ones provide relatively good output, old compact cameras with decent glass cost a whole lot.
One word - interest.
It's the digicam renaissance
Because of this guy 😂😂😂
I was wondering the same ahahah
Cameras bought for 100 euro in 2013 sold today for the same price
I've found through collecting and high turnover of these old cameras that you really need several to round things out. They all have something they are really good at (sunsets, portraits, low light, harsh light, morning light, etc etc) and a host of things they don't do so well (sunsets, portraits, low light, harsh light, morning light, etc etc) . And it's different for each one. Great excuse to have a shelf full of them 😊
That's my excuse too 😂
Instead of having a $5000 DSLR that will do absolutely everything well, I have $5000 worth of cheaper cameras that each do one thing somewhat passably.
But I have more fun doing those things!
Indeed it is so.
@@nikytamayo Hell yeah! I can't afford to splurge $5k at once, but I can manage a couple hundred here and there!
Long time lurker here Mr.Snappy. Love your channel buddy, it's a breath of fresh air in today's TH-camr/influencer landscape because you obviously love what you do. As a big time camera geek I'm just blown away by all these cool ancient cameras you show us.
Cool, thanks stopping by! :)
I think we don't address enough the fact that you're a great photographer to begin with. Really impressive photos!!!!
sweating bullets anticipating the prices going to the friggin' moon.
They’re already in orbit…
I love this camera. I have one and I always pick it for daily carry. One of the my favorite feature is the ability to “jump focal length” by just a click of the zoom button. The zoom range has preset steps like 24, 28, 35, 50, 75 so you can have one button hyper jump up and down the focals. It so so useful and I don’t see it much on other cameras. There are lots of other nice features 😊 worth picking one up. BTW I also have the EVF accessory and the wide angle adapter, it’s not used very much by me it just sits at home most of the time…not sure you need it
Step zoom is a game changer for me. I don’t typically like zoom lenses, but step zoom lets me pretend I’m just switching prime lenses.
@TheRealJohnHooper Jacket pocket no problem.
I've repair many compact cameras. The focus issue is often caused by dried grease or dust & debris on the focusing threaded rod which gets truned by a tiny stepper motor .
Is this an easy repair? Aka be done by a novice?
@@AndyRSV i mean if you are dexterous enough & there is a video showing how to do it & you are able to follow the instructions , then sure . But otherwise i dont recomend it
The GX100 was my EDC camera for a year. I still own and use it but my EDC is the GR (2013) now. I was able to get mine for about 120 in excellent condition with the EVF. It taught me more about photography than anything else, it made me a Ricoh fan for sure. To anyone looking for one of the best compact cameras without breaking the bank this line is a must have.
I own a GX100. I did have the Ricoh EVF for it, but found that the view was very much of its time, ie not great, and also got in the way both of the pocketability, and also the usability of the camera. So I sold the viewfinder. Unfortunately the LCD is not so great either..., I commonly find that pics I've taken show up rather poorly on the LCD, yet when I view them on my laptop..., they're fine.
@@andrewpreston4127 yeah the screens on old cameras are really only good for the composition of your photos and dialing in your settings. Not for viewing pictures.
Congrats on 50 000 subscribers!
Thank you!
You bring to light so many neat cameras. I just picked up a new in box Samsung NX300 and one of their pro lenses, the 16-50 f2-2.8 S ED OIS and its such a shame they stopped making cameras, love this little thing!
Good presentation & nice shots. You have a knack of finding cameras I've never heard of.
It looks like this model marked the end of the Caplio designation series. They pulled out all the stops here.
We need to make a petition for Ricoh to make a Gx300! Just bring few things up to date , but not touching the lens , the hotshoe and flash and viola we got the perfect iPhone killer !
‘Bout time the GX200 got some shine. Ricoh GR controls, snap focus, STEP zooming (so you can simulate switching between prime lenses), excellent macro ability, and an EVF is kind of a dream combo.
I actually don’t have problems with the ISO performance up to 800, but the autofocus is dog slow and momentarily freezes the display. IMO use it in snap focus and toggle on macro mode when you occasionally want to stop and acquire more specific focus - like other Ricoh cameras, macro mode will focus at all distances not just macro and it overrides snap focus setting so it’s a quick one-button toggle on the directional of control.
I've had the GX100 for a number of years, in use I like the controls better than my GRII. My main niggle with it is that it takes about 3+ seconds to write RAW files. I got mine with the EVF for $50, but that was a number of years ago.
Just yesterday i reanimated the GX100 I hadnt taken out of the cupboard in almost 10 years and decided to bring it on the next trip i take. Really funny to see this video in my notifications right afterwards xD
i have GX200 for a long time, bought it when it came out in 2008 (quite expensive)... i sold my GR and retained this because i liked it better. Great landscape camera, and i use it for street shooting too. not very fast, but i love the BW handling. Its small, and pocketable. it's still working and going strong. i have 2 Fujis now, but i still use it when i need a small compact shooter during vacations.
I have a Ricoh GRD4 and I think of it as my best worst camera 🤣 when the lighting is perfect, it takes amazing shots. Waiting for raw files to save requires the patience of a saint
funny that, I have a GRD3 and I didn't think it took *too* long waiting for the RAW files to save.
I also have a GRD4 and never noticed the time to save raw files. Are you shooting bursts of photos? Maybe memory card speed?
This one the raw writing speeds are pretty quick. Not super quick, but it hasn't annoyed me.
@@SuperReview sometimes it saves fairly quickly and other times it takes FOREVER. I just think it’s my copy honestly
@@snappinesssometimes mine saves reasonably fast, other times it’ll lock up the camera for a minute or so. Likely just my copy of the camera
I love your vibe and philosophy toward gear. Do you have any suggestions for cool old cameras with decent video?
I saw you video on the LUMIX FZ35 and I picked up an FZ40 on eBay for $45. But are there any other camera lines out there you’d consider for some fun video?
The Fuji XT1 can also save cropped raw files. If I wanted to shoot a series of 1:1 pictures I would appreciate this feature; gives a bit of authenticity somehow. Nice video too, as always ;)
I have the GXR with the Leica m mount module and a normal one converted to IR. Quite nice. Have the EVF too and when I use manual glass on m mount, it is useful. But not so much needed as I thought :) this one looks great too and I have it since a while on my radar... yet I have too many cameras hahaha
The GXR is such a great camera. I only sold mine to play with other things. No real reason, just fun to play 🤷
@@snappiness fully understand
Great video, every camera you reviewed is/has something special! I was also looking for this camera, but I never bought one... maybe sooner now 😄
Hey, have you ever used a Olympus Sylus 1 ox XZ1 or XZ2, they are great compact camera with lot of features.
The XZ1 is awesome, one of my most favorite little compacts
@@HighlyAkicktive I own both Stylus 1s and XZ-2 and one day I'll add the XZ-1. Also the built quality for those compact Olympus cameras is top notch.
I got my gx100 through a japanese camera auction site using a broker, and I got the camera plus ther original lens kit, straps, lens cap, charger and batteries for around $150 USD. Might be a cheaper route for some people (but with the caveat that it is usually better if you are looking to buy several things).
the search of not so perfect camera
Great review! There are not many reviews on the GX200 here. I have one that I bought used with the wide angle adapter and the evf. The 19mm adapter is nice but a bother to carry around and the evf is.....ok. not the best resolution but one has to keep in mind the time it was made. The evf does work and nice on those really sunny days. This little pocket gem saved me when my lens stopped working on my Olympus and I didn't have a spare so the little GX200 saved my butt when I was in the mountains on a remote Philippine island with no camera store in sight last year. I got some really great images out of that little guy and isn't the tech specs in this camera, it really is the glass.
Can you share any recommendations for settings for street photography with the GX200? Thank you!
I am still using my canon g7x ii when I travel because it’s an excellent compact camera. I bought it around 400€ a few years ago and now they sell them used around 600-£00€! I am so glad I didn’t sell it.
I love thsi babe so much. Its perfect! Just perfect. Like my ex-m20 & olympus c120 both focux fixed lens. So fast so good.
Nice photos! I tried the CCD cameras in 2023 but it ultimately wasn't up to par for me. I had the GRD IV which is the best one I tried but I went with the Ricoh GR 16mp.
I have a gr digital 3 and it’s my favourite camera of all time. It just won’t stop amazing me with its b/w mode and if it’s quirky color modes
My recent scores were a Lytro Illum (not here yet) and the Light L16, the latter being quite cheap and excellent. We live in an era where very unique cameras are fairly affordable. We just need to hang off for ~5 years.
Ooo, very quirky
Have you ever tried the Canon Powershot S70? My perfect digicam and has OVF.
Did you edit there photos? Because they look too good to be true!
Most of the photos you see online are edited.
Definitely looks edited. He recommends shooting in RAW so he's probably shot and edited the RAW files as well. Hues and tones have that late 2000s look (manufactured 2008) but shadows have enough detail they probably didn't come from the JPEGs.
Yes, almost all of these are edited RAW files. Some of my camera reviews have mostly sooc jpegs, but this was not my favorite jpeg camera. I think if I tweaked it more I could've done okay.
I got one like 2 years ago, fun little camera, great control but if you want to get one
Getting an auto shutter should be your top priority,
The flash release mechanism seems to be fragile, mine work but I need to open it halfway by hand, the release button doesn't pop it all the way
It can be very slow sometimes/lock up while powering
If you can't find batteries the MX1 from Pentax use the same
@snappiness .... I have a Ricoh R8 which I bought as spares and repairs on Ebay sold as spares and repairs for £10 in the UK. The camera was pristine, but came without a battery hence the spares or repairs status. The R series has a great spec with plenty of custom modes, zoom and preset / snap focus mode, 10 mp CCD sensor .... What's not to like.
Excellent video! Sweet camera! looks so much like the Pentax MX-1 which to me is a great camera! Thanks for sharing! Great shots!
I really enjoyed this video. Recently I decided to simply my everyday carry and looked into compact cameras. I had a few things I needed from the camera and this Ricoh was ALMOST there. Ultimately I went with a Lumix ZS50 due to it having a massive zoom range (24-720mm) and a digital viewfinder on the camera. Do you have any experience with the Lumix ZS line? They’re pretty affordable now and very capable in my experience.
One that comes pretty close to this would be the Pentax Mx-1. Have you ever tried it? While I do have a k-3 lll, the little Mx-1 is the perfect little backup camera, with a great lens with a leaf shutter, so you can trigger a larger flash with the little built in one, and get good results. While you might call it jacket pocketable, it is still a great travel camera, or the one to take when you just don’t feel like lugging around a dslr. Give it a try!🙂📸👍
Yes I owned one a few years ago and really liked it. I didn't fall in love with the lens (mostly just the weird alien flares) but the camera itself was great. And so beautiful.
This and old GRDs are stupid expensive.
I just got a GRD III for $160 which is insane for a camera so old, but it's somehow a really good deal considering most others are double or near double the price I paid.
How did you find one for a 100 bucks?
Also, my first camera was a Ricoh Caplio something something that I did not appreciate back in the day and has completely fallen apart over the years. Kinda wonder if I can still find the specific model.
I've found pictures that I took back then! Metadata shows it was a Caplio RR530!
It’s 100 because it’s a beaten camera.
@@MrAndreCoutinho he got it for 35 bucks
The Techmoan effect is going to happen.. prices going 🆙
I wonder how this would compare to a Canon g9x. I already got that, and I wonder if the Ricoh would be a good pocketable addition.
I'd love to see a GR/GR digital comparison, have been wondering about that for years!
please review the Lumix LX line of compact cameras. I think you'll love them
How does this compare to a canon S90 or similar? I have one of those lying around somewhere and except for a negligible reduction in megapixels it seems better in every other way than the GX200 and almost half the price, probably because of the ricoh brand premium.
I haven't tried any of the Canon S series. I'm sure they're great!
I've owned both the GRIII and GRIIIX and in my opinion the hype surrounding them was not justified, they are great cameras, but, not deserving of the all the cult status they've achieved. As I say, just my opinion, I know others will disagree. My everyday carry is the Pentax MX-1 which I guess is the OG of the Ricoh GX and GR series. It's a fantastic camera with a tilting rear screen, f1.8 - 2.5 6mm to 24mm zoom lens (35mm equiv is 28mm to 112mm), built in flash with pro settings. This is purely an aesthetic but the top case is brass which has a black paint coating, the coating wears to let the brass show through, it's just adds a nice look to the camera. They're well worth hunting down and buying. Like a lot of old cameras the prices are going up but they are still to be found, I picked mine up from a seller in Japan, it's in perfect condition and only had a shutter count of 400 (four hundred!!) when I bought it. Love the channel and thanks for your videos!
I have no luck on getting ricoh locally (or Pentax in general), do I need to look at Canon G series or Nikon P? 🤔
...and 24mm at such sensor is amazing.
I have the GRD4, and it’s an amazing street camera. Even has snap focus. But the GX200 has a bigger MP sensor, and the zoom. Only real reason I don’t shoot my GRD4 is that it’s not supported by DxO DeepPrimeXD, which I use on all my old cameras for amazing NR.
No DRG RAW? That's different.
for me, I found a fuji x10 on fb marketplace that costed around $50. Just love the old processing style of these compact cameras. And, even better, the value of the camera has gone up so much that I can sell it for 3-4 times the price I paid now 😂
My Olympus PEN E-PL2 I took a 16:9 image and for years I could only see the 16:9 crop. When I got a newer version of Lightroom I saw the full 4:3.
There is a plugin to show the full raw file and I did try it but it did not work for me.
So your camera might still be taking the full sensor size. I would load it up into DXO and Luminar and see what those programs do.
Maybe, but I think in this case it's not. The raw file is actually smaller in memory size. But maybe! I still prefer the whole raw anyway, even if I shoot a crop mode. Only seems like an advantage to me just in case I want to reframe.
That's weird. Did you try to change the setting?
Have the GX100 with Vf1 from new. In colour only shoot at iso80. B&W maybe 400.. your GX200 is faster writing RAW. Evf is really limited but still not a screen. Snap focus is still great, enjoy.
I was looking at getting one of these a few months back....to complement my GRIII but then decided to dig out the EX1/TL500. I do blame you for my P7100 purchase though (quirky but I do like it)
All excellent cameras :)
I have a used one.
Sometimes white balance on it can be an issue.
There were days we measured the camera prices in hundreds. Now it's more on the thousands side.
I have this Camera since new from 09 cost $900 full kit in mint condition one good feature you can run on 2 AAA batteries or rechargeable. 🐊is there a adaptor for different lenses I would like to try Pentax 110 auto lenses on it.
I have a fully functional one and love it (for what it is). I wouldn't bother getting the viewfinder (mine came with one and it is pretty crappy. Useful, but crappy). I also have the tele adaptor (pushes it to a 135mm eqv. This one is useful.
If you find one at a decent price... Snag it immediately.
The only things I wish I could change on mine would be the removal of the mandatory long exposure NR, and the 3 minute shutter speed time limit; I like to do long exposure work with mine.
Also the EVF is probably not worth it, I havent found a scenario where its actually better than the back screen, it's very small, and not that bright, I feel like it's harder to see the details in the scene vs the back screen.
I wish Ricoh would make hot shoe EVF for their current cameras...as a convenient way to improve the video performance for handheld
Between this and the Samsung EX1/TL500, which one would you recommend? I got my EX1 at random a few weeks after watching your video on it, it just randomly popped up on the marketplace and I had to have it. Seemed like destiny had waited for that moment.
If you already have it, I would just keep it! That's a great everyday camera. I got lovely pictures from mine.
“Doesn’t have to be the latest and greatest” is equal of expensive in digicam world nowadays 🤷♂️
I am really wishing a new GR has weather sealing , pop up flash, leaf shutter etc
Would be awesome
wonder how that compares to a canon G9. both 1/1.7 sensors. both shoot raw. G9 isn't great at iso800
I have a model with electronic viewfinder, excellent image quality at native iso but as soon as you increase the iso the image is horrible but other than that it is excellent
Please share your opinions on gr digital!
Great camera. My first 'GR'. But beware because of the age of the GX200, the sensors are slowly dying. That's what happened to my GX, rendering it a bit useless. Better look for a GRD IV. No zoom, but more in common with newer GR's, including outputting DNG files.
Oh interesting, I hadn't heard that before. Is it corrosion or something?
@@snappiness no, just general wear and tear, but mostly and likely lead-free solder used on all the transistor arrays in the sensor. Sensors get hot and old school solder was more malleable because of the lead content. Today's solder which was introduced around 2010-11 is far more brittle. It's of course improved since, but around that time caused much grief for many companies. Look at what it did for the 2011 Apple Macbook Pro. I had one of those and it had to go back to Apple twice for repair. All was due to poor heat dispersion around the CPU causing cracks to appear (miniscule ones), but causing a myriad of hardware failures.
Samsung NX mini. There's nothing better for a small point-n-shoot (although it is an interchangeable lens camera). Yours is cool, too, though.
Sorry guys, I am not a photographer, but rather IT guy. I like the old tech, and enjoy watching videos like this. But is it just me or do shown photos look blurred, with no detail and appear to have too low resolution? I understand that physical dials make this camera interesting but isn't the generally hated gen1 Nikon 1 by far superior in terms of image quality?
I snatched a P340 for $100 on amazon, I almost couldn't believe it :D
I still have my GX100, which I like more overall. Had the GX200 as well, and shot with it when Ricoh compacts were almost unheard of in the USA. GX100 has better images is all, otherwise the GX200 was somewhat better
Glad I got mine a few weeks ago
It's a great little camera.
I have in fact considered this camera a while ago, when it was for sale at one of my preferred camera stores. However, the store had set the price far too high for my taste. I think the Ricoh brand and GX range pumped up the price significantly ( more than double what you paid for yours), so I let someone else overpay for it this time.
Luckily I have cameras like the Olympus Pen E-PL 1 and plenty of compact MFT lenses, so I can't say I miss the the GX200.
Don't let go of your PL-1. It might be the best JPEG camera from Olympus.
@@numbersix8919 I prefer the RAW files out of the E-PL 1. They are easy to edit, with even better results than the jpegs.
The EVF is great for the street, it lets you look down to compose. I’m glad I got mine a few years ago, before the Snapiness effect 😂
The GR Digitals are also great, I almost like my GRD IV better than my GR 2…
This one has gone up in price too much to worth the trouble, you can get a GXR S10 for cheaper, which is the same lens and sensor size but upgraded everything. It’s actually the same sensor and processor from the last GRD (4).
It’s also the last 1/1.7” CCD camera Ricoh ever made except for the rugged ones if I remembered correctly. 😊
That's a cool thought!
I have both GX200 and GXR with S10 but somehow the GX200 is sharper (i had the luck to buy both GX200 and S10 module NEW!), plus, the S10 module starts from ISO 100 and GX200 starts from ISO 64
Hey, is it better than Nikon p7000/p7100 ?
I Got this one and use it for Family days out. It fun and good.! And i also have some Pixel black on my screen. it's just happening i think.
my ps sx110 IS have 6mm wide view😳although it's from 2007, it's still good with 9mp ccd. u can try to find it really dirt cheap
You are sooo young!! lol. 😉 “Ricoh is not very well known, but they’ve been around since the film days,” made me chuckle. If you’re speaking to anyone over a certain (young age) Ricoh is very well known and always was.
Don't confuse your knowledge with everyone else's. I've been to plenty of brick and mortar camera stores, with new cameras for sale as well as old and restored film cameras. Young employees and older folks who have been taking pictures for years. Only met one person who knew the brand Ricoh at all, and that's because they owned a GR III. Everyone else is like...uh who? Hey, their loss imo. I mean literally too, if they sold Ricoh cameras they wouldn't be able to keep them in stock I'm sure thanks to the demand.
@@330fyet again, it comes down to one’s age. Ricoh has been around for over 80 years and was known throughout the business world, like IBM, XEROX, AT&T, etc. I’m sure those who have grown up during the 21st century only associate it with the GR line of cameras, but it is far more.
Wild guess here - since vagueness of assertion is the game - but i'd bet that a large majority of people, outside of Japan, if challenged to name five camera companies would (either fail, whatever their age) or not mention 'Ricoh'. You're guaranteed Canon and Nikon, possibly Pentax (the R-connection isn't the point), every dentist would include Leica, and anyone over a 'certain age' would list Kodak. Perversely, you're probably more likely to hear 'Ricoh' from 'sooo young' people now, were they participating in the poll, because Ricoh has developed a certain Urban cred.
@@330fI replied to your comment yesterday but it appears to have been deleted.
@@rosvw3517 what did you say?
Pro tip from a fellow GX200 shooter: Set the image mode to black and white and select RAW quality. It'll give you black and white JPGs plus RAW files. Since there's no dedicated RAW+JPG setting I recommend using this method to get the best out of both worlds. Ricoh's excellent black and whites as well as RAW files.
its not cheap anymore
You said "a cheap digicam"?❤ Not anymore😅
How can you have seven cameras you use every day? 😅❤ love your content
i would argue taht the cropped RAW is a downside not a feature. My sony RX100 mk4 does it right while being a small pocket camera as well just that the crop options are pretty much inexistent
Well you don't have to use the crop modes, so not really a downside. I've heard great things about the rx100 series. Looks awesome.
@@snappiness i strongly belive that having a cropped preview helps you with framing big time. but even then having the image from entire sensor when you get back home can provide opportunities for reframing or just clonestamping samping so i would love if my others cameras would do it as well. Sadly my big boy camera dose not.
@@snappiness now about the RX100 lineup. Theya re amazing. They are also ovepriced for 1inch sensors and a bit overhyped in the last 2-3 years. If you manage to find one on the local second hand market for cheap they are amazing blog / camera to have on you on person everyday.
@@vmoldo-com oh I see what you mean, a 1:1 mode that just previews but saves the whole raw. Yeah I agree, that's more useful. The only benefit for a cropped raw I see is saving memory, but I think we are long past the need to conserve memory since cards and hard drives are so cheap ... Maybe there's other reasons people use it.
Yikes, that particular copy has too many issues to make it an everyday carry. Missing a shot because I couldn't gain focus would really piss me off. But if you can get a good copy, this camera looks like a good performer. My EDC is a Sony RX100 Mk 1. I got lucky in that I got it for a decent price and everything works.
I hear great things about the RX100 series. Awesome.
the photo at 3:12 is great
In 20028, when DSLRs beocme largely affordable, bigger and aa better and nobody really cared about compact cameras woth a tons of pro features
It's always so weird to me seeing the new generation hype up digicams people didn't even like them when they were new 😂
All the best. Can’t go wrong for what you paid.
my brother in christ please if you could clean front lens glass, that fingerprint is killing me
Samsung WB150F best kept secret.
I'll be that jerk: Fujifilm F200 EXR is the current hot option. Large-ish sensor, excellent HDR with the EXR mode enabled, nice form factor, get the Champaign body.
Your review of that camera really reminded me of the camera I ended up going for myself as my small compact of choice : The Lumix LX5.
I thought that the LX3 was a little too old and lacked some features that were important to me, but the LX5 reallt fits the bill admirably. It has a 24-90mm equivalent lens with a selector switch on the top of the lens to choose the aspect ratio you would want to use (1:1, 4:3, 3:2 and 16:9. All of those aspect ratios besides 1:1 (which is only a left/right side crop of the 4:3 aspect ratio) are using different parts of the sensor, meaning that the sensor itself is larger than the image circle and those aspect ratios are there to maximize the sensor we can use).
It's a 10MP CCD with decent-ish ISO performance (It's okay shooting up to ISO 800)
It doesn't have sensot stabilizxation, but it has an optical stabe in the lens, which works pretty nicely.
Since it's the camera I have all the time with me, I also carry it to work and since I work in R&D in an electronics company, this camera has become my go to impromptu macro capable camera to use in my developments reports. It goes really close in macro mode.
It also has a full hotshoe and also has an external EVF support... which I bought as well. It's not the most practical thing to use, but hey, it's super samll, came with a small carrying case and if you're shooting with that camera it's always nice to have access to a viewfinder if you're stuck shooting in the sun and can't see the screen well.
The lens opens wide (f/2.0 at 24mm equiv) and is also super sharp wide open, it has full manual controls and it pretty much made entirely out of metal, with a nice little rubber grip which feels nice. You can also shoot full manual no problem as you have a back dial that clicks so it can do double duty for shutter speed and aperture.
I paid 109€ for it on MPB and honestly I think it's a really great value. I'm not a compact camera person, so it's not really a camera I'm really passionate about, the smallest camera I would want to actually use is a Fujifilm X100S, and I regularly find myself using cameras much, much larger than that (once I was using a Nikon D2X as a walkaround camera... yeah go figure what went trhough my head) but having that little LX5 really allowed me to have a dedicated camera with a nice lens and good RAW image quality that could fit in my pocket and that's really invaluable sometimes. Sure, it might not be the most thrilling camera ever, but man am I happy I got it :D
have you ever compared it to any other compacts?
@@jusbubz I don't get the sense of your question haha. Have I compared it with other compact? For what? image quality? Well it's worse than my LX100, it's wotse than my X100S, but it's leagues ahead of my Fuji Z200fd and my Nikon L5. Other than that, no I didn't compare it to any other compacts :)
@uncertainrelease i was a lil vague haha. I meant in terms of quality and overall experience and how it faired against other compact cameras you've tried! im considering a lx7, but I'm on the fence about if it'll be worth the investment and getting used to some of the features it lacks that my current compact camera has. thanks for the honest response!
And now they’re not cheap anymore😂
This camera was more cheap when it released!! What happened!?
Ricoh is a pretty big name, maybe not their imaging division, but their office equipment and stuff is fairly well known. They're also known as the company that bought and eventually butchered Pentax to pick at what was left to make a dollar. The half-frame discount camera that has been rumored is kind of proof of using the brand name to make a buck, like OM-Sushi existed just to make money off what's left of Olympus R&D/Reputation. Not to hate on only hate on Ricoh, the Q series was made after the buyout, and it was great, and I'd say it still is great.
Yea, those exist , my Lumix LX3 is of the same caliber
Digicams look fun but sadly they're all insanely expensive. This one is over 300 dollars despite having a sensor smaller than most smartphones.
Thanks but I don’t consider $200+ to be a “cheap” digicam. More like $35….You can get much better cameras for that price.
Im looking for one. Do you have examples?
Contrary to the comments, I actually don't think these videos inflate any value for these old cams. They are and were always old depreciating technology on the next step of becoming e-waste. One day the inevitable will happen and they're all worthless when proprietary batteries, chargers, spare parts or when their novelty factor runs out. People have to realize that these cameras don't unlock a secret in photography.
The global shutter of the CCD sensors is something we just don't have today.
thanks for jacking up the price on these with your videos
I guess my leica x1 is a suitable replacement.
I have looked long at the x1. Great looking camera at a pretty good price these days!
@@snappiness i got mine for like 450€. Theres some samples on the forum. Ill post some more when i get around to it.
Image quality? Sometimes you don’t need it…. Recently I’ve watched a couple of classic 70s movies that’s been upgraded to 4K and I’ve hated the clinical image I’ve been watching
So true! And amazing photographs taken long before these cameras that will always be amazing works of art.
Are you ok Mr Author? Expensive is NOT A FEW HUNDRED DOLLARS. In any case ‘expensive’ is relative if not irrelevant.