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Richoh GW-3 versus Pentax 15mm Ltd HD

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noshea

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My lightweight set-up includes a K-5, K5IIs, 31mm, 77mm, 60-250mm and Ricoh GR. I would like the option of something wider but want to keep size and weight in keeping with the above.

Some years ago I had the 15mm Ltd SMC on my K-7 and found it disappointing for a Ltd lens; only under ideal lighting, stopped down and with careful composition of a flat plane of focus did it render sharp, contrasty images. I know there were allegedly some quality control issues in the early days but I'm concerned that when I read a sample of user reviews they tend to concede that corners don't really get sharp, even stopped down to sensible levels.

From the few reviews there are of the GW-3 converter, optically it seems to perform admirably well, though the weak point literally is the adapter, which is flimsy. I think I could live with this as the lens would not be constantly out.

The 15mm new is double the price of GW-3 plus adapter.

In terms of the opportunity cost of having a Pentax camera occupied by the 15mm or the Ricoh by the converter/adapater, I think it's a wash. Both are inconvenient when what you need on the camera is a different focal length! Ditto for re-sale value-don't think there's much in it. The lower outlay of the Ricoh solution is welcome but if I were convinced the 15mm is way better, optically, I'd pay more for it.

Does anyone have experience of both and can they offer an opinion, please? As you can gather, I'm leaning toward the GW-3 for I.Q. even if the solution is clunky.

Thanks

Niall

(posting this in the Pentax forum, also)
 
noshea said:
The 15mm new is double the price of GW-3 plus adapter.
Click to expand...
I don't have any experience with the Pentax, but that sentence makes the GR/GW-3 a no-brainer in my opinion. I use the GW-3 maybe 30% of the time when I have it with me, and the shots I get with it are shockingly good (considering my previous experience with WA adapters has been universally terrible). And for less than the price of the one lens, you also get a whole new camera - one that will quickly become a favorite and that you'll end up carrying around a lot more than the other two.

Edit: another thing is that your GR won't be occupied by the GW-3 in the same way that another camera body is occupied by a lens. If you want to opt for speed and leave off the adapter-ring-cover (I'm not sure it provides anything other than an aesthetic advantage), remember that with the GR you don't actually swap lenses. When you remove the GW-3, you've got your 28mm lens already attached - and you don't have to remove the latter to put the former back on.
 
Last edited:
noshea said:
My lightweight set-up includes a K-5, K5IIs, 31mm, 77mm, 60-250mm and Ricoh GR. I would like the option of something wider but want to keep size and weight in keeping with the above.

Some years ago I had the 15mm Ltd SMC on my K-7 and found it disappointing for a Ltd lens; only under ideal lighting, stopped down and with careful composition of a flat plane of focus did it render sharp, contrasty images. I know there were allegedly some quality control issues in the early days but I'm concerned that when I read a sample of user reviews they tend to concede that corners don't really get sharp, even stopped down to sensible levels.

From the few reviews there are of the GW-3 converter, optically it seems to perform admirably well, though the weak point literally is the adapter, which is flimsy. I think I could live with this as the lens would not be constantly out.

The 15mm new is double the price of GW-3 plus adapter.

In terms of the opportunity cost of having a Pentax camera occupied by the 15mm or the Ricoh by the converter/adapater, I think it's a wash. Both are inconvenient when what you need on the camera is a different focal length! Ditto for re-sale value-don't think there's much in it. The lower outlay of the Ricoh solution is welcome but if I were convinced the 15mm is way better, optically, I'd pay more for it.

Does anyone have experience of both and can they offer an opinion, please? As you can gather, I'm leaning toward the GW-3 for I.Q. even if the solution is clunky.

Thanks

Niall

(posting this in the Pentax forum, also)
Click to expand...
Hi Niall,

Not sure this will be of interest to you, but I did a brief summary of the adapter and lens back in July '13 when I got mine and they were still extremely hard to find.

Loading…

nedbunnell.blogspot.com

I do have a nice copy of the DA 15 Ltd lens (that I've used with the K-5IIs and K-3) and as I think you suspect, the GR with the .75 conversion lens is definitely sharper edge to edge. As I've only used the wide angle converter on my GR for architecture usually on a tripod the extra size has not been an issue.

Hope this helps you.

Cheers,
Ned
 
cptrios said:
noshea said:
The 15mm new is double the price of GW-3 plus adapter.
Click to expand...
I don't have any experience with the Pentax, but that sentence makes the GR/GW-3 a no-brainer in my opinion. I use the GW-3 maybe 30% of the time when I have it with me, and the shots I get with it are shockingly good (considering my previous experience with WA adapters has been universally terrible). And for less than the price of the one lens, you also get a whole new camera - one that will quickly become a favorite and that you'll end up carrying around a lot more than the other two.

Edit: another thing is that your GR won't be occupied by the GW-3 in the same way that another camera body is occupied by a lens. If you want to opt for speed and leave off the adapter-ring-cover (I'm not sure it provides anything other than an aesthetic advantage), remember that with the GR you don't actually swap lenses. When you remove the GW-3, you've got your 28mm lens already attached - and you don't have to remove the latter to put the former back on.
Click to expand...
Thanks and I agree, it's hard to ignore the math when absolutely no one is saying the Pentax is way better than the Ricoh. My experience, after owning both (albeit briefly-I bought the GW-3 a couple of weeks ago) is that the Ricoh solution really has better IQ. Please see my reply to Ned's post below for some samples and thanks for your input-maybe there's a couple of seconds saved in the swop from 28mm to 21mm and back again!
 
noshea said:
though the weak point literally is the adapter, which is flimsy.
Click to expand...
I believe this is intentional with a relatively heavy lens on the end of it so as to absorb the full force of any sudden impact by breaking instead of damaging the camera as a solid metal adapter would do.
 
anthony mazzeri said:
noshea said:
though the weak point literally is the adapter, which is flimsy.
Click to expand...
I believe this is intentional with a relatively heavy lens on the end of it so as to absorb the full force of any sudden impact by breaking instead of damaging the camera as a solid metal adapter would do.
Click to expand...
 
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