Fujifilm x100F vs Ricoh GR II

Which one of these would you buy as a street/travel photography camera and why?

(I apologise if similar topic had already been brought up here, I did not find.)

I use X100F and its such a joy to use. I could not imagine using anything else..

Ricoh wins on price, size and 28mm lens (if you prefer it). Fuji wins on everything else I can think of right now.

I have both and the X100F has better IQ. The Ricoh is fun and I love the black and white shots but the Fuji produces much (!) richer photos. At my age the EVF makes a huge difference.

I have a GR '1' and its great value for money, the lens is bitingly sharp edge to edge and Its been a great small camera for travel and when I couldn't be bothered to lug my Canon stuff. I took it to Croatia and remember thinking I could do with a zoom, but the file quality was good enough to crop and results excellent. Colours are slightly off to my eye, but easily corrected and operation menus and ergonomics brilliant. Focus is OK, but not fast. For the money its the best camera with the biggest sensor.

However, be sure you can live with screen only. My reading eyesight has declined considerably so a viewfinder has become essential. I picked up an x100f recently and took a lot of photos at a friends wedding this weekend. It was really excellent. You need to be aware of what doesnt and does work in which mode, but that aside it was great to use.

Used Acros, Jpeg f and RAW. most came out really really nicely. Focusing is much quicker than the Ricoh and the ability to flick on a 3 stop ND filter helped mid afternoon as did a fast flash sync in the evening. Cocked up and overexposed on half a dozen really nice pictures, but pulled them back in Raw without a problem. I probably will sell the GR (my third) as the fuji does what I want - it is of course bigger and heavier, but not unacceptably so.

Assuming you are happy with a fixed lens -

If you have good eyesight and want the smallest APSC camera with a super sharp lens for about 40% of the Fuji's price the GR remains excellent.

If you want a super flexible camera producing top quality files and a choice of viewfinder than the 'f' really is excellent so far and fun to use.

MartinLux said:

Which one of these would you buy as a street/travel photography camera and why?

(I apologise if similar topic had already been brought up here, I did not find.)

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I've never owned the Ricoh but have a friend who loves his. It's a nice, small camera that does a good job, especially in decent light and for the price, I think a lot of people would be more than happy with it.

Now for the bad part.

The Ricoh doesn't really compare very well with the Fuji X100 series. Both are fixed lens cameras with an APS size sensor but that's really where the similarities end.

For some reason, unknown to me, the Ricoh's image quality starts to fall apart at ISO's above 800. I'm not saying ISO 800 or even 1600 are unusable but images start to get pretty noisy when you have to use higher ISOs in poor lighting.

Couple that with the difference in features between the two cameras and the Fuji has to be considered a much "better" camera.

Naturally. if price or size is a concern and if the camera is going to be used primarily outdoors the Ricoh may still be the best camera for many people. Like I said, the friend I have who owns one loves his.

Edit: I may be wrong about the camera my friend owns. He's had it for awhile so it's probably the Ricoh GR instead of the GR II. Sorry about that.

Viewfinder.

It all really depends on what focal length (or I should say lengths).

On my trip I brought my X100F and my father brought a GRII. Both are excellent cameras for street photography.

Fuji X100F: I bought this camera 2 weeks ago and have already fallen in love with the camera. Anytime I don't need my FF camera for work, this camera can be found slung over my shoulder. The SOOC Jpegs are amazing. AF is quick and accurate. And the OVF is a pleasure to use. The benefit of the X100F over the GRII is the digital teleconveter and ability to add a Teleconversion lens. With that, you're able to zoom in the about 110mm FF equivalent with the TCL and using the digital teleconverger. However, the X100F is a 35mm ff equivalent focal length. To get 28mm, you'd have to purchase the WideAngle conversion lens. And for the price of that, I'd gladly spend the extra $200 to get the Ricoh.

Ricoh GRII: This cameras bread and butter feature is its compact size and one handed ability. The 28mm ff equivalent lens is very sharp and very impressive. Carrying and using this on the Vegas strip was absolutely effortless and most people thought it was my phone. AF isn't as fast or as accurate as the X100F IMO, but it's still usable. Jpegs are crisp and color seems accurate. But I mostly shoot this camera with its High-Contrast black and white filter. With this camera, you have the ability to purchase a wide angle conversion lens which will give a 21mm ff equivalent. But only that. However, like the X100F, you can use the digital teleconverter. BUT, when you use this feature, the effective megapixel go from 16 to 10 to 6. While the Fuji upscales the images you keep them at 24mp.

In conclusion:

If you are looking for a pocketable camera you can throw in your pocket and not be conspicuous, the GRII is the way to go. If you're looking for more of a street camera that's a DSLR; the X100F is absolutely the better choice. Don't be afraid to try a used X100 series camera before you sink that much change into a fixed lens camera though.

Completely different types of cameras. The Fuji is a general purpose camera, and size and ergonomics allow for a EFV, etc.

The GR II is designed to easily slide in jeans pockets or cycling jerseys, can be turned on, focused and operated with one hand. IQ is as good or slightly better than my X-E2, certainly better for landscapes with lots of green foliage. But the tradeoff for size is the loss of an EVF.

in the past year I've hardly used my Fuji and 4 primes, the GR II is always with me and has incredible optics.

Since I make large prints I'm waiting to see if a 24mp X-E3 or GRIII comes out first. Unless Ricoh totally screws up, a 24mp GR would have outstanding sharpness and detail. I also hope they dont mess with the incredibly customizable controls.

Sal

For street only, Ricoh GR II all the way. I owned it a while ago and it is a street photography machine. I generally like 28mm for street shooting, it's ridiculously small and stealth, snap focus is useful, and really easy to operate 1 handed. For quick fleeting moments, it was great. The lens was razor sharp. I liked the SOOC B&Ws.

However, I sold it because I wasn't fond of using it for anything OTHER than street photography. 35mm overall is a more versatile focal length for me. 28mm f/2.8 on an APS-C sensor was a bit too limiting when it came to low light shooting, and the Ricoh's high ISO performance wasn't that great. I found it falls quite far behind the recent crop of APS-C sensors for high ISO performance.

I think the X100 series, with a 1 stop faster lens, the ability to go wider and match the Ricoh if you want 28mm with the wide angle converter, hybrid VF, etc is a much more versatile camera. If you challenged me to own only one camera, I could do it with the X100f. No way with the Ricoh. I'd just feel too limited.

And personally the X100 series is no slouch for street shooting either, obviously. I just preferred the Ricoh in that specific regard. So I think the Ricoh GR makes a great complement to additional gear specifically for street shooting. But if you want to shoot beyond just street photography, I think the Fuji is superior.

Of the two options offered, I would buy the Fuji, because I don't like the 28mm fov. To me the first choice in a prime lens is focal length. It doesn't matter what other features a camera has if the lens isn't the length you like,

(In real life, I would chose neither, either rebuying a secondhand T or sticking with my X-M1 27mm combo.)

yardcoyote said:

Of the two options offered, I would buy the Fuji, because I don't like the 28mm fov. To me the first choice in a prime lens is focal length. It doesn't matter what other features a camera has if the lens isn't the length you like,

(In real life, I would chose neither, either rebuying a secondhand T or sticking with my X-M1 27mm combo.)

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Strange argument....I see no difference in DOG between 28mm and 27mm. I am afraid you did not make yourself clearer.

The crop sensor Ricoh GR has an 18.3mm lens, offering the equivalent of a 28mm field of view on film/FF. The X100 series, with the same size sensor, has a 23mm lens, offering a 35mm field of view, and the 27mm Fuji prime is the equivalent, in terms of field of view, of a 40mm lens on film/FF. (These equivalents, while completely arbitrary, are useful because they allow discussion of field of view, which is one of the main attributes of a lens, across the range of sensor sizes.)

Phone cameras are almost always the equivalent of between 28 and 30mm. A GR, a Fuji X70, and a Nikon Coolpix A offer a similar field of view-- this is a useful comparison, since most people are familiar with phone cameras and what you see through them before cropping. The Fuji X100 will be slightly narrower, seeming to bring objects slightly closer, and the 27mm prime will be narrower yet. Everybody has their own taste in primes and what fields of view they prefer.

Most reviews of the GR are glowing, but all agree the skin tones, the portraits are "not great". Oranges and reds are done wrong in jpgs in the Ricoh.

On the other hand, the X100F skin tones are legendary.

photo perzon said:

Most reviews of the GR are glowing, but all agree the skin tones, the portraits are "not great". Oranges and reds are done wrong in jpgs in the Ricoh.

On the other hand, the X100F skin tones are legendary.

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Color is subjective. I have 2 GRs and prefer the skin tone OOC to my Fuji gear. But either can be tweaked to look like the other if desired. I wouldn't call either legendary unless one has a very limited experience with cameras.

Sal

MartinLux said:

Which one of these would you buy as a street/travel photography camera and why?

(I apologise if similar topic had already been brought up here, I did not find.)

Click to expand...

It depends on where I'm photographing. Narrow streets, GR II... anything else, Fuji.

http://www.littlebigtravelingcamera.com/?p=3932

Long time back but I think it is still valid. Hope that helps.