
GR vs GRII
INTRODUCTION
This review will not cover every single aspect of the camera for a very simple reason : This new model is a very subtile evolution -too subtile many might argue- of the 2013 model, dubbed GR on which I published an detailed review here and here
While this new model is aimed to replace the first one, the first model remains scarcely available until the remaining stock is sold. If you have no use for the Wifi AND do not really need the larger buffer capacity, the GR is probably a better deal (here) than the GRII (here) although the GRII went already down compared to its $799 introduction price. At the time of this article, the difference amounts to a difference of $126 which one could use to get some accessories like the very useful Gh3 hood (here) or even, the very good GW-3 Ricoh lens converter which will turn on your GR or GRII the 28mm FOV into a very broad 21mm (here).
The GR II was announced back in June and most Ricoh users, including yours truly, were expecting several improvements like : a sensor with a higher megapixel count, some kind of EVF option, wifi… only to list the most realistic expectations. In the end, we only got WIFI/ NFC options, additional special-effect filters, & a larger buffer (the latter being for me the most useful addition). For sure, this was disappointing for most. The idea of having to wait two full years (an eternity in the digital age) was to have some real improvements over the previous model. Indeed, it is difficult to fathom why Ricoh could not at least add some contacts on the hot shoe for an external EVF and why they could not use the 24mp sony APS sensor which has already been used on Pentax cameras (a company now owned by Ricoh) for over a year now 🙁 [Read more…]