I just bought a new Ricoh GR IV monochrome camera. This purchase fulfilled a specific need of mine which I will explain now a little further. In other words - I wanted one!! 😁
Until two years ago I owned a Ricoh GR III that was regrettably stolen in Athens. The GR III had been my every day street photography camera. I also used it for quick and easy architectural shots and every day portraits.
In the past months I had increasingly the feeling that I would like to have an easy to use and readily available camera for everyday shooting back in my arsenal. And I also wanted to return to shooting more monochrome.
I owned for a while a Leica M Monochrom. It was a model from the very first Leica monochrome camera series that was derived from the first digital M9 series. It had lots of bugs and difficulties, particularly with blown out highlights. But I loved shooting with it and it had a very special feeling to it and created very interesting pictures. So I loved the opportunity of shooting monochrome only.
Combining those wishes of having a simple everyday camera, a monochrome only and a camera that can still shoot high-level pictures, I discovered recently that Ricoh have developed a monochrome version of their new GR IV camera.
I went through a small pile of first reviews and tests and found that the overall judgement of this camera is very high.
So I decided eventually to buy a GR IV monochrome. My dear Photographer friend Ann in Toronto immediately diagnosed severe GAS (gear acquisition syndrome) when I told her about my plans.
I do acknowledge that nobody really needs to have a monochrome only camera. However, my previous experiences showed that a certain camera can fulfil the wish for a specific shooting style. A great camera does not make you a better photographer, however, it gets not in your way and it enhances your shooting experience. So yes, it makes sense to buy a camera that fulfils your artistic wishes.
After shooting for the very first time today, I have to say that this little (but quite expensive) thing exceeded my expectations. Both, shooting experience and results were very good.
During this first outing I have been creating JPEG pictures only. The quality of these pictures is great, the presets that the camera provides are very usable. And shooting with this camera is very simple and intuitive.
One could argue that a camera with a simple back screen without swivel options and without a viewfinder is not up to the expectations we have for a modern device. But considering that simplicity and usability is the main aspect, this is a very efficient and usable camera. It does not have to win beauty contests, but the results and every day user experience are great.
So it appears that this little camera can be a very useful addition to my gear park. I will write more about it in the future.
For reference I recommend the website of Philadelphia based photographer Dante Sisofo who changed his photography entirely to Ricoh cameras and lately to the new Ricoh GR IV monochrome.