I think the word “fickle” is on the cusp of becoming a word of permanent usage on the blog here. Let’s explain the nature of the fickleness this time and get it out of the way: despite my effusive comments about it, I sold the Ricoh last week…

You can roll your eyes and ask “Well what was that gushing blog entry only a week or so ago about then?!” but stubborn as I am I will refuse to take back any of the comments I made about that camera, because despite the seemingly twisted logic of it all, in my mind they still make sense. It is a great, great camera and one which on an ergonomic level I gelled with completely – the problem comes however with the imaging side of things…
This is where, no doubt, most of you will smugly grin and say “So he’s finally realised how awful that noise is!” but again, my stubbornness persists. It’s -different- from most digital cameras yes, but I actually liked the un-squelched noise from the GRD, very much. The amount of noise doesn’t bother me either, and I maintain that it’s very filmic. This is getting near the crux of the matter now however, and though you will hate me for saying this, the real “imaging” problem is that the light is recorded on a sensor and not film.

I don’t want this to end up in another debate about digital vs. film because anyone who reads this blog for a second will realise my infatuation with film. It’s no doubt coloured my views with the Ricoh, but then I guess that was the point. After a weekend of using the GRD in the Lake District (and noticing that I was already preferring my SX-70 Polaroid while I was still there!) I realised that, when compared to my last trip out with a similar style of camera – my XA2 on the 10 Countries Run – there was, well, no comparison. The XA2 was simpler, metered better, took better photographs and, though not as important a factor, the thought of knocking, dropping or losing a £4 camera is not exactly on a par with knocking, dropping or losing a £200 camera and it’s £60+ accessory. I even surprised myself when I realised that despite the importance I usually place on the camera making me “feel” like a proper photographer, I would take the simplistic, fixed lens Olympus P&S over the pro P&S of the Ricoh any day… a complete switch around from my until-recently-held-opinion that I would look terribly n00b trying to use the XA2 as a “proper” camera.

It would seem that for better or for worse, the Ricoh taught me a lot, not just by giving me the opportunity to compare my feelings towards digital and film, but also to remind me yet again that the XA2 is a forgotten – my forgotten – gem…