GRDIII previews, reviews and full size samples

[John Carolan]

Thanks for those links Pavel. Definitely smoother and less noisy jpegs than my old GRDI, although some may prefer the 'grain' of the older model. I don't think there is any particularly noticeable increase in sharpness or clarity with the jpegs though (other than as a by product of less noise) but they were pretty good anyway. Looks better than jpegs I've seen from the GRDII. Even with the ludicrously high price I suspect I may end up buying one. Would be very interested in getting hold of a RAW file first though.

[odklizec]

Yes, these JPEGs look definitely better than those from GRDII (as of noise performance). But still, the noise reduction seems to be too strong for my taste and I guess also for taste of many GRDI followers? But it's pretty evident the noise performance is significantly improved. So I guess the noise level in RAW will be a very nice surprise. With GRDII, my main ISO sensitivity for indoor shots was ISO400. But I see a lot of use for GRDIII at ISO800 Can't wait to see the RAW files.

[rondo]

macromania...we need to be patient here.

[odklizec]

A lot of full res. samples (and all ISO values) now available at dc.watch.impress:
http://translate.google.com/translate?h ... 07174.html

[jaydubbleya]

Excellent, best selection yet - good steer Pavel.

The sample images are coming thick and fast now!

JW

[rondo]

Thank Pavel, indeed a great find!
I think we may start seeing RAWs pretty soon...But I would like to hear your first impressions as the expert!

[John Carolan]

Flickr GRD III group, more full size images
http://www.flickr.com/groups/grdigital3/pool/

[thelps]

The GRD III users manual is available in PDF form from here http://www.ricoh.com/r_dc/support/manual/grd3.html

[Nevin]

Blokes (and ladies), maybe I can add some to the comprehensive links put up by Pavel.

http://ricoh-gx.blogspot.com/2009/08/grd-iii-reference-and-comparative-shots.html

Some note:
1) the photos are at reduced size
2) but most are taken for the same scene at different exposure combo
3) comparative shots of GRDIII vs GRDII/ E-P1/ F200EXR/ CX1/ GX200/ G10 are arranged at the bottom of the post
4) don't ask for the full sized originals cos I didn't take the photos

[jaydubbleya]

Thanks for that Nevin.

Looking at these shots, the GRDIII certainly seems to bring noticable noise improvements to the table.

The noise that was crearly visible (at least to my uneducated eye) on both GRDII and GX200 was the main reason I held off from buying either. I appreciate that this could (to an extent) be dealt with in the processing stage, but sometimes I just want the image straight out of the camera.
I am much happier with what I am seeing from the GRDIII sample images. Does anyone have a more 'expert' opinion to back up my thoughts here?

By the way, as we know, the E-P1 gives incredibly noise free images accross the range, but don't you think that the images it produces are a little too 'warm'?

JW