Street Street photography (Image thread)

Don't do street much, but here's one.

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So Norman - nice work as is usually the case. You had the GRD3 and now have the GRD4 - how do you like it? In what ways do the upgrade become apparent in street shooting. The images look great, but I can't say they look a lot different at first glance. I know AF is faster, but if you're using snap focus, are the shooting or results different in any notable ways?

Thanks,

-Ray
 
So Norman - nice work as is usually the case. You had the GRD3 and now have the GRD4 - how do you like it? In what ways do the upgrade become apparent in street shooting. The images look great, but I can't say they look a lot different at first glance. I know AF is faster, but if you're using snap focus, are the shooting or results different in any notable ways?

Thanks,

-Ray

Thanks Ray. It's a bit early for me to give you any definite improvements when shooting street. So far I've only been out 3 times. I've barely looked at the manual and only shot street in auto snap at ISO800 (twice) and ISO400 (once). Noise control seems to have improved by about a stop and if you nail focus the resolution/sharpness looks to be improved some. The files containing less noise give you a little more scope for adjustment in pp.

Auto snap uses the external sensor at first but if that fails it falls back on 2.5m snap. I'm not convinced that is wholly reliable yet and will revert to 5m snap for a while and then I can better compare the images with the GRD 3 because I was using that on 5m snap more often than not.

I also want to experiment with slow shutter speed shots and inject some motion into my street work. I'm hoping IS will really come into play then and give me some degree of sharpness to the background/static elements in my shots. That is one feature I'm really looking fwd to exploring soon. Gotta work this w/end though so it will be next week before I start digging a little deeper into what this cam can do.

I'll be sure to post up some conclusions here soon, once I'm convinced the benefits are real and not just wishful thinking. Anything in particular you'd like me to compare? I've not sold the GRD3 yet so I could do some test shots of same subject to compare noise and resolution. Also try and see how low I can drop the shutter speed before blur kicks in.
 
No, nothing particularly specific Norman - mostly just your impressions of shooting with it and the quality of the files you're getting. You've told me a lot already in this last post. Anything further is welcome. I'm just sort of trying to decide longer term whether it will make sense to upgrade to the GRD4 or just hang with the GRD3 until and unless I decide to check out the GXR with the 28, which seems basically like a GRD with a bigger sensor. I'm gonna wait a while and see what the new year brings form Fuji, anything new on the m43 front, and if Ricoh is working on anything other than the GXR APS zoom. I may sit tight for a while, but if there are big gains to be had in the GRD3 or GXR area, I may go for one of them because I really love the GRD3. So, on the one hand, it may not need upgrading, but if there's a compelling reason, I tend to be open to that!

-Ray
 
Norman - one more question: You say that noise control seems to be improved by about a stop - is this shooting raw or jpeg? Are the raw files cleaner to beging with or is this mostly the result of better jpeg noise handling?

I'm mostly just wondering if there's any strong reason for me to upgrade from the 3 to 4 given that I mostly shoot moving subjects in snap focus mode with this cam (so the faster AF and the image stabilization probably wouldn't do much if anything for me). I've gotten plenty of results I'm very happy with at ISO 800. 1600 starts looking pretty rough but is useable and cleans up reasonably well with just a bit of NR in post processing. Unless the new model is substantially better at 1600, I don't see anything to upgrade for.

Thanks,

-Ray
 
Norman - one more question: You say that noise control seems to be improved by about a stop - is this shooting raw or jpeg? Are the raw files cleaner to beging with or is this mostly the result of better jpeg noise handling?

I'm mostly just wondering if there's any strong reason for me to upgrade from the 3 to 4 given that I mostly shoot moving subjects in snap focus mode with this cam (so the faster AF and the image stabilization probably wouldn't do much if anything for me). I've gotten plenty of results I'm very happy with at ISO 800. 1600 starts looking pretty rough but is useable and cleans up reasonably well with just a bit of NR in post processing. Unless the new model is substantially better at 1600, I don't see anything to upgrade for.

Thanks,

-Ray

Sorry, I failed to spot this post somehow till now.

I was talking about RAW files. Shortly after my post I got both cams out and shot from 4 different positions around my bedroom in rather poor light at ISO800 and ISO1600 and then compared the 2 cameras. The differences were dramatic. The GRD3 images looked a lot flatter and noisier and the difference was clearly apparent at normal viewing. When I loaded them into Photoshop's camera raw the GRD3's contrast range fell comfortable within my default settings and was showing little or no clipping. The images were somewhat flat and noise was very apparent. The GRD4 was being clipped at both ends and I needed to reduce contrast and use the recovery slider some to prevent clipping. With the GRDIV ISO1600 is very useable, with less noise and greater tonal range and still very workable in pp.

I know that test isn't real world and I think on the street often the differences will not be so apparent but I'm convinced it will increase my keeper rate substantially, especially in tricky conditions. Once you work the RAW files the differences may be harder to distinguish but it kinda reminds me of the step-up I felt when I went from a Panasonic G1 to the GH2. Same/similar sensor but one gave me a whole lot more shooting opportunities than the other. In good conditions you wonder if it was worth the price difference.
 
Sorry, I failed to spot this post somehow till now.

I was talking about RAW files. Shortly after my post I got both cams out and shot from 4 different positions around my bedroom in rather poor light at ISO800 and ISO1600 and then compared the 2 cameras. The differences were dramatic. The GRD3 images looked a lot flatter and noisier and the difference was clearly apparent at normal viewing. When I loaded them into Photoshop's camera raw the GRD3's contrast range fell comfortable within my default settings and was showing little or no clipping. The images were somewhat flat and noise was very apparent. The GRD4 was being clipped at both ends and I needed to reduce contrast and use the recovery slider some to prevent clipping. With the GRDIV ISO1600 is very useable, with less noise and greater tonal range and still very workable in pp.

I know that test isn't real world and I think on the street often the differences will not be so apparent but I'm convinced it will increase my keeper rate substantially, especially in tricky conditions. Once you work the RAW files the differences may be harder to distinguish but it kinda reminds me of the step-up I felt when I went from a Panasonic G1 to the GH2. Same/similar sensor but one gave me a whole lot more shooting opportunities than the other. In good conditions you wonder if it was worth the price difference.

OOOOOPS, and now it took ME this long to see this post! Oh well.

Thanks very much for your observations. It does sound like the GRD4 is probably a worthy upgrade to the 3, but I expect if I do upgrade the 3, I'd spend the extra $300 and jump all the way to the GXR. The GXR has the upside of the larger, more sensitive, sensor which doesn't seem to me to have any downsides other than size/weight, and I never end up using the GRD as a true pocket camera anyway. And when I'm taking a camera to go out shooting and require a small bag or coat pocket anyway, the GXR still seems quite portable. But I'm good for now with my GRD3...

-Ray
 
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