The Ricoh GR1 is a compact point-and-shoot autofocus camera that’s small enough to fit into a pocket. I bought it new, and at the time wanted to get something small to take along for trips. Competitor cameras included the Yashica T4; all the options in this category had sharp, wide, fixed focal length lenses. In this case the GR1 has a 28mm f/2.8 lens. Focus is pretty quick – push the shutter release down halfway, and the lens finds your subject, and displays a rough idea of how close or far it is with an icon. There are some additional controls that come in handy. One dial is for exposure compensation, with a range of +/-2. Since the DX coding for the GR1 stops at ISO 1600, you can still shoot 3200 speed film using a compensation of +1. The other dial lets you select the aperture, or leave it on A for auto. The shutter speed maxes out at 1/500, so you may not be able to shoot at f/2.8 in bright light, unless you’re shooting 100 speed film, or adjust to shoot at ISO 50 using a compensation of -1. The viewfinder also shows you the shutter the camera is using in the left of the window, a blinks at the upper end if the shot will be overexposed. There’s also a small built-in, non-popup flash – it has settings for auto, on, or off.
Ricoh GR1
Kodak Gold 100
