I have not consistently been shooting black and white for any longer period of time at anytime in my life i think. But after have seen someone else’s fantastic pictures in black and white, it can really do something COOL, so thought i will give it a go, plus i recently picked up a few new cameras, that i wanted to test out a little. A Fujifilm X-100VI and a Ricoh GRIIIx, yeah i know its too much, i already know I’m keeping the Fuji, cause it already was my favorite camera in its earlier iterations, but the little Ricoh is something special, its so small, has soo good IQ, is fun to use (and hard to see sometimes) and i do really like the pictures it produces, and i traded it with a good friend
The Ricoh Gr IIIx, these we are some of the first tests, they are not great in anyway, but i like the colors. I have set it up for jpg shooting, to play with the different film simulations, and see how that works out, so these are some of the first, that i like just a little. Its a very different shooting experience from my Fuji, which i usually carry in a strap around my neck. Carrying it in the hand constantly allows for another shooting experience, that i actually think compliments the Fuji, so i might need both in my life, we will see. These 2 were the first experiements
Its also very different using the digital controls on the Ricoh, compared to the analog controls on the fuji, which i still think is way easier. But Ricoh wins on the pocketability, so you really can bring it everywhere, and i guess its just a matter of using it more. Right now i have the P mode setup just for point and shoot, and a customer profile with Hard Monochrome, and a fast shutter speed to freeze street motion.
I really like the pictures that comes out of the little Ricoh Gr IIIx, i like the awesome recipes. my main gripe with the camera is, that my eyes aren’t what they used to be, so seeing the screen can be an issue for me without my reading glasses, and putting the optical viewfinder on it, kind of defeats the purpose with the camera.
Fujifilm X-100VI This is my third X-100 series camera, and it is by far, my most used camera of all time, its the camera that i bring on my daily shopping trips, its the camera i bring every time i go out for a walk, photo walk or not. I think its a beautiful camera, i loooove the analog controls on the camera, no screen, just the controls. I can shoot it from the hip, and still knowing what’s in the frame, cause i have done it so many times. So why the X-100VI ? Ibis & 40 megapixels, i like shooting street a lot, and i do crop a lot, the extra megapixels gives me more ability there. The Ibis gives new options for night shooting at slower shutter, so for me its an iteration of a camera that i already loved 🙂
My first black and white pictures (shooting Black and White JPG in March 2024)
I like it a lot, but to be fair, any of these pictures i could also have done with my X-100F :), so still need a lot more practice with the camera. I will end this blog post, with my favorite picture so far in my journey (while I’m looking out at another grey day in Denmark outside my window.)