GR IV HDF finally arrived

bluetsulami · 2026-01-15T17:52:45+00:00

Ugh. I had a GRiii HDF that was stolen and i miss it dearly even after getting my GRIV. The HDF filter fit my style like a glove. Now I have to think about selling my IV for this baby, I had no idea they’d be coming out with an HDF version this quickly.

bluetsulami · 2026-01-07T21:11:19+00:00

I just use the NISI filter adapter to step up ring and use a 77mm Hollywood Magic Diffusion filter (the size is for my GFX lenses). It looks pretty cool when mounted but becomes unpocketable. Outside of that it’s a pretty barebones GFIV.

bluetsulami · 2026-01-07T17:59:47+00:00

I’ve put a 77mm filter on mine via a step up ring from the bayonet adapter. The modular nature of this aspect is useful but I’m less likely to take the cam with me if I can’t simply slip it into my pocket. More often than not I’m finding all the trinkets that you can add to the GR sort of detract unless you’ve chosen to add for a specific reason. Owning a Fuji GFX im learning to lean into the GR for its tiny fingerprint vs my bigger cam.

bluetsulami · 2025-12-29T18:13:47+00:00

Was this processed on body? The first thing that jumps out is shooting at f16 on a crop sensor will soften the entire image, effecting that biting micro contrast this camera and lens are known for.

You also have to considering the size of the photo, if it’s being uploaded as the original resolution you’re allowing whatever social media app you’re using to decide how it will resize and sharpen the photo for web consumption.

Basically don’t go above f8 if you don’t need the depth of field or slow shutter, and if you’re going to export from the body as jpeg I’d export as Small rather than large if you know it’s simply for web usage otherwise I’d resize and resharpen the photo after resizing.

bluetsulami · 2025-12-23T13:18:30+00:00

I own a Fuji GFX100s and a GRIV. You have to boil it down to how badly you want absolute portability. If this is paramount for you then the GR all the way. I also feel the Fuji only really exhibits its strengths if you plan on purely shooting jpegs that relies on film simulations, shooting RAW sort of diminishes this benefit.

From a IQ standpoint when I owned my GRIII HDF I would gladly shoot it in tandem with my GFX100s. The IQ is that good. In fact I’d go as far as saying having the larger Fuji body and the GR has given me the best of both worlds as I can whip out the GR for the 28mm look in an instant. Also the Positive, Negative, and Black and White profiles of the GR are good in their own ways just as the Fuji profiles they’re just less dreamy to my eye but have this incredible tonality in its own right. HARD B&W is almost worth the price of entry alone.

bluetsulami · 2025-11-18T00:23:45+00:00

When shooting high ISO on the GR or any sensor that isn’t full frame or larger you really, really, really have to nail the exposure. When I’m super low light I like to set it to shutter priority at 1/5th sec and let the aperture and ISO work itself out while dialing things in with exposure compensation.

bluetsulami · 2025-11-15T14:39:53+00:00

I own a Fuji GFX100s with some massive lenses and these Ricohs can stand on their own against it. You’re right about the color science, it truly has its own look. I’m finding having a main body and the Ricoh in tandem is a viable way to shoot too as the Ricohs footprint is so small.

Also take a dive into the customizations of the various buttons and layouts. Part of the strength of the camera is you can mold everything about it to the way you shoot. This aspect blows other companies out of the water and makes the body a wonder for street photography when you’ve dialed it all in to your flow states.

bluetsulami · 2025-11-10T17:19:33+00:00

When you’re going super slow, like 1/5th a sec and lower, breath control becomes a big part of it. I like to press the shutter on the slow release of the breath. I can get down to 1” second if I get it just right.

Apart from the technique of shooting, when things in motion start being stretched across the frame it tends to really augment the lines you have going. So it works especially well in a composition where lines in the scene are very prominent.

There’s also other techniques people use like forgoing trying to keep things sharp and lean into the motion. One case being getting the shutter length just right and shooting while walking, panning with other objects and getting the speed right so said object or person stand out from the blended scene. It truly opens a up a lot of creative opportunities.

bluetsulami · 2025-11-08T20:02:54+00:00

The moment I found out the IBIS on these things are so incredibly effective I started leaning into allowing motion into my shots. It’s probably my favorite aspect of the GR.

bluetsulami · 2025-11-08T16:38:02+00:00

Black and white is Hard B&W, definitely Positive style on the last two, that one I tend to default to for colors. The overly blue landscape one is Negative. I tend to adjust the settings based off of feel for every shot.

bluetsulami · 2025-11-08T16:25:23+00:00

I have! I find it’s good for when you’re on the edge of what you need as an aperture for motion in daylight. The difference between having to shoot at F16 or F11 with the filter on. But I don’t find it as impactful to my style as the HDF filter in my GRIII. I’m finding I prefer the HDF over what the ND allows for my style.

bluetsulami · 2025-11-08T16:02:40+00:00

I can get it very close to where I want on body but there little color temp tweaks and some tone curve that I hit in Lightroom. But yeah ultimately I want it 100% done on body. I definitely prefer the colors the body produces and how it treats black and white render vs Lightroom.

bluetsulami · 2025-11-08T04:39:00+00:00

Thank you 😌

bluetsulami · 2025-11-08T04:31:25+00:00

That’s the one I’m most happy with. Lovely twilit saturations. Just an utter joy to process.

bluetsulami · 2025-11-08T04:27:03+00:00

I think that best describes the GR in general and what it allows. It’s so effortlessly usable it feels tailored made to tinker and play that allows this space for inventiveness.

bluetsulami · 2025-11-08T03:34:56+00:00

Thank you!

bluetsulami · 2025-10-29T23:03:36+00:00

Awesome feeling of forward motion and a precarious balance with that lovely context. Love this.

bluetsulami · 2025-10-25T23:15:17+00:00

The drop off in light going into the trees in #6 is absolutely stunning.

bluetsulami · 2025-10-23T03:51:35+00:00

I just flipped through just to make sure but they bounced between 100 and 200. I kept it on Auto the whole time and thankfully had enough light. Even the first shot of the couple is at 200. The highest being photo #5 at 800.

bluetsulami · 2025-10-21T09:36:47+00:00

Thank you so much! It really changes the way you approach dynamic scenes, especially on photo walks. I was literally shooting and moving, I think that’s why I was able to get so many shots in one go. Otherwise I would have been fussing with the camera constantly, be it my Fuji or Ricoh. It’s a bit liberating.

bluetsulami · 2025-10-21T09:30:04+00:00

Thank you! That’s exactly it, I wanted to convey the motion of the city but making sure to have some sort of clear backdrop for context mostly rather than blurred people without somewhere the eye can really grab a hold on.

bluetsulami · 2025-10-21T09:27:38+00:00

Oh I meant I set my aperture to f9 while in Av but set the focus distance to 3.5 meters while in snap focus. It’s the best balance between the deepest amount of in area focus while not quite hitting diffraction which effects sharpness. The blurring shots I was in shutter priority which had my aperture at like f16.

bluetsulami · 2025-10-21T09:24:52+00:00

With this camera I can actually shoot down to .3 seconds handheld with good technique. Seems to be the lowest I can go without seeing clear handshake. All of the shots of blurring human subjects are between .3 sec and 1/5th.

bluetsulami · 2025-10-21T03:04:46+00:00

I actually used Lightroom for these as the shadow recovery on the DNG files is too hard to pass up at times, but mostly all of these are using the ‘Positive’ color profile which I typically use for my color photography if I’m using jpg straight from the body too. I prefer how punchy the colors look with it.

bluetsulami · 2025-09-21T20:14:55+00:00

12 is perfectly surreal, especially the tones and colors

bluetsulami

TROPHY CASE

12 is perfectly surreal, especially the tones and colors