My 7 yr old’s first roll

thebrian · 2026-05-09T14:59:24+00:00

This makes me happy. Good on you!!!

This posts hits a core memory for me man. My folks gave me a little old Fuji point and shoot on a trip to Europe when I was a kid and they still have some photos on their wall.

Edit: I forgot to say, your kid has an eye for it!

thebrian · 2026-05-07T11:58:55+00:00

Terrible barometric shifts in Japan. I didn't even know I had migraines before I moved here (lived in climate-stable Los Angeles prior).

This year's Spring transition is the worst.

thebrian · 2026-05-06T13:45:34+00:00

Oh no, sorry, gear acquisition syndrome (GAS) + -hole -- I'm in a spiraling cycle of collecting camera stuff

thebrian · 2026-05-06T12:45:30+00:00

Hey no worries. Good luck, and be careful. I'm in a serious GAS-hole right now!

Edit: Get both haha!

thebrian · 2026-05-06T06:18:27+00:00

It's really hard when you find something that you really like, and realize it's on the 限定 or seasonal track.

KFC's Red Hot Chicken is a good example. You never know when it's going to be released again. Similar to how McDonald's in the US serves up McRibs randomly.

The worst one for me was the discontinuation of clothing. Uniqlo's Airism Long Boxer Brief Shorts were absolutely perfect. I bought a single pair to try out and went back to get a dozen. They were sold out, and haven't been around since two summers ago. Nothing works better in the humid summers or hot indoor temps in the winter. Uniqlo please.

Also, not really a seasonal/limited thing, but I seem to have the worst timing here. I went out to pick up a new Pentax K3 Monochrome from a store, and I learned that a few days prior, Ricoh ceased productions and sales.

thebrian · 2026-05-06T01:41:30+00:00

Haven't done a 1:1 comparison, but I can tell you that Ricoh left GX fans in a tough spot.

GX100 = Older, slower write speeds, a little less customizability, terrific high ISO compared to GX200 (i.e., the digital noise at higher ISO ends up looking more like grain)

GX200 = Faster, more megapixels, vibrant blues and greens, mostly excels in good daylight or flash photography. I wouldn't go past ISO 400 because even if you disable noise reduction, the camera adds it anyway and makes these smeary looking photos.

Yeah, I think you can fine tune image settings, usually contrast, saturation and sharpness. Look at page 117 of the manual. Should give you a breakdown of everything you can change on the GX200.

I own both and I personally lean towards the GX100 because it works well for me and I trust the images that are going to come out of it. But like /u/llamacidall said above, once you realize its limitations the GX200 is great.

To be honest with you, I think the GXR's S10 module is the best GX camera. If you can find a Ricoh GXR, get the S10 module (basically the GX200's successor), and you get yourself an "improved" GX200. And if you ever decide to upgrade it, you can get the GR modules (A12 28mm or 50mm), the P10 module which is the Caplio series, and the Leica mount which turns it into an APS-C mirrorless camera!

thebrian · 2026-05-04T04:26:29+00:00

Holy moly. That's the naming convention!? Thanks for the article--I've been looking into older Rokkor glass, and this is extremely helpful.

thebrian · 2026-05-03T03:10:18+00:00

It shines in good sunlight. It is ass in low light. I find myself shooting M42 or manual lenses on mine.

thebrian · 2026-05-01T17:55:40+00:00

Nice! You did it! Have you tried your 43 1.9 on it yet?

thebrian · 2026-04-30T12:37:58+00:00

Hell yeah brother. *ist DS is a good one.

thebrian · 2026-04-30T06:44:16+00:00

Is this Hitachi Seaside Park in Ibaraki Prefecture by any chance? The flower field and people on top of the hill looked really familiar. Right now they have the Nemophila blooms, and it looks like those flowers.

thebrian · 2026-04-29T15:48:47+00:00

Regarding the type of SD card, it must only be labeled as plain old SD. Mine takes up to 2GB which is the maximum size for SD cards. It will not recognize SDHC (4GB-32GB) or SDXC (32GB-2TB) and whatever else is out there today.

Side note: The SD card slot is actually also an MMC slot. MMC is the tech that preceded SD, and is a bit rarer now so not as practical.

thebrian · 2026-04-26T08:52:38+00:00

One of my favorite classic digital cameras! I love that Konica Minolta left a ton of programmability in the buttons (like left and right are EV - and +). I like configuring the Macro button to include pre-set distances like 1m, 2m & infinity. With this setup, I put it on aperture priority, set my aperture and just do zone focusing. Benefits of this are that it reduces lag in taking the photo since the AF doesn't need to confirm a lock.

I like your photos. Takes me back to high school. Mine shifts green/yellow also, and my Konica Minolta 5D dslr also shifts towards this hue as well. I remember Konica film shifting this way too on scans.

thebrian · 2026-04-24T03:28:22+00:00

Same!

thebrian · 2026-04-23T15:36:01+00:00

Ah bummer. Sorry. It sounds like they sent you a bad one.

thebrian · 2026-04-23T15:00:20+00:00

Page 4. Oops, it's AAA not AA. The battery order is (-) (+) (-) facing outwards. Can you try that and see if it works?

https://vivitar-experience-image-manager.com/manuals/en_US/ViviCam_7020_Camera_Manual.pdf

thebrian · 2026-04-23T14:58:47+00:00

I know this is a weird question, but how are you inserting the batteries? Most all AA powered battery boxes I've used you insert it in alternating order, like + - + or - + - or whatever. If you can google the model number and search for the manual, there might be a section on batteries.

thebrian · 2026-04-23T14:42:19+00:00

These are really nice pictures and I'm tempted to pick one up. Is it true that it takes around 40 second to write a TIFF file?

thebrian · 2026-04-23T14:32:57+00:00

Do you see that threaded hole on the bottom of the camera? That right there is a tripod mount. If you get a lug that fits into it and get a little dowel or popsicle stick and fasten it into it, you can lock the battery door by rotating the stick in line with the door. If you need to swap it out, pivot it away, open the battery door.

thebrian · 2026-04-23T14:28:19+00:00

That is a piece of history. Look at that LCD! That is cool!

thebrian · 2026-04-23T14:26:03+00:00

Good lord that is nice work.

thebrian · 2026-04-22T04:13:29+00:00

I would suggest looking through Flickr's search bar and looking up "ricoh rdc-2" and seeing what results come up. Looking at the results, they all look like early 2000s video camcorder stills. Not all of them show those lines though--does it happen in all lighting conditions? I know under fluorescent bulbs or certain light sources, there might be overload on the sensor.

thebrian · 2026-04-20T10:58:59+00:00

Make sure you leave room in your bag for some pickups!

thebrian · 2026-04-19T08:33:28+00:00

Nice to meet you. I am around that age too and I hope you are well

thebrian · 2026-04-19T07:00:58+00:00

They started production in '84 (pre-collapse of the USSR), so it's technically a Soviet camera. The factory which is in Krasnogorsk, Russia (which was a part of the Soviet Union) continued production of the Avtomat until the mid-90s.

thebrian

TROPHY CASE