What an enigmatic title! What these two brands have in common is that they are closely linked to Street Photography. But they’re not the only ones. There are also other iconic brands like Leica. If you see a street photographer in the street, chances are they have a Leica, Ricoh or Fujifilm. Leica is a benchmark for photojournalism and street photography. Ricoh’s GRs were made popular by a certain Daido Moriyama. As for Fujifilm, they are the latest to appear on the very juicy Street Photography market. The X100 series, which came onto the market in 2011, needs no introduction. Fujifilm was largely inspired by the Leica M for its X100 series. There are other brands, of course, but these three clearly dominate the market.

I’ve never owned a Leica. The price of these cameras is very high. Even if the price is an obstacle, I don’t think this type of camera is right for me. Much too big! I’ve already had John Harper’s Leica MP and Elizabeth Char’s Leica Q in my hand. Well, no thanks. These little jewels may produce exceptional photos, but the weight and size of the bodies put me off … The X100, if you read my blogs regularly, you’ll know that I bought one second-hand: the X100F. A very nice camera, but like the Leica, I found it too bulky. That’s why I came back to the Ricoh GR3 for Street Photography. A concentrate of technology in a tiny body. I’ll overlook the many faults of this camera (largely due to its small size…) to tell you that it’s the perfect camera for me in the street.

When we got back from our trip to Vietnam, I set myself the delicate task of opening up my Ricoh GR3 to clean the sensor, which was really dirty. I had a lot of dust on the sensor and post-processing sometimes became a real pain and I even had photos that were unusable because the spots were really badly placed… After watching a tutorial on YouTube, I took the plunge and I have to say that I found dismantling quite simple. I was just surprised to see that the sensor plate was only fixed by 3 screws! I’m under the impression that a rectangle is better held with 4 screws … What’s more, you can only really remove 2 of the screws. The third can be unscrewed, but not removed … Anyway, I was able to clean the sensor but when I went back up I must have screwed the 3rd screw in wrongly because I didn’t realise straight away that I had a sharpness problem on the left-hand side of my photos. Even at f8, I had the impression that the left-hand side of the photo wasn’t sharp. The problem was even more noticeable at f2.8.

So I took the camera apart again to see what was wrong. The plate where the sensor of the Ricoh GR3 was fixed didn’t seem to be square… The fault of this famous 3rd screw. I screwed it all back together and this time I made sure everything was straight and screwed back in correctly. I was pretty pleased with myself. I was a master at dismantling the Ricoh GR3! However, I was in for a nasty surprise. The camera seemed to be working normally except for the LCD screen, which was displaying images in a rather strange way.

That’s where the title of this Blog comes from. Fujifilm is famous for its film simulations. All new models receive these new simulations. Acros, Classic Chrome, Astie, Provia … A godsend for all those who are nostalgic for the old Fujifilm films from the analog days. Unintentionally, I’ve given my Ricoh GR3 a kind of simulation that I could call ‘Comics’!

You can see from the photos of the LCD screen on my Ricoh GR3 what I’m talking about. I was very worried that I’d done something wrong and damaged the sensor on my camera. Nothing of the sort! The files are intact. It’s just the LCD screen that’s buggy. In my last blog, I talked about the way I take photos. John even said that I work a bit like a painter who concentrates first on the shapes in the composition. With my new Ricoh Frankenstein version, this is even truer! All I can see on my screen are the general shapes. Details are irremediably erased. For me, the power of composition comes from shapes, and here I am comforted by this problem on my LCD screen, which in the end is not a problem in the way I take photos!

A few days ago, we went trekking and it was the perfect opportunity to test my Ricoh GR3 Comics Edition. Yes, I’m being a bit mocking by calling it that. Ricoh has officially released its Street and Diary Editions and didn’t think of the Comics Edition! The hike itself was great, culminating in a swim in very cold water in a pool with a superb waterfall. On the way back, we stopped off at Boucan Canot for a dip. In the same morning we sweated like pigs on hiking trails and ended up at the beach! Yes, that’s how it is on Reunion Island!

I’m reassured because my camera seems to be working normally. I did a quick Street Photography outing today and apart from my settings which weren’t optimal (I took the photos at 1/500s instead of 1/800s …), I didn’t notice any sharpness problems. So here I am with a brand new customised Ricoh GR3. This model is unique and seems to have been created just for me. Don’t ask me how I achieved this, I don’t know. I couldn’t even sell the concept to Ricoh …

Well, these shots of my LCD screen are all very nice, but didn’t you say the files were intact? Well, I’ll leave you with the photos I’ve post processed in Lightroom to prove to you that the files haven’t been altered by this malfunction of my LCD screen!

All the pictures were taken with the Ricoh GR3 Comics Edition.