Experience of using snapshots in Ricoh GR3

Ricoh GR3 is an extremely small, light and low-key card machine, and its favorite function is snapshot mode.

Snapshot mode means that the camera sets a fixed focal length, so that you can take pictures without focusing, which can greatly improve the capture speed.

To make good use of GR3 snapshot mode, we need to know two photography skills, namely, focal length estimation and hyperfocal distance.

Focus estimation is to estimate the shooting distance in advance and adjust the lens focus distance in advance, and shoot directly without focusing when taking pictures.

Hyperfocal distance means that under a certain focal length and aperture, the depth of field can be just covered by choosing the corresponding focal length.

Generally speaking, manual focusing lenses, such as Leica M-series lenses, can quickly and conveniently set the hyperfocal distance. Most autofocus lenses are difficult to set directly. Generally, the focus distance of hyperfocal distance can be calculated by using the mobile app.

Generally, a wide-angle lens with a small aperture is used for focus estimation and hyperfocal distance, which can provide a larger depth of field, and it is not necessary to focus when taking pictures, so that it can be quickly captured.

GR3 is called a street camera, firstly because its equivalent focal length is 28mm, which is very suitable for street shooting, humanities and other close-range shooting. The second mode is snapshot mode, which is based on the estimation of focal length and the application of hyperfocal distance. A very small and light fuselage can capture snapshots very quickly.

Let's share some of my experiences:

Set the snapshot mode of 1 GR3 in the focus mode selection. Select a snapshot to focus on. Mine is a custom setting, and the Fn key is set to switch snapshot mode. This can switch between snapshot mode and normal focus mode as quickly as possible.

2 In snapshot mode, you can set a fixed focal length, 1m, 1.5m, 2m, 2.5m, 5m,. The left side of the screen shows the focal length and depth of field coverage, and the focal length of the snapshot can be quickly adjusted through the front wheel.

3 I love focus estimation shooting, the focal length 1m, and the aperture is about F8, which is determined according to the ambient light, especially suitable for capturing people at close range.

4. The application of snapshot mode hyperfocal distance is to cover the depth of field, such as aperture F8 and focal length 2m. If the aperture is F 16, the focusing distance is1m. The left side of the screen is very clear!

When snapshot mode is not applicable:

1 When the light is dim, you need to switch to auto-focus mode to focus accurately and use a large aperture.

When shooting some close-ups, you need to switch to autofocus mode to focus accurately.

3 If close-range focus estimation shooting within 1m is needed, you can set the focus mode to MF manual focus.

Snapshot mode is more suitable for capturing blind shot. If you don't need such a quick snapshot, such as portraits, landscapes, still life and other subjects, you still need to use precise focusing to ensure the image quality.

(Attached are some pictures of my children captured in snapshot mode)