Street photography ...: Photo gear ...

I’m currently in the process of making more changes to my gear.

When taking candids, I found the Ricoh GR not quite as responsive as I’d hoped. Sometimes the slightest movement — even at high shutter speeds — resulted in an out-of-focus picture. The truth is, I think I’ve grown dependent on the image stabilisation of its predecessor, the GRD IV. (Although it features a smaller sensor, the GRDIV almost always gives a stable, sharply-focussed shot.)

So, regrettably, the GR has been returned (and refunded).

The fact is, over the last year I’ve tried a number of cameras. I bought an Olympus XA film camera, which I like very much and still use occasionally. Immediately following this I bought a Nikon D200, which I liked but found a bit on the weighty side. This was sold and replaced with a D90.

Although lighter, I still found the D90 a shade heavy after an hour or two. This prompted me to think about a smaller camera body, which led to me trying the X100, which I disliked (see my previous post on this).

In August last year I bought the Ricoh GRD IV, a really inconspicuous street camera, the only downside of which is that the small-resolution files don’t allow much cropping. (Still, the camera is very much a keeper.)

My latest walk with the D40 and 50mm lens led me to rethink my attitude to DSLRs. I’m now of the opinion that smaller, more compact entry-level models are still viable tools for street work, as they have considerable advantages: with a shorter lens they are almost as light and inconspicuous as micro fourth-thirds cameras, the nearest alternative in image quality, and tend to be considerably cheaper. (Thinking of Olympus OM-5 and Panasonic Lumix GF here).

I was surprised to discover, for instance, that the D40's direct descendant, the D3200, has an amazing 24.2 MP, coupled with the same Expeed 3 processing engine used by Nikon’s flagship camera — the D4. The most persuasive argument in favour of my buying the camera, however, was the purchase price ... now only £304 brand new.

My final reasoning was the fact that, coupled with a prime lens such as the 50mm, this camera is capable of matching the image quality produced by more expensive DSLRs (and the best of the micro four-thirds cameras).

So with Nikon’s D3200 (and the GRD IV as my secondary camera), I look forward to my next photo walk (planned for next week).