Waiting for the arrival of my Ricoh GR III

With one eye constantly moving to the window hoping for a glimpse of the delivery truck that will bring me my shiny new Ricoh GR III I purchased off Amazon, I'm finally beginning a new blog post, in anticipation of a new photography season approaching.

It's the first of March, and the Indiana thaw is starting to creep it's way back to the Hoosier state! Temperatures have been hitting the low 50s for the first few days of the month, after a very mild winter for the lower half of Indiana. I only recall shuffling snow once in November, and maybe once in January, but even those were small 1 or 2" snowfalls. So nothing of any significance - thankfully!

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Along with the warmer temperatures of March, my photo-hibernation comes out of it's groggy slumber as well. I'm not a cold-weather person, or cold-weather photographer. I just don't like to be out in the cold any longer than it takes to go to the liquor store or drive-thru.

So when the temperatures start to peak back into the 50s, my four or five month lack of outside shooting interest starts to turn into anticipation of getting back out into nature, and the streets of Indianapolis and other urban areas.

The 2020 spring is no different. I not only have the desire to get back out and shoot some street photography, but I made the month-long decision to finally purchase the Ricoh GR III camera. The $899 price tag has kept me only wanting, and not purchasing the camera for months. But I decided to use the Amazon five-month finance plan to make the purchase and go for it!

And of course right on cue the temperatures are dropping tonight from today's high in the mid-50's to a high tomorrow only expected to be low to mid-30s. Even though it's suppose to be back to the 50's by Sunday, it's looking like another couple weeks of below-chilly weather in the 50s, so I'm going to have to risk the cold and get out to downtown Indy and get some tests going with the GR III.

My expectation is that I'll start carrying the GR with me as much as possible and try to start shooting more, simply because I'll have the camera with me. It'll also act as a backup to my T3i for any paid shooting gigs. I'm expecting the image quality to be better than the T3i, and am happy that as long as the 18mm lens (28mm in 35 equivalent) fits the shot. If I need a 50 or zoom then I'll have to go to the T3i.

Of course, I've completed this blog entry, with no less than a dozen glances out the window, but still no delivery. My shipments never happen early in the day, always at the end. As if the delivery drivers don't even show up for work until 5pm, then finally get to my house before the 9pm window expires.  Nonetheless, yet another glance outside...

The Ricoh GR III finally arrives, but then ...

Jump ahead to a week later - I received my Ricoh GR III and I still have not had an opportunity to get outside and test it out. Two reasons: procrastination and Coronavirus.

I've had a couple hit and miss decently warm days I could have driven downtown to try out the camera, but days after the Ricoh GR III arrived we were hit with the restraining order to not gather in groups, wash our hands, etc. This did give me reason to pause and reconsider venturing downtown. I decided to stay clear for the time being, and see what happens with the situation.

Meanwhile, I did of course dig into the features and settings on the camera, and still have a few questions regarding the infamous 'snap focus' feature. So I'm very eager to actually try it out, but not eager to carry a virus back to the older family members I come into contact with, so I'm fine to stand down for the moment.