Introducing: Ritchie’s Ricoh Recipes!

I’m very exciting to announce a new project that I’ve been secretly working on for the last several months: Ritchie’s Ricoh Recipes! This is similar to Fuji X Weekly film simulation recipes, except for Ricoh GR cameras. Obviously, Ricoh and Fujifilm cameras are much different, so the recipes are much different, too; however, I’m very pleased with how these turned out. If you own a Ricoh GR, GR II, or GR III camera, you’ll want to check it out!

Why Ricoh GR? I often get requests to make recipes for other camera brands, but the top asked-for brand is Ricoh. At first this might seem strange, since Canon, Sony, and Nikon (and probably a few other brands, too) are much more popular than Ricoh, but there are three factors that make this seemingly unlikely camera a popular request. First, a surprisingly large number of Fujifilm photographers also own a Ricoh GR camera. Why? Because Fujifilm and Ricoh are both popular options for street, travel, and documentary photography, and Fujifilm doesn’t offer a great alternative to the GR (the X70 has long been discontinued, and the XF10 was a little underwhelming). Second, Ricoh GR photographers are more open to using straight-out-of-camera JPEGs due to the camera’s film heritage and the film-like experience of shooting JPEGs. Third, Ricoh has included many useful and creative JPEG options on the GR cameras—it’s easier to create recipes that you’d actually want to use than with some other brands.

I don’t know the percentage of Fujifilm photographers who also use a Ricoh GR, but it has to be a fairly significant number based on the requests that I’ve received. Many of the messages are to the effect of, “I love using your recipes on my X-Pro2, and I’d really like to do something similar on my Ricoh GR III.” While this project is for a different camera brand, I’m hoping that it is largely for the benefit of the Fujifilm community. I believe that many in this audience will find it a useful resource.

Ricoh Recipes are different than my Fujifilm Recipes, not only in how they look but in how they’re organized. Choose either GR/GR II or GR III. Within each camera category are four recipe Collections. Within each Collection are five recipes. In other words, there are 40 recipes, 20 for the GR/GR II and 20 for the GR III.

A Ricoh Recipes App (similar to the Fuji X Weekly App) is in the works for both iOS and Android, and should be available before the end of the month. With any luck, it could be available as early as the middle of September. On the app, for Ricoh Recipe Patrons, will be eight bonus recipes (one for each Collection). Be sure to check out Ritchie’s Ricoh Recipes Blog. Follow me on Instagram, too! Please be patient with the website (and app), as it is all still very much a work-in-progress, and far from finished.

I’ve been trying really hard to prevent this new project from interfering with Fuji X Weekly. I have a whole bunch of upcoming things for this website, which I think you’ll appreciate. There are many film simulation recipes in the works. If you don’t own a Ricoh GR camera, don’t worry, there’s a lot of great things happening for Fujifilm, so stay tuned. If you do own a Ricoh GR camera, I hope that you enjoy trying these new recipes for your camera!

Photoessay: Fujifilm X-Pro3 + 18mm f/1.4 + AgfaChrome RS 100 Recipe = A Photowalk To Remember

Rental boats at Lake Schluchsee. Photo by Thomas Schwab.

Thomas Schwab, who has helped create (and downright created) a number of film simulation recipes on this website, recently went on a 12-mile photowalk through the Black Forest in the beautiful German mountainside between Hinterzarten and Lake Schluchsee. The weather was “Octobering” (as Thomas put it), which means that it was overcast and rainy. Thomas carried his Fujifilm X-Pro3 camera with the new Fujinon 18mm f/1.4 lens attached—both are weather-sealed, so a great combination for the conditions. He used the AgfaChrome RS 100 film simulation recipe, which Thomas said is “the best for color photography on rainy days.” He “seasoned to taste” the recipe with Sharpening set to 0 (instead of -2) and Grain Weak (instead of Strong). He used ISO 640 for all of the images.

The adventure began with a train ride to Hinterzarten, then a hike down the Emil-Thoma-Weg trail. After visiting Lake Mathisleweiher, Thomas trekked through Bärental (Bear Valley)—thankfully he didn’t encounter any bears—all the way to Lake Schluchsee, passing Lake Windgfällweiher and a small unnamed lake on the way. The adventure ended with a train ride back home. This really was a photowalk to remember, through some incredible rural scenery!

The pictures in this article were captured by Thomas Schwab while on his mountainside adventure. They aren’t in chronological order, but they do tell a story. Thank you, Thomas, for allowing me to share your wonderful photographs on Fuji X Weekly! Please follow Thomas on Instagram if you don’t already, and leave a kind note to him in the comments to let him know you appreciate his pictures!

Through Bärental. Photo by Thomas Schwab.
Houses in Hinterzarten. Photo by Thomas Schwab.
Traces of forest work. Photo by Thomas Schwab.
Forest work. Photo by Thomas Schwab.
Lonely Path. Photo by Thomas Schwab.
Stone steps in Bear Valley. Photo by Thomas Schwab.
Big equipment in Bear Valley. Photo by Thomas Schwab.
Between Bärental and Lake Schluchsee. Photo by Thomas Schwab.
Small nameless lake. Photo by Thomas Schwab.
Grass meadow. Photo by Thomas Schwab.
Little leaves. Photo by Thomas Schwab.
Raindrops on leaves. Photo by Thomas Schwab.
Bee on thistle flower. Photo by Thomas Schwab.
Leaf captured with large aperture. Photo by Thomas Schwab.
Water droplets, at Lake Mathisleweiher. Photo by Thomas Schwab.
Small blossoms at Lake Mathisleweiher. Photo by Thomas Schwab.
Pine branch at Lake Mathisleweiher. Photo by Thomas Schwab.
Umbrella at Lake Mathisleweiher. Photo by Thomas Schwab.
At Lake Mathisleweiher. Photo by Thomas Schwab.
Boat at Schluchsee village. Photo by Thomas Schwab.
Lake Schluchsee beach. Photo by Thomas Schwab.
Lake Schluchsee from the village. Photo by Thomas Schwab.
Blue boats on Lake Schluchsee. Photo by Thomas Schwab.
Boat dock at Lake Schluchsee. Photo by Thomas Schwab.
Dock on Lake Schluchsee. Photo by Thomas Schwab.
Lake Schluchsee. Photo by Thomas Schwab.
Glass bottle at Lake Schluchsee. Photo by Thomas Schwab.
Old hotel in Hinterzarten. Photo by Thomas Schwab.
Passing train. Photo by Thomas Schwab.
Train stop at Himmelreich Station. Photo by Thomas Schwab.