Fujifilm, pay close attention: Ricoh just did with their GR III and GR IIIx what you won’t do with your X-series cameras.
Fujifilm has stated that they’re moving away from Kaizen and to expect less of it going forward, but some other camera makers—including Ricoh—are embracing it. In fact, Ricoh just added a new Picture Control Effect, which is their Film Simulations equivalent, to their GR III and IIIx cameras. This new Effect is called Negative Film, and it looks pretty good so far to me. It’s not really like anything on Fujifilm exactly—perhaps it could be described as somewhat similar to a cross between Classic Negative and PRO Neg. Std—but it does produce an aesthetic that’s easy to appreciate.
I want to point out that the GR III was released almost at the same exact time as the Fujifilm X-T30. Since the release of the X-T30, Fujifilm has introduced three new Film Simulations—Classic Negative, Eterna Bleach Bypass, and Nostalgic Neg.—plus some other JPEG options like Color Chrome FX Blue, Clarity, and Grain size. None of it has trickled down to the X-T30 (or X-T3). Even the X-Pro3 and X100V—premium models, supposedly—weren’t given the Kaizen love that they (really, Fujifilm’s customers) deserve. Yet little ol’ Ricoh not only created a new Effect for apparently no reason other than the fun of it, and they gave it to the almost four-year-old GR III just because they wanted to make their customers happy.
I have a ton of advice that I’d give to Fujifilm if they were ever interested in hearing my opinions. I mean, I have a pretty good pulse on a big chunk of their customer base, and I’ve done more than most to bring them new customers, whether directly or indirectly, so you’d think they would be interested in hearing what I have to say. The very first suggestion that I would have for them is to do more Kaizen and not less. I get that it costs time and money, but fostering a happy long-term repeat customer base is priceless, and well worth whatever it takes to do that. A lot of photographers go from brand-to-brand-to-brand, or they begrudgingly put up with a brand for a long time because they don’t want to endure the cost and headache of switching, and there is a surprisingly large amount of disloyalty among customers. Yes, there are the outspoken fanboys—I am one for Fujifilm—but while their voices are loud, their numbers are surprisingly small. So if a brand can actually make more of their customers loyal, which they do by showing them that they matter and are appreciated, it can have a significant long-term impact. Of course, if your customers don’t think you care about them, they’ll be more quick to leave when another brand offers something new and exciting, or if they think that another brand cares more about their customers than the one they’re currently using.
Ricoh just made sure that their customers know that they care. Fujifilm, make sure that your customers know you care!
Below are some examples of photos captured using the new Negative Film Picture Control Effect on my Ricoh GR III.
See also: Ritchie’s Ricoh Recipes
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Ricoh GR III Amazon B&H Moment
Ricoh GR IIIx Amazon B&H Moment
Can’t wait to try your ricoh negative recipes!
I really appreciated Ricoh. I’m using the X-T30 and there hasn’t been a noticeable update since I got it.Fujifilm should emulate Ricoh and be ashamed of itself. All Xt30 and Xt3 users wanted was the classic negative. I don’t care about the grain blue chrome. Fuji should have at least done that. But now I have no hope that they will send any simulation updates for the XT3 and XT30. I used Fuji with pleasure, but it’s not nice to be fooled! Why would I have to change my camera for a simulation? Even though the cameras use the same processor and sensor. You upset us Fuji. 🤷🏻
I really hope that Fujifilm reads this. I’ve seen so many similar comments and statements. What would seem to be a fairly straightforward firmware update (since it’s available for other cameras with the same sensor/processor) would make for happy repeat customers; instead, there are people who might not buy another Fuji again for this, or at least would be open to trying another brand when otherwise they wouldn’t be.
It’ll definitely take some time to create them, but I’ve already begun. 😀
I’m sorry, for the fun of it? If that really is part of the reason than why didnt they make the GRIII(x) fun. Sure it looks retro alright. Like mullet retro. If anything more is done with the X series then it will be on the otherside of the perfection curve. Constraints and limitations are the mother of creativity. I certainly dont want my camera to be a swiss army knife. I like what I have.
I think the Ricoh GR cameras are fun, and really useful due to their compact size. I do like the experience of the Fujifilm X70 better, and I wish that they would make an X80. I’m glad that you found the perfect camera for you (that’s fairly uncommon). Do you mind sharing which one it is?
Ricoh-Pentax have interesting products. The small Pentax Q line was looks quite fun and I’d wish to try one sometime. From the GR line their “positive film” always looked very nice. My preference for Fujifilm was because the X100 makes photography quite fun.
IMHO the bigger issue are online reviewers, they don’t live in the real world. For smartphones they put minuses to features that appear in some smartphones, but if it is made by Apple suddenly it receives praise (no 3.5mm connector, notches, breakable crystal backs, etcetera) and smartphones of other companies are addressed good only if they offer something similar to Apple. I’d wish an iPhone by the way, what I don’t like is incoherent reviewers. In camera world the chosen one is Sony, they make good cameras, I had three; but only because the reviewers are more geeky than photographers and they seem to push for specifications, when in reality it would appear that photos taken with ILC cameras (not the RX line that is very photographic IMO) are afterwards filtered through Lightroom packs of filters, ending being more laptop accessories than cameras. The case is that these reviewers, analogous to what they do with Apple, have decided that Sony is the goal, and as good company as it is, our Fujifilm cameras have Sony sensors after all, setting their goal in specifications alone kills the diversity of options. Reviewers hammered for years Canon for dynamic range and Fujifilm for autofocus, but their DSLR and X line respectively produced beautiful results, this pressure for them to be new Sonys is unhealthy and disconnected from reality. Do we really need 40 megapixels and 120 FPS with 8K video and a disccount code to a raw converter? I guess 1% of photographers and videographers yes and they will do works of art, but maybe most of the time normal people don’t and the smartphone with 12 megapixels photos in 4:3 aspect ratio will continue to surpass cameras because if one want to upgrade they can get inside apps to edit raw or apps to apply very elegant filters and share it with everybody and print it very nicely in normal photographic paper.
Reviewers are 1) making money from their reviews (either directly paid or affiliate/ad revenue), 2) they have to stand out in a crowded field to achieve item one, 3) they rarely use the item they are reviewing for an extended period (because they must move on to the next things to review). Those with truly honest reviews that have the experience with the items to back up their opinions are few and far between. I think because customers (or potential customers) listen to these reviewers that they shouldn’t be listening to, the companies pay much too much attention to what they say. I would be very happy to talk to Fujifilm, and I bet the advice that I would offer to them would be twice as valuable as the 10 most popular reviews of any of their products.
I like Ricoh-Pentax. My first DSLR was a Pentax, and I shot on Pentax film cameras, too, before that. They have curious ideas and products sometimes, and sometimes those turn out to be quite interesting and useful. Like the GR series.
Thanks so much for the thoughtful comment!
I have several photographers in my circle of acquaintances who have at least 3 or more camera systems, the manufacturers should never be too sure of their customers. Those who do not only have one system do not have high system change costs.
Greetings Torsten
That’s a good point. If you already have the gear, there’s no cost to simply stop using stuff from the brand you are dissatisfied with.
Ricoh’u gerçekten takdir ettim. X-T30 kullanıyorum ve aldığımdan beri gözle görülür bir güncelleme olmadı. Fujifilm, Ricoh’u taklit etmeli ve kendinden utanmalı. Xt30 ve Xt3 kullanıcılarının istediği tek şey klasik negatifti. Tahıl mavisi kromu umursamıyorum. Fuji en azından bunu yapmalıydı. Ancak şimdi XT3 ve XT30 için herhangi bir simülasyon güncellemesi göndereceklerine dair hiçbir umudum yok. Fuji’yi zevkle kullandım, ama kandırılmak hoş değil! Bir simülasyon için neden kameramı değiştirmem gerekiyor? Kameralar aynı işlemciyi ve sensörü kullansa bile. Bizi üzdün Fuji. 🤷🏻
What exactly is Kaizen?
It’s a Japanese business philosophy that means “continuous improvement” or “change for better” (depending on who you ask). As it relates to camera firmware updates, it is simply making the camera better (not just fixing flaws, but improving the product), because by doing so, there will be long-term rewards/benefits.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaizen
I still have hopes for a vignette setting for my x100v… It’s even already implemented in the ‘toy cam mode’, but not as a seperate custom setting. One can dream…
Yeah, it seems like it wouldn’t be too hard for Fujifilm to implement. Maybe they someday will, but right now are unaware of it as a desired option?
As a long time Fuji user, I never really “got” the GR cameras. Maybe because the 28mm focal length wasn’t my thing. But the GRlllx has totally changed that. It comes out far more often than my X100V. I’m liking the new sim.
The 28mm (equivalent) focal length is definitely tough, and not what I normally shoot with. It’s a challenge for me. I would prefer the GR IIIx I believe, but I had already purchased the GR III prior to its announcement. Thanks for the input!
Hello! I was hoping someone here may be able to help me. I shot a ton of photos for my honeymoon on my ricoh GR3 in RAW with a ton of film sims I made. However, I didn’t realize that the film settings don’t carry with the DNG files…
Does anyone know of ANY solutions where I can maintain those presets into JPG?
Thanks so much!
I think you can reprocess them one-by-one in-camera. In the Image Edit subset choose RAW Development, then (if you aren’t changing anything) OK to save a JPEG, and finally Finish. It will be a little tedious.