Ricoh launches the RICOH GR III HDF and RICOH GR IIIx HDF

Highlight Diffusion Filter softens light for more expressive images

By cjfeola in Photo Industry News on Mar 28, 2024

Ricoh is introducing two new GRs with its newly developed Highlight Diffusion Filter (HDF), which diffuses highlights for softer light, creating more expressive images with a sense of depth and emotion. The HDF, which can be turned on and off in a single action, allows users to add a totally different kind of visual expression to their images.

The RICOH GR III HDF and RICOH GR IIIx HDF will be available in April at www.us.ricoh-imaging.com, as well as at Ricoh Imaging-authorized retail outlets. The suggested retail prices are $1,069.95 for the RICOH GR III HDF and $1,149.95 for the RICOH GR IIIx HDF.

Ricoh developed HDF through the years-long cultivation of its advanced inkjet technology. HDR is a special-effect filter that diffuses highlight areas and creates a blurred effect along the image’s edges, producing images resembling those captured in film photography or vintage movies.

HDF can be instantly switched on and off with a single action, allowing effortless switching between the clear, sharply focused images characteristic of the RICOH GR series, and the softer HDF images. HDR replaces the Neutral Density filter, which is not available in the new models.

“The RICOH GR III HDF and RICOH GR IIIx HDF inherit the fundamental merits of our GR series–exceptional image quality, flawless point-and-shoot operation and outstanding portability,” said Ken Curry, president, Ricoh Imaging Americas Corporation. “The new GR HDF models give users a new creative option that expands the visual boundaries of snapshot photography.”

Join Ricoh for the April 6 GR Photo Walk in Las Vegas

Don't have a GR? Loaners will be available!

By cjfeola in Photography on Mar 27, 2024

Explore Las Vegas with a GR and Ricoh! Explore Freemont Street and the surrounding area Saturday, April 6 from 4 - 8:30pm PDT. 

Don't have a GR? Want to try one out? Ricoh has a limited number of loaner GRs available. There is no cost for this event; you can sign up here. EventBrite was showing the event as sold out last week; Ricoh has added more slots and you now sign up again.

2024 Total Solar Eclipse Photo Contest

Announcing a special contest with a $100 1st prize!

By cjfeola in Giveaways and Events on Mar 23, 2024

We're pleased to announce a special edition of our monthly photo contest for the April 8 total eclipse of the sun. First prize is a $100 USD gift card to a photo/software retailer of your choice, such as B&H, Amazon, Adorama, Henrys, Adobe, Topaz, eBay, etc. The winner will then be featured in a Pentax Forums homepage article where they can explain how they got the shot! 

Click here to submit a photo for the contest.

Second prize is a one-year forum account upgrade, and third prize is a box of photo paper from Red River.

NASA photo of the Diamond Ring eclipse effect

All photos must be submitted by April 24.

The winners will be determined through a poll and voted on by the community. If there are more than 100 entries, we will first hold a nomination round and advance the top 100 photos, similar to our monthly photos contest.

You may browse all submissions in our special gallery:
2024 Solar Eclipse Photo Contest Gallery View - PentaxForums.com

The Best Gear for Eclipse Photography

An interview with Ken Curry, president, Ricoh Imaging Americas, plus more from NASA

By cjfeola in Articles and Tips on Mar 18, 2024

The April 8 Eclipse has turned into an international festival. More than 30 million people are in the path of the totality, which will stretch thousands of miles from the Pacific coast of Mexico to the Atlantic coast of Canada. A partial eclipse will be visible across almost the entire North American continent.

We’re photographers here at Pentax Forums, so we plan to participate in this festival the usual way-by photographing it! We kicked off our coverage with The Total Eclipse Viewing Guide, which laid out everything you need to know about the eclipse itself; the path of totality, the timing, and even dealing with the traffic snarled by the event. (Traffic is projected to be so bad that several Texas counties have already declared disasters for the event.)

Then bdery gave us How To Photograph A Solar Eclipse, a step-by-step guide to safely and successfully capture photos of the sun, covering filters and other gear, camera settings and lens selections.

Today we have more advice on photographing the eclipse. And who better to advise on photographing an eclipse – or anything really – with Pentax gear than…Pentax! Here’s Ken Curry, president, Ricoh Imaging Americas Corporation.

“ANY camera and photographer should practice safety first as it pertains to the solar eclipse. Approved solar glasses and filters should be used when viewing or photographing the eclipse. Not using this protection will damage your camera and your retina,” Curry told Pentax Forums.

Pentax cameras run the gamut from the screw mount Spotmatic to the K-3 III, so Curry spoke about photographing the eclipse with both film and digital cameras.

“Most of the tactics when shooting the eclipse will be the same for both film and digital. However, DSLRs can offer a better experience due to "live view." A film camera will require the photographer to repeatedly view through the viewfinder and, since the camera will be on a tripod angled upwards toward the sun, they will need to bend frequently to adjust the camera to compensate for the Earth’s rotation. Additionally, since the photographer is looking through the optical viewfinder, a solar, not ND, filter is required. A remote control can also aid in the image capture, once the framing has been set.”

The Total Eclipse Viewing Guide

How to catch the biggest eclipse in a century

By cjfeola in Photography on Mar 6, 2024

The moon will block out the sun and create a path of unnatural night across North America on April 8. Starting from the Pacific Ocean, the total eclipse of the sun will enter Mexico around noon, then head up through Texas north and east to the Great Lakes. From there the path of totality will follow the US-Canadian border before heading out into the Atlantic in the early evening, after which a partial eclipse will be visible from Great Britain and Ireland.

If you miss it, you can catch the next North American total solar eclipse on Aug. 23, 2044. If you’re down under, a total eclipse will cross Australia in July, 2028.

The eclipse is generating Super Bowl levels of traffic and price hikes...If you can imagine a Super Bowl played in a stadium thousands of miles long, one hundred miles wide, and you only got to see four minutes of the game before it all moves on.

So many sightseers are expected that one Texas county has already declared a state of emergency. So why drive? Why not just get a place to stay? Well, unless you’re crashing with family, you’re probably out of luck. Most places are sold out, despite 10x price hikes. And you may be out of luck even with your fam; they may have listed their place for a short-term rental. Airbnb reports searches in the path of the eclipse are up 1,000 percent.

Want more than 4 minutes of total eclipse? Delta is offering flights that take off as the eclipse reaches Texas and fly along the totality path to Detroit, offering maximum exposure; hours of eclipse.

It seems like the entire continent is in the grip of eclipse fever, and we have to admit that we’ve got it bad too here at Pentax Forums. This is the first in the series of articles:

  • When and where is the path of the eclipse, and how to see it (This article)
  • How to photograph the eclipse
  • Advice on eclipse photography from B&H, NASA and Pentax
  • A special eclipse photography challenge from Pentax Forums!

The second and third articles will appear in the coming weeks; soon enough to grab anything you're missing! We'll also announce the rules and prizes for the special eclipse challenge this month; the images will be submitted after the eclipse, of course. 

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