Ricoh GR: Configuration

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On this page, I describe how you can configure the Ricoh GR. I will demonstrate the basic configuration options for this camera, but will not give any recommendations. I cannot guarantee that my list of configuration options is complete...

Introduction: Overview of What Can Be Configured

In the following, I will describe the options that the Ricoh GR offers for configuration. Configuration means here that you can configure certain camera controls (dials, levers, buttons) to behave differently, for example, to allow to set different things (for example, to set exposure, focus, or dynamic range).

Buttons that set variants or modes of a certain function, on the other hand, will not be regarded as configurable here (for example, the flash button that cycles through different flash modes). But some cases made be "border cases."

Note that I could also have chose to simple list all the menus and their options (which I do more or less for the "Key Custom Options" menu because it contains most of the configuration options), but then I would have simply replicated the camera manual.

Overview of the GR Controls

The following photos show the Ricoh GR camera controls, some of which can be configured (marked by a "C"), while others set certain characteristics.

		Top view Up-down dial (C) Shutter (release) button POWER button Mode dial (with lock) ADJ. lever (C)

		Rear view ADJ. lever (C) AF button and AF function switching lever (C) +/- button (C) Playback button Direction pad top: Macro button left: Fn1 button (C) right: Flash button bottom: WB button center: Menu/OK button Selftimer / Fn2 (C) / delete button DISP. /cancel button

		Left side view (from the back) Effect button (aka Fn3) (C) Flash open switch

The Configuration Options in Detail (Key Custom Options Menu)

The options that change the behavior of camera controls can set set up in the "Key Custom Options" menu. The table below provides an overview of the options:

Control	Details	Name in Menu	Options (Names according to Menu)	Default	My Settings**
ADJ./ISO Lever	Lever positions 1-5	ADJ Lever Settings 1-5	Off, ISO, Picture Size, Aspect Ratio, Focus, Image, Expo. Metering, Cont.Mode, Auto Bracket, Flash Comp., Flash Amount, Dyn Range Comp, SnapFocusDist., Effect	1: ISO 2: Picture Size 3: Aspect Ratio 4: Focus 5: Expo. Metering	1: Focus 2: Dyn Range Comp 3: Expo. Metering 4: Aspect Ratio 5: Image **
ADJ./ISO Lever	Direct ISO control	ADJ. Direct ISO Control	Off, On	Off	On
Dials (Up-Down Dial, ADJ. Lever)	M/TAv mode	M/TAv Mode Dial Setting	Setting1: Aperture on up-down wheel, shutter speed on ADJ. lever; Setting 2: vice versa	Setting1	Setting1
Dials (Up-Down Dial, ADJ. Lever)	Playback mode	Playback Mode Dial Options	Setting1: Magnify on up-down wheel, Enlarge Next/Prev on ADJ. lever; Setting 2: Scroll image up/down on up-down wheel, Scroll image left/right on ADJ. lever	Setting1	Setting1
Function Buttons	Fn1 button (direction wheel: left)	Set Fn1 button	Off, 28/35/47 mm (Crop), MultiAF/SpotAF, MultiAF/PinpointAF, AF/MF, AF/Snap, AF/Subject Trckng, JPEG>RAW, JPEG>RAW+, ND Filter, Effect, FA/Move Target, ISO, Picture Size, Aspect Ratio, Focus, SnapFocusDist., Image, Expo. Metering, Cont. mode, Multi Exposure, Auto Bracket, Flash Comp., Flash Amount., Dyn Range Comp, Self-timer, Frame Rate (Movies)	FA/Move Target	SnapFocusDist. or FA/Move Target**
	Fn2 (Self-timer)	Set Fn2 button		Self-timer	AF/MF**
	Effect Button (Effect)	Effect Button Setting		Effect	28/35/47 mm **
AF Button, AF Function Switching Lever	Locking exposure, distance or both	AEL/AFL Setting	AFL, AEL+AFL, AEL	AFL	AFL**
		C-AF Continuous Setting	Off, AF Priority, Shutter Priority	Off	Off
	Button behavior (press = on, or toggle)	AEL/AFL Lock Keep Setting	Off (press to keep lock), On (toggle)	Off	On
		AFL Focus Settings*	Multi AF, Spot AF, Pinpoint AF	Spot AF	Spot AF
Shutter Button	Mode change in M mode	One Press M Mode	Aperture Priority, Shttr Priority, Program	Aperture Priority	Aperture Priority
Shutter Button	Confirmation of settings	Shutter Button Confirmation*	Off, On (shutter confirms settings)	Off	On

Note that Ricoh's capitalization of function names in the menus is not consistent.

The options that can be assigned to the five ADJ. lever positions and to the three function buttons are different from all the other options, because they themselves contain various options. For example, "Focus" offers the options Multi AF, Spot AF, Pinpoint AF, Subject-Tracking AF, MF (manual focus), Snap focus, and infinity.

*) Added through firmware updates; **) May change over time...

Auto Mode - No Configuration at All

If you turn the mode dial to the green camera symbol, you set the camera to auto shooting mode, for auto mode for short. In this mode, a lot of settings are preconfigured for the photographer who wants it quick and easy - or want to put the camera in the hands of someone else... Pictures are taken with the following settings:

ISO Setting [AUTO-HI]
Noise reduction [AUTO]
Exposure metering [Multi]
Focus [Face recognition priority AF]
Auto Macro
White balance [Multi-pattern AUTO]
Flash [Auto]

The settings cannot be changed for the above functions. Note that two functions are only available in auto mode: auto macro and face recognition priority AF.

How to Use the Configuration Options

On this page, I more or less describe the "mechanics" of the configuration options for the Ricoh GR. For ways of using them, I would like to point you to some place on the Web where this topic is dealt with (see links below).

In the table above, I also list my current configuration, but do not take that too seriously. This may change over time and according to my needs and habits - and I may forget to update my preferred settings here...

Conclusions

The Ricoh GR is a highly customizable camera, and it satisfies most of my needs. In many ways, it is even too configurable, and I may forget what I actually configured. But in that case, I can go into the "Key Custom Options" Menu and find out what I have configured...