Announced almost a year ago - and rumored for a long time before - the GR Digital was always going to be something of a niche product. Described as a 'professional grade high resolution compact' the GR Digital echoes the design and ethos of the popular and very highly regarded GR series of film compacts and is unusual in having a fixed 28mm equivalent F2.4 lens and full photographic control. The 8MP GR-D (as we'll call it from now on) is also fairly expandable; with an optional optical viewfinder, 21mm equivalent ultra wide converter and dedicated flash available (though by then you've spend well over $1000). Originally released only in Europe and Asia, the GR-D has recently made its way to North America, though you're still unlikely to find it on the shelves of your local camera store. So does the GR-D live up to all the hype or is it just another 8MP compact with pretensions? Let's find out, starting as usual with the headline features:
- Newly Developed GR Lens Provides High Resolution and resolving power
- 8.13 million effective pixels
- High resolution 2.5-inch LCD
- World's first twin-dial control system in a compact
- Magnesium Alloy case
- Optional high performance optical viewfinder
- Optional 21mm equivalent wide converter
- Manual, Program, Program shift AE and Aperture Priority modes
- 1.5 cm macro mode
GR-Digital specifications
| Street price | • US: $699 • UK: £380 |
|---|---|
| Body Material | Magnesium alloy and plastic |
| Sensor | • 1/1.8" Type CCD |
| Image sizes | • 3264 x 2448 |
| Movie clips | • 320 x 240 30fps |
| File formats | • JPEG (EXIF 2.2) • RAW • AVI (Motion JPEG) |
| Lens | • 28mm equiv. |
| Image stabilization | None |
| Conversion lenses | 21mm equivalent wide converter (Optional) |
| Digital zoom | up to 4x |
| Focus | • Auto focus • Manual focus • Snap (Hyperfocal) • Infinity |
| AF area modes | • Multi-point • Spot |
| AF assist lamp | Yes |
| Focus distance | • Normal: 30cm – infinity • Macro: 1.5cm – infinity |
| Metering | • Multi (256 zone) • Center weighted • Spot |
| ISO sensitivity | • ISO 64 • ISO 100 • ISO 200 • ISO 400 • ISO 800 • ISO 1600 |
| Exposure compensation | • +/- 2 EV • 1/3 EV steps |
| Exposure bracketing | -0.5 EV, 0, +0.5 EV |
| Shutter speed | 180 - 1/2000 sec |
| Aperture | • F2.4 - 11 (f7.1 - 11 with ND filter) • 1/3 EV increments in P, A , M modes |
| Modes | • Program • Aperture priority • Program shift AE |
| Scene modes | • Text |
| White balance | • Auto • Daylight • Overcast • Tungsten Light • Fluorescent light • Manual • Advanced (Manual fine-tune) |
| White balance fine tune | • 150 K step |
| Self timer | 10 / 2 secs |
| Continuous shooting | • Cont (Limited only by size of card) • Multi-shot (16 shots combined into one image) at 8fps |
| Image parameters | Hard, normal, soft, b/w, two presets |
| Flash | • Built-in pop-up • Auto, red-eye suppression, force flash, slow synchro, no flash • Range: Approx. 0.2 to 3 m (when ISO Auto is set) |
| Viewfinder | Optional hotshoe-mounted Galilean finder with frame lines for 21/28mm |
| LCD monitor | • 2.5" TFT LCD • 210,000 pixels |
| Connectivity | • USB 2.0 • AV out |
| Print compliance | PictBridge |
| Storage | • SD / MMC card • 26 MB internal memory |
| Power | • 1x rechargeable D-60 battery or 2x AAA batteries • Charger optional |
| Weight | 170 g (6 oz) (no card, batteries or strap) 200 g (7.1 oz) (with batteries and strap) |
| Dimensions | 107 x 25 x 58 mm (4.2 x 1 x 2.3 in) |
If you're new to digital photography you may wish to read the Digital Photography Glossary before diving into this article (it may help you understand some of the terms used).
Conclusion / Recommendation / Ratings are based on the opinion of the reviewer, you should read the ENTIRE review before coming to your own conclusions.
We recommend to make the most of this review you should be able to see the difference (at least) between X, Y, and Z and ideally A, B, and C.
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