森山大道 Daido Moriyama, Memory of Dog 2

森山大道 Daido Moriyama, Stray Dog

森山大道 Daido Moriyama, Another Country in New York（1971）

For Ricoh GR series users, Ricoh does not provide photo conversion software, only the camera body can be used for conversion, and various post-production software, such as Lightroom does not have Camera Matching profiles that can simulate Ricoh colors, which also causes the trouble of post-production of the RAW FILE. For processing large amounts of raw files, it would be better to have color profiles that can be applied in batches. On the other hand, the B&W color and color negative mode of each generation of GR cameras such as GR2 and GR3 are different from each other, which also makes people worry that they can no longer use the original Ricoh GR color tone after the camera is discontinued or out of maintenance.

Simulate Ricoh GR colors

Is there a way that can simulate Ricoh GR's native color modes in Lightroom? The answer is: Yes, by using PerfeFilm profiles for Ricoh, you can accurately restore Ricoh GR colors in Lightroom, and enjoy the freedom and richness of Lightroom's photo processing. Users of other camera brands can also emulate the colors of Ricoh GR with PerfeFilm. 

Use Ricoh GR III to simulate Ricoh GR II positive mode

Use Fuji X-T4 to simulate GR3 BW-hi mode

Test Environment

Cameras

• In this article, we will use several cameras for testing which are Ricoh GR2, Ricoh GR3. Each camera will be compared with three different color conversions for side-by-side comparison, which are

1. Ricoh GR + Camera body color conversion.
2. Ricoh GR + PerfeFilm profile + Lightroom
3. Different camera brands + PerfeFilm for cross-brand color comparison.

Basic settings

• White balance is fixed in daylight mode, iso: 100, aperture shutter and exposure are the same. Color space : sRGB, Adobe RGB.  **All color modes are set to default.

Ricoh GR Color Processing and Color Space

• If you have a Ricoh GR camera, you can test it to see that the colors are different while setting different color spaces such as sRGB and aRGB. In order to keep the color conversion consistent, we use camera body color conversion + sRGB/aRGB color space as the standard for conversion.

Lightroom Settings

• All comparing cameras use the same PerfeFilm color profiles and presets. Each camera has different exposure and saturation even with the same basic settings due to CMOS differences and different color temperature calculations. To calibrate the mismatch of those fundamental differences, we only adjust the exposure, color temperature, and saturation to match colors in Lightroom, and not adjust any single color setting.

PerfeFilm Color Simulation for Ricoh Review

The following are the tests of Ricoh GR2 and Ricoh GR3 with three different color processing methods to see if PerfeFilm can achieve cross-brand and cross-camera restoration of Sony color. Comparison from left to right : Ricoh GR camera + Camera color conversion, Ricoh GR camera + PerfeFilm profile, and other camera models + PerfeFilm profile.

GR II Color Profile Review

Ricoh GR II's modes can be divided into several groups such as BW group: BW, BW hard / hi / soft, etc., which can be used for various contrasts of black and white photos. The standard color modes are Std, Vi, Pos ... etc. Other filter modes are BB (Bleached Bypass), Monochrome, Cross Process, Retro, etc. The color profile of PerfeFilm GR II can be purchased here.

Hi-Contrast BW - MAX

Ricoh GR2 v.s. Ricoh GR3 with Camera Body / PerfeFilm GR2 BW-MAX profiles 

For GR2 BW, I recommend the highest contrast BW hi-MAX. In addition to the visual impact of the high contrast, BW - MAX also performs well in highlights and dark details. You should not miss GR2 BW - MAX if you wanna have a taste of Moriyama Daido's B&W tone. In this comparison (from left to right), the first image is processed by the GR2 camera body, the second we tried to use the GR2 raw files + PerfeFilm color profile in Lightroom, and the third, we used Ricoh GR III + PerfeFilm to simulate the GR2 color. From the comparison, we can see that GR2 using raw file + PerfeFilm color profile can restore the color of GR2 camera color quite well. GR3 + PerfeFilm can also simulate GR2's BW hi-MAX B&W very well. For more detailed grain and clarity simulation, you can fine-tune it after applying the color profile.

Positive

Ricoh GR2 v.s. Ricoh GR3 with Camera Body / PerfeFilm GR2 Positive profiles 

Color positive mode is also one of the Ricoh GR2's most frequently used colors with a nostalgic style, and is also quite suitable for portraits. As you can see from the comparison, in high saturation flowers, or green leaves and shadow colors, both GR2 and GR3 can be almost perfectly restored to original GR2 colors using the PerfeFilm color profile. Ricoh GR III with PerfeFilm color profiles also restores the original GR2 color tone very well in terms of color intensity and saturation.

Cross Process-Magenta 

Ricoh GR2 v.s. Ricoh GR3 with Camera Body / PerfeFilm GR2 Cross-Process Magenta profiles 

GR III Color Profile Review

GR3 is the successor of GR2. But in terms of color, the settings are very different from GR2. For example, in terms of B&W color, the GR2's Hi-Contrast BW-MAX is arguably one of my favorite high shades, and can simulate the color of high-sensitivity B&W negative street photography very well, but I don't see this option in the GR3 preset, and the GR2 and GR3 are also different in the positive mode.

Ricoh GR2 Positive mode v.s. Ricoh GR3 Postive mode

As you can see from the comparison, the GR2's positive mode and GR3's positive mode are not in the same category in terms of color saturation, brightness, or even contrast. In order to keep GR2's color, those who use GR2 can only shoot raw files, and keep Ricoh GR2 camera body well for camera color conversion. Now you can use Lightroom / Lightroom Classic + PerfeFilm color profiles for both GR2 ,GR3 and even any other cameras. Ricoh GR3 color profiles can be purchased here

Positive

Ricoh GR3 v.s. Ricoh GR2 with Camera Body / PerfeFilm GR3 Positive profiles 

The GR3 Positive mode has high saturation and low brightness, very similar to the traditional color positive. From comparison, we can see that when we use GR2 or GR3 + PerfeFilm Positive, the colors are almost the same as the original GR3 camera color, and the color gradient and shadows are very similar in high saturation.

BW-hi

Ricoh GR3 v.s. Fujifilm X-T4 with Camera Body / PerfeFilm GR3 BW-hi profiles 

In addition to using GR colors in Lightroom with Ricoh GR series cameras, can we also use PerfeFilm to simulate GR colors with other brands of cameras? As you can see from the comparison, we were able to restore the B&W colors of the Ricoh GR BW-hi using FujiFilm X-T4 + XF 16-55mm F2.8 (at 24mm) + PerfeFilm color profile.

Cross Process

Ricoh GR3 v.s. Fujifilm X-T4 with Camera Body / PerfeFilm GR3 Cross Process profiles 

In this example, we use Fujifilm X-T4 + PerfeFilm to simulate the GR3 Cross-Process color. As you can see from the comparison, the Fujifilm digital camera X-T4 was able to restore the GR3 Cross-Process color very well under complex color conditions.

Summary  

Recommended PerfeFilm profiles for Ricoh GR + PerfeFilm Tones presets

PerfeFilm's official and demo versions come with useful PerfeFilm Tones that allow you to quickly transform your photos into Fashion, Soft, Film, Landscape, Documentary ... etc. Here are some of the presets that can be used with the PerfeFilm for Sony profiles perfectly. More information on PerfeFilm Tones

 

GR3 BW-hi  + Film Tone + Grains

GR2 and GR3 B&W modes simulate the high contrast, high ISO image tonality of conventional negatives. When compared to a traditional black and white negative, the contrast curve between highlights and shadows is still a bit off. This is why we use Film Tone to the original PerfeFilm GR BW profiles to give the GR colors a more "analog" feel. PerfeFilm Film Tones can be downloaded freely from the PerfeFilm Demo.

 

Also, if you want to simulate the high-sensitivity grain effect of a negative, you can try Lightroom's grain settings:

• Amount: 100
• Size: 26
• Roughness: 100

The works were all shot by Arron Hsiao using GR3, and for those who are interested in purchasing, please refer to his NFT OpenSea GR Project

 

 

Using GR Camera Mode with Other Cameras

As we can see from this article, PerfeFilm will allow you to simulate Ricoh GR colors with other camera brands without restricting them to Ricoh. Here we use some other cameras + PerfeFilm GR color profiles to see how it works

 

GR3 Positive Color Mode

GR3 is not only suitable for high-color scenes, but also performs well on portrait skin. Camera : Canon EOS 60D.

GR3 BB Color Mode

GR3 Bleached Bypass has a stunning effect on landscape photography, and its blueish tones will give people the feeling of early morning in the winter, and it works well in sunny shooting scenes. Camera: Canon EOS 5D3

GR2 Positive + Fashion Tone

GR2 Positive is the common color of Ricoh GR2 for many people. In addition to the lower saturation, it also has good skin tone performance while using with PerfeFilm Fashion Tone

Camera : Canon EOS 70D

 

GR2 Cross-Process

The GR2's Cross-Process color mode is very good at taking fashion portraits, and is very similar to the style of magazines.

Camera: Sony A73

GR2 Hi-contrast BW-MAX

GR2's Hi-contrast BW-MAX is one of my favorite B&W color modes, with the highest black and white contrast in the GR series, and no compromise on tone continuity. Camera: iPhone XS MAX

Share your raw files and be seen 

If you have photos to share and like PerfeFilm to promote your website, feel free to upload your raw files by participating in our PerfeFilm Raw File Project.

 

About Author

 

 Arron Hsiao

Taiwan artist & photographer, founder of PerfeFilm.com. Love photography, travel & music. You can support him through his photography & art NFT:  OpenSea.io/ArronHsiao   Personal Website: ArronHsiao.com  IG@ArronHsiao

 

Special Thanks to 

 

Raw image provider 

• Signature Edit