After a few days playing with my GPS Casio camera I took out my favourite photo toy today, a trusty Ricoh GR Digital III. Fixed lens, only ten megapixels but a pricier, classier beast, though it lacks that useful GPS feature of course.

It's funny how cameras change these days too. Ricoh recently released a firmware update for this model which added some features, including a grainy black and white mode designed to look like old-fashioned film photography.

Had to try it of course.

<!--more-->Here's one example...

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/hewsons/sets/72157625860723334/" target="_blank"><img class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-6780" title="Ricoh new b/w mode" src="http://vir.liquidweb.com/~davidhe4/davidhewson.com//wp-content/uploads/2011/01/bw-011.jpg?w=640" alt="" width="640" height="480" /></a>This being Florence I couldn't stay in monochrome all the time, of course. It would be a crime to photograph the roof of the baptistery in black and white. Click on either photograph to go to the Flickr gallery with the originals.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/hewsons/sets/72157625860723334/" target="_blank"><img class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-6781" title="Baptistery" src="http://vir.liquidweb.com/~davidhe4/davidhewson.com//wp-content/uploads/2011/01/baptistery-012.jpg?w=640" alt="" width="640" height="480" /></a>