My feelings towards the Ricoh GR1 film camera have drastically changed over the years and then changed again. I wrote about this in the in September 2018 in the first edition of PhotoKlassik International magazine. At one time the Ricoh GR1 film camera was one of only three cameras I owned - which says a lot because that was just after I sold my collection of around 30 cameras keeping only three.
Today I am no longer interested in the Ricoh GR1 - though if the pattern continues I will one day again. I don't argue with any of the praise the GR1 gets, yes it has an incredibly sharp and beautiful 28mm lens in a sleek stealthy compact body, with special unique features like "snap focus" that were made for the street photographer, but for me I just don't have fun using it. The experience is underwhelming. The biggest difference between the GR1 and a cheap point and shoot camera is that the GR1 gives you much better from its high quality optics. And that's wonderful but it does nothing for my shooting experience. I may take a month to shoot a roll, and maybe 15 minutes looking at the photos for the first time? For me the shooting experience is equally important as the results it yields.
The Ricoh GR1 is a very well built point and shoot camera with a perfect little grip. All the buttons are nice and clicky and it's a beauty to look at. The shooting experience is far from terrible, but for me there are so many more cameras that through their tactility provide me with some boosted joy and awe as I use them.
