How to indefinitely use the Ricoh GR1V even if the LCD fails

instructions.txt

A lot of people have asked me for this information over time and I've realized that it's not really published anywhere (that I can find) so posting it here for posterity. Hope this is helpful to the Ricoh GR1-series users out there. These instructions work with my GR1v and to my knowledge should also work with other models. Users of any other models should post corrections, if any, for their models so that those are documented. 

Many people love the Ricoh GR1-series cameras but they are notorious for LCD failures. If your LCD goes out completely (or if you want to save some money by buying one with a dead LCD), the following steps describe how to always know what mode you're in so that you can continue to use the camera for the duration of it's life. Hopefully this'll help keep people using these cameras even if the LCD goes out. A dead LCD does not mean that you're Ricoh is useless and it probably still has a long life ahead of it.

In case your LCD goes out completely:

Resetting to Normal mode and accessing subsequent modes

All you need to do is turn the camera ON and while its ON, open the battery cover and close it again. The camera will make several rapid clicking sounds and the lens will reset to Normal mode (the camera has to be ON when you open the battery cover for this to work - if the camera is OFF, it'll just retain the mode it's in and will not make the rapid clicking sound). When you do this and you know you're now in Normal mode, just cycle through the modes as normal using the mode button.

Here is a very abridged and easy to follow method to get you to Normal mode (the first/default mode for the camera) and any subsequent modes:

1) Turn on the camera.
2) Open the battery cover.
3) Close the battery cover.
4) Notice that the camera will make several rapid clicking sounds. The camera has now reset to Normal mode.

From Normal mode, to enter other modes follow this key:

1) Infinity mode - press mode button 1 time.
2) Single Auto Focus mode - press mode button 2 times.
3) Manual Mode - press mode button 2 times, then press (a third time) and hold the mode button for a few seconds. You should now be in Manual mode. Cycle distances by pressing the mode button. * This mode should be avoided because if your LCD is dead, you won't usually know what distances have been selected. To exit Manual Mode, press and hold the mode button for a few seconds or just open the battery cover with the camera on and then close it to reset the camera to Normal mode as described in the steps above.
4) SNAP mode - press the mode button 3 times.
5) Pressing the mode button a 4th time will return to Normal mode.
6) If ever in doubt, just open the battery cover with the camera on and close it again to reset to Normal mode.

*To my knowledge (and based on my experience) opening the battery cover while the camera is one doesn't cause any damage to the camera and seems to be an intentional (but undocumented) reset function. Some people seem to get startled by the rapid clicking sound the camera makes when it resets to Normal mode. I don't think that's anything to be concerned about and I've never seen any problems come from using this technique. With that said, use your own judgement and do what feels right to you. You shouldn't need to do this regularly anyway. Once you're in whatever mode you want to be in, when turning on and off the camera, your mode will be retained. You just do this when you don't know what mode your in or need to reset the camera back to Normal mode. 


Setting the ISO on the GR1v

If you're using a Ricoh GR1v, if you reset to Normal mode, you'll need to reset any custom ISO settings if you've done that. And YES, you can still set custom ISO setting even if the LCD is dead. If you need to set the ISO (or reset it), reference the following steps:

Turn the aperture dial to the ISO setting. As long as you're using a modern film, the camera already knows the box rated ISO which would normally show on the LCD in the ISO setting. The GR1v ISO can be set between ISO 25 - ISO 5000 and changes in 1/3 stop increments. ISO is increased by 1/3 stop when the mode button is pressed and decreases by 1/3 stop when the self-timer button is pressed.

From your film's box speed, you can use the following to know what ISO you're on with each press of the mode or self-timer button while in ISO mode (to keep this short I'm starting at ISO 100).

ISO in order from ISO 100 to ISO 5000 in 1/3 stop increments (one press of the mode button to increase by 1/3 stop OR one press of the self-timer button to decrease by 1/3 stop):

100, 125, 160, 200, 250, 320, 400, 500, 640, 800, 1000, 1250, 1600, 2000, 2500, 3200, 4000, 5000


*Note: If you ever lose track of what ISO you're on, just open the battery cover while the camera is on and it'll reset to the box speed and you can toggle from there.


Using the Self-Timer/ Auto-Bracket modes 
(Refer to the manual for a full description of what these do - If you don't have the manual for just about any camera you can probably find it HERE).

From Normal mode (no timer or auto-bracket mode selected):

1) Press the self-timer button 1 time to enter Self-Timer mode.
2) Press the self-timer button 2 times to enter Time Exposure mode.
3) Press the self-timer button 3 times to enter Auto-Bracket mode (the manual says this mode functions only in the Flash-off mode).
4) Pressing the self-timer button a 4th time will return to Normal mode with no timer or auto-bracket settings set.

*Note for the manual: Self Timer and Time Exposure modes are exited automatically whenever the shutter is released. 

*Note: If ever in doubt about what mode you're in, open the batter cover with the camera on to reset to Normal.