Ricoh GR III, the single-purpose knife

“The GR is often compared to a knife. It’s not a Swiss-army knife, but a single-purpose knife. Some also say it’s like a pen that fits in your hand.”

This is a quote from the GR Concept movie you will find below.

Upgrade

I recently updated my Ricoh GR from 2013, the first GR with an APS-C sensor, to the Ricoh GR III. The GR III came out in 2019 and has a 24mp sensor, an updated and improved lens (28mm), touchscreen plus “touch-focus-and-shoot” ability, and IBIS, meaning “In Body Image Stabilisation.” It’s also even smaller than the GR 1. All very welcome changes. It is my favorite camera for street photography and everyday snap shooting, and that’s what it is meant for.

The Fujifilm X100V is a fantastic camera, also for street photography, but the GR has the edge here because of its size and unobtrusiveness. I love both cameras. With the Fuji X100V people seem to notice it more and sometimes even comment on the camera, asking if it is “an old one with film in it”. They are both great cameras in their own way.

Small Package

It’s amazing what Ricoh has done with the GR III. It is such a small camera and yet they managed to put in IBIS. Because Ricoh removed the flash from the body there was more space to put in a bigger motor for the in-and-out movement of the lens. It is now a bit quicker than its predecessors.

Although the GR may look like it is made of plastic, it is not. The body is fully made of magnesium alloy. A very strong and light metal. The GR only weighs in at 257 grams, including battery and SD card, and fits in your jeans pocket.

The screenshots above where taken from the Samuel Streetlife YouTube video: Meeting Ricoh Imaging Japan! (GRIII & Showroom) A great video if you want to know more about GR development and a great YouTube channel if you would like to know more about street photography and “street” cameras and photographers.

Snapfocus

The GR is known for its Snapfocus, also called Zone focussing or Range focussing. You set the focus distance and your aperture, and this combination gives you a zone where everything appears sharp in the photo. The distances are displayed on the LCD screen (image below). Once you turn snapfocus on and set your aperture you can point and shoot anything in “the zone”. The camera doesn’t need time to focus anymore, you can take pictures instantaneously. Exactly what you need for street photography when you don’t want to miss that decisive moment.

Flash and Video

As mentioned above Ricoh decided to remove the flash unit from the camera to make the camera even smaller and now they had room to put in a bigger lens motor. I think that’s a big plus. I never used the flash on the GR so I will not miss it. If you need to use a flash you can use the flash mount on top.

One thing I don’t understand is why Ricoh decided to put in video capability in this small lovely camera that nobody, literally nobody, uses for video. You buy a GR to take pictures. The video quality is also pretty poor in the GR III. It can only shoot Full HD (1920x1080, 60p/30p/24p).

The funny thing is that the button to activate video is placed on the left side of the body. Since this camera is designed to be used with only one hand and has all the buttons on the right, they clearly don’t want you to use video!

So please Ricoh remove the video function from future GRs. I am almost sure nobody cares and, very important: this is a SINGLE purpose knife, remember?

What Ricoh says about the GR on their website:

“The GR puts emphasis on the details that cannot be expressed in the specifications of the catalog. Good design speaks of the essence of a thing, and of the values of the owner. The GR does away with ostentation, keeping a simple, functional design. The GR was born not simply of concepts that rely on the power of technology, or manufacturing processes devised by marketing techniques, but from what we believe the ideal snapshot camera should be.”

PHOTO "GR" APHER －Always in the heart of photographer. GR.

Video - GR Concept

Here’s a 5 minute video about the GR Concept:

One thing that is very true is that Ricoh listens to its fans and photographers.

Here are some more pictures I took of my sweethearts with the X100V. 😉 Thanks for reading. 😊