The Ricoh GR III compact camera is coming soon!
My two favorite cameras for street photography has always been my Ricoh GR II and my beloved Fujifilm x100f. So when I heard about the announcement of the Ricoh GR III I knew I had to get it, review it and let you guys know what I think about it.
What’s new in the Ricoh GR III?
At a glance:
- Higher resolution sensor, 24 MP from 16 MP
- Sensor-based image stabilization, as well the ability to simulate an anti-aliasing filter.
- A dust removal mechanism. This was a thing a lot of Ricoh GR II customer complained about.
- Autofocus was upgraded to a hybrid system, incorporating phase detection[3]
- The screen has been changed to a touchscreen.
- Minimum focusing distance improved to 6 cm from 10 cm.
- The weight is virtually the same: 257 g.
- The video recording frame rate has improved from 30fps to 60fps at 1080p.
- Added USB-C connectivity.
The only sad this is that they have removed the in-built flash. But besides that, this looks like a perfect street photography and travel camera.
An updated sensor
The Ricoh GR 3 comes with a 24MP APS-C sensor, which is a huge improvement from the Ricoh GR II 16MP camera sensor.
The new 24MP APS-C sensor comes with phase-detection autofocus and sensor-shift imagine stabilization in-camera.
The camera’s sensor can now shift in three axes to compensate for the camera any shaky motion and this shake can simulate the effect of having an anti-aliasing filter.
I think the Ricoh GR III will become with ultimate street photography camera. Ricoh as a company has always been very focused on three things when it comes to their Ricoh GR-series:
- Great image quality
- Point and shoot
- Size & Portability
– exactly what you want in a camera for street photography.
Who is the Ricoh GR III for?
Obviously is for street photography. But that’s not all.
Its a perfect entry-level camera for any camera enthusiast who wants to test his or her skills with a real camera, compared to an iPhone or Android smartphone camera.
The Ricoh GR III will be available for an early 2019 and you will be able to get a first-look at Photokina 2019.
Let’s talk about the lens:
The Ricoh GR III comes with a 28mm equivalent F2.8 lens and has also been redesigned and a touchscreen added for the first time.
The redesigned 28mm equivalent. F 2.8 lens will have six elements in four groups, including two aspherical elements.
The minimum focus distance has improved to 6cm from 10cm.
It will have the same ND-filter as the 1 and 2 had.
Recording video with the Ricoh GR III
The camera can record 1080/60p video, up from 1080/30p. The GR III has a USB-C socket, that can be used for video output.
The built-in flash has been removed
If there is one thing I am a bit sad about, is that they have removed the built-in flash. It was a cool thing, come on!
The design is almost unchanged
It will basically look the same, though preliminary specs say that the 3 isn’t quite as wide as the Ricoh 1 and 2.
Ricoh GR III complete specifications:
Wireless functionality will be offered through Wi-Fi only.
The Ricoh GR 3 does not have Bluetooth.
