A Few Words About The Ricoh GRIIIx Camera

All images were made with the GRIIIx.  Since I haven't been able to get out and photograph in
quite some time, you may have seen a few of these previously.  I post them here for illustration's
sake.  Just random snaps.  Nothing outstanding.  (click any image to enlarge)

Many of you figured out that I purchased a Ricoh GRIIIx back in the summer of 2025.  I never specifically mentioned it but when I wrote a post and named the camera with which I made the images, some of you noticed.  I bought it mostly out of curiosity as, it seemed, everywhere on YouTube photographers were praising its abilities.  Also, I was so enthralled with my X100VI non-interchangeable lens camera that I wondered if this camera would be similar.  Like the Fujifilm X100 series of cameras, the Ricoh GR series has developed a cult-like following.  I wanted to find out all about this camera for myself and I am fortunate to be able to buy one.  By the way, I chose the 40mm lens (full frame field of view) version as 40mm more closely fits my style of photography than does the 28mm~ lens in the original model.

I had promised a reader that I would have more to say about the camera, so after a sporadic six months of use, here are my thoughts.  This will be short as I don't use the camera every day but, nonetheless, I can relay my experience with it.

This is an 8mp crop from an original 24mp file.  I'm pleased that the focus and detail held
up very well.

First, I like the camera.  Second, the camera is capable of producing excellent images that are very sharp with pleasing color as well as (to me) wonderfully rendered black & white image files.  The lens is a fine lens.  I have no complaints about it at all.  

The camera has a 24mp APS-C sized sensor and the lens is fixed.  No interchangeable lenses but Ricoh makes an adapter (like Fujifilm does for the X100 cameras) to change the 28mm focal length to a 21mm focal length (full frame field of view).  The new GRIV series of cameras have a new 26mp sensor and a new lens formula, if you are interested.  IMHO, twenty-four megapixels is certainly enough for 90% of us and 98% of what we’ll ever do with our images. (Those figures I just pulled out of thin air and are not based on any studies or science.  Feel free to substitute your own WAG statistics. Lol.)

My biggest hangup with the camera is no electronic viewfinder (EVF).  I am not one who favors using one's phone camera as I don't care for the user experience.  That is mainly because there is no EVF and it is difficult to find then manipulate the camera’s controls.  Using the Ricoh gives me a little bit of that same feeling because it has no EVF and you have to hold the camera up in front of you.  But, I see a lot of photographers shooting like that even though their cameras have EVFs.  Personal preference.  

That said, the LCD works fine for me and Ricoh allows you to turn up its brightness, which I find works well even on bright sunny days with the sun at my back.  But, fundamentally, I'm an EVF or optical viewfinder (OVF) kind of guy.  However, I'm getting more and more used to it.  At one time I thought this would be a deal breaker but I've now changed my mind.  Just like buying a different camera brand with different menus and different location of the buttons and dials, you adapt.

If you look at the shadows under the trees, you can see the sun was straight ahead of me
and high in the sky.  Very contrasty but that is what I was going for in this scene.

Ricoh uses the DNG raw format and not a proprietary one.  I might be wrong but I think Leica may be the only other manufacturer using DNG files.  The rest have their own proprietary format for raw files.  Is this good or bad?  In reality, I don’t think it matters.  However, the files are excellent with lots of dynamic range, good color and plenty of malleability for editing, if needed.  I will say that at high ISOs it seems these image files have a bit more noise than ones from my Fujifilm cameras, whose sensors are also APS-C in size.  The interesting thing is the Fujifilm files are 40mp and the Ricoh files are 24mp, yet the Fujifilm files have less noise.  That means either Fujifilm is applying some sort of noise reduction (even though I have it completely turned off in the menu) or Fujifilm's image processor is better than Ricoh's.  But the noise can be eliminated, with one caveat. 

During editing, I have discovered that Lightroom Classic does nothing to reduce noise in the the DNG files when using Lightroom's AI Denoise.  Hmmm.  Strange.  I haven't run across that with any other camera.  After a few AI chatbot inquiries, they tell me that the Ricoh DNG files are somehow manipulated in-camera which causes LR to not apply AI noise reduction to them.  Super resolution does work, however.  As an alternative, I found that DXO PureRaw does a wonderful job in eliminating any noise as well as optimizing the lens' rendering.  So, there's that.  I just thought it was important to point that out as I was unaware of it.  All in all, the Ricoh's iamge files are very good.  No complaints.

An old fashioned ice cream and sandwich shop.

(Note:  Since I first bought a Fujiflm X-T1 back in 2013, I’ve suspected Fujifilm applied some sort of noise reduction in-camera to their raw files.  Especially color noise.  I have no proof other than what I saw in the Fujifilm files versus other like files from other manufacturers. If anyone has an substantiated information about that, please share it with us.)

The autofocus is accurate and pretty fast in brighter light.  In low light, it hunts and is slow.  It is accurate, but slow.  This doesn't matter much to me as almost all of my subjects are not moving or not moving very fast.  But this needs to be pointed out.  As some of you may know, Ricoh employs a feature called "Snap Focus."  Basically, you set the lens for a certain distance and when you push the shutter button all the way down in one motion without stopping at the typical 'half-press' to enable AF, the camera instantly focuses to the predetermined distance.  It works well.  Sounds like Zone Focusing?  It is by another name, but it works well.  

I use Snap Focus quite a bit.  I have the camera set to focus at 5 meters (about 16 ft.) and f/8.  According to dofmaster.com, that gives me a depth of field from about seven and a half feet to infinity.  What this allows is that if I want to precisely focus, I half-press the shutter, acquire focus, then expose.  If something is fleeting, I can just fully press the shutter and the focus will be at 5 meters and the depth of field will take care of the rest. (Of course you seasoned photographers know that there is only one distance that is in ‘sharpest’ focus, the rest covered by DOF, are in ‘acceptable focus.’) I find this works pretty well.  There are some other settings that let you change distance and depth of field on the fly but I'm not going to try to explain them here.  If you are interested in this camera or the 28mm~ version, I would encourage you to download the PDF version of the user’s manual and read all about the camera and its features.

The camera's build quality is a little on the plasticy side.  I would not say it isn't well built but if feels plastic all over.  Solid but plastic, which seems to hold up to a lot of use from what I see others post.  The menus are extensive and easy to understand.  I found things easy to find, even though I was new at using these menus.  The controls are well placed.  The camera turns on very quickly and is ready to go in about a half second.  Nice.  I typically use the camera in aperture priority, f/8 (or f/5.6), Auto ISO and use the rocker switch at the top to adjust exposure compensation to my liking.

Ricoh provides several color and monochrome picture styles, film simulations, looks or whatever you want to call them.  I’ve found a few that are very pleasing and complimentary to my style of photography.  The bottom line is you have plenty of choices.

This scene was backlit on a blue sky sunny day.  My objective was to find out just how much
dynamic range the sensor had.  I was able to keep all detail in the bark and reduce the sky to
a representative sky blue instead of some white blown out mess.

The camera has the ability to display both a historgram and colored highlights and shadows showing over or underexposure.  I use those more than the histogram as a technique I've experimented with is to compose, look at the EVF to ascertain what exposure my camera is suggesting, then adjust the exposure compensation to just see the first little bit of blown highlights indicator, then back off a third of a stop.  I find this 'exposing to the right (ETTR) works well for not having to raise luminance and/or shadows in Lightroom, therefore, keeping noise to a minimum.  I do the same in my OM and Fujifilm cameras.

The battery is very small and you only get a couple of hundred exposures from a charge.  But, what would you expect.  You can’t have a large battery and keep the camera tiny.  This is one of the trade-offs one has to accept id one wants cameras to be smaller and smaller.  I recommend buying a couple of extras.  They are very inexpensive when you compare to other manufacturer’s batteries and two of them in your pocket is smaller than your vehicle’s key fob.

I have read about complaints that dust can get onto the sensor even though the camera has a fixed lens.  So far, I haven not had any but I have done three things to try to prevent any dust incursion.  First, I keep the "Clean Sensor" menu item turned on so that it shakes my sensor each time I turn it off.  Second, I bought a very inexpensive metal lens cover from Amazon which slides over the lens even though the lens has a built-in lens cover.  Three, I have placed small pieces of black gaffer tape over the two microphone holes (each side near the top of the lens) and speaker holes (on the bottom of the camera).  This has worked so far.  No dust.

Probably the number one thing that this camera is known for is the ability for it to literally fit in your pants pocket.  That makes it extremely convenient to take out.  If you are not inconvenienced by carrying a camera because it is invisibly in your pocket, you tend to take it and use it.  It doesn't get left behind.

I would say I have average sized hands.  This gives you
an idea as to the camera’s size.

There is a lot more I think I could write but if you want more you can find dozens of reviews online and on YouTube.  

Final Verdict:  None as of yet.  I haven’t used it enough to give a comprehensive opinion.  But I like the camera.  It’s a good camera, make no mistake, but it is the kind of camera that needs to grow on me.  It’s not love at first sight.  Others, however, have fallen in love with this camera and it is the only one they now use.  Different strokes for different folks as is with most things.

I’ll continue to use it more and more.  I want to use it more and more.  I'm starting to get used to not having an EVF.  I very much like the images I have made with it.  They are technically excellent.  I like the color choices and I really like the monochrome simulations they offer.  It is just such an innocuous thing to have with you that I find I’ll pick it up when going out when I don't want to carry a camera—even the X100VI.  Right now, for me, it is a keeper.  I guess I would say I’m luke warm and getting warmer about the camera.  It does its job but there are, at least for me, better choices.  It will never be a substitute for my X100VI.  That camera is better in every way, in my opinion.

Lastly, the GRIII and IIIx have now been superseded by the GRIV and GRIV HDF.  There is no GRIVx yet, however.  But I would bet there will be before long.  I won't go into the differences between the III and IV but I see them as relatively minor, not enough for me to upgrade.  

If you are interested in a little GR camera, I would suggest you find and buy a GRIII or IIIx now at a discount and don’t pay the much higher price for a GRIV.  You can find plenty of comparisons by searching in YouTube if you want more information about the differences between them.  The new camera, by the way, retails for $1500 US,  Yikes!

UPDATE:  Earlier this week, on January 14, 2026, Ricoh announced a GRIV Monochrome camera.  Everything looks about the same as the GRIV with two exceptions.  First, they removed the Bayer Array which removes color from being recorded and second, they added a built-in red filter.  This is an actual red glass filter that slips into the light path.  This filter takes the place of the neutral density filter in the regular model.  The downside?  They are asking $2200 US for the camera!  Wow!  Even though I love black & white, there won't be one in my future.

Join me over at my website, https://www.dennismook.com.  

Thanks for looking. Enjoy!  

Dennis A. Mook  

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