RICOH GRIII CAMERA REVIEW – A WEEK IN ROME
Introduction
Continuing my series of compact camera reviews, today I’m going to put down some personal thoughts on my experiences with the Ricoh GR III camera.
If you’ve not read my previous blog post, a review of the Leica Q3 camera, it might be worth a quick look at my introduction there as it covers where I’m coming from in terms of experience with other camera systems and what I’m seeking from a compact camera. If that’s ‘TLDR’ I’ve been a full-time professional photographer for about 12 years and have used Canon EOS 5D MKIII, MIV and Sony A9 and A1 cameras for my work. I’m also fortunate to have used exclusively Canon ‘L’ and Sony G-Master glass for that period.
I came to the Ricoh GR III having completed extensive research into the very best compact cameras available in today’s much reduced compact camera segment. The Ricoh GR III is an incredibly small pocketable camera with a relatively large APS-C sensor and has received pretty much universal acclaim for its image quality to size ‘ratio’ since launch. With a week in Rome planned with my wife, and wanting to walk many miles documenting the gorgeous sights of this iconic city, I settled on the Ricoh GR III as my camera of choice for this trip.
I’ve included lots of images taken on that trip below so hopefully they’ll collectively provide a feel what the camera is capable of across a wide range of shooting conditions and subjects. If anyone reading this has any questions or comments, feel free to add them at the end of the blog and I’ll be glad to attempt to answer them.
Like with my Leica Q3 camera review, this really will be non-technical and completely impartial, based solely on my personal experience with the Ricoh GR III. I completely understand that many will come at this camera from a different position to me and will have different experiences with it. This really is just a personal account and intended to help people also on a journey to find the perfect everyday compact camera. I know that I enjoyed reading blogs and looking at images on websites while doing my own research and, for me, it was often more informative than watching YouTube videos.
Pros
- Size – first up, it has to be size! This camera is tiny and totally ‘jean pocketable’. For that reason it’s a joy to travel with and no more of a burden really than carrying a smartphone. Its discrete size also means you can take it and use it pretty much anywhere without being noticed making it ideal for street and travel photography.
- Image Quality – this camera blew me away in terms of IQ but it wasn’t until I got home and downloaded my images that I really understood what the hype was about. It’ll come under the cons but the rear screen doesn’t do justice to the data captured by this wonderful sensor/lens combination and it’s only when you download your images that you start to believe you’re onto something good. You just have to trust the reviews to start with. Hopefully the images below will give you an idea but I found the files to be sharp and punchy with decent dynamic range and the colours to be possibly my favourite of any camera system that I’ve used.
- Start-up Time – this camera is instantly available to shoot with from the moment you hit the power button.
- Crop Mode – having the ability to cycle through 28, 35 and 50mm equivalent modes (my favourite focal lengths) is hugely helpful when travelling with a single fixed lens camera. While it’s not a full-frame sensor and you don’t have many MP to play with, these focal length crops deliver surprisingly usable files and the implementation with an instant crop showing you just the 28, 35 or 50mm field-of-view makes composing an image a breeze.
Cons
- Autofocus – I come at this from someone who uses Sony A1s for my work so the bar is perhaps set a little too high when it comes to AF. That said, I was disappointed with the AF on the Ricoh GR III, particularly in low-light. It took me a few days to adjust to the speed and accuracy of AF and I never really gained a huge amount of confidence from the shooting experience with this camera. The snap ‘zone focus’ function for ‘street’ style work is of course a great innovation but that’s not really my shooting style and I found the hunting for focus in low-contrast, low-light environments pretty frustrating. I know this is not a sports camera but I expected more.
- Battery Life – many of my ‘cons’ with this camera come as a direct result of the major ‘pro’ which is its size – I guess you can’t have it all! This camera is tiny and so is its battery and this means battery life needs managing. I took 3 batteries to Rome and would regularly get well into my third battery after a day on the streets. Of course the batteries are very pocketable but it’s certainly a downside to this camera. You can of course charge off a power bank during breaks but that means carrying a power-bank with you which again adds to your weight for the day. On this subject, as I’ll mention below, the screen needs to be on full brightness to be usable on sunny days and this of course is detrimental to already poor battery life.
- Dust – the retractable nature of the lens on the Ricoh GR III means that you have to be careful when shooting in a dusty environment. I bought my Ricoh GR III used and sensor and lens dust was already evident, particularly at smaller apertures.
- Rear Screen – for me, the rear screen lacked in resolution and brightness and this was particularly an issue on bright days on a camera without a viewfinder. It is also a fixed screen (again, probably to keep the footprint of the camera down) and I much prefer a tilt-screen for high and low angle shots. I knew this when I bought the camera of course but I found that I missed the tilt-screen of my work cameras more than I expected.
- Lack of an EVF – again, I know that this was clear before I bought the camera but I wasn’t sure whether I’d be happy to give up an EVF in exchange for compactness. In part due to my not particularly liking the rear screen and my problems shooting in bright, sunny conditions, I found myself craving an EVF for significant parts of my trip.
- f/2.8/APS-C Sensor/28mm combination – if you’re coming from a phone camera to the Ricoh GR III camera, this will make no sense so please move on! But, as someone who hasn’t used an APS-C sensor recently and who uses pretty much exclusively wide aperture prime lenses for work, the limitations of this lens/sensor/focal length in terms of light gathering, AF and ‘subject isolation/depth of field’ led to some frustrations. These are not really cons because it’s just physics but as someone who likes to throw in the odd street portrait or use depth of field creatively, I found the Ricoh GR III predictably lacking. The Ricoh GR IIIX, with it’s 40mm equivalent lens, might actually have been the better choice for me in terms of providing some depth-of-field control and may be where I’ll head if I decide to go back to Ricoh.
Summary
It’s funny because, despite my cons list appearing longer than the pros, I like many of my Rome photographs more than my travel images taken with other larger and, on paper, more capable cameras. That may just be because of the beauty of Rome and some of the magnificent light that I encountered that week but every time I look at the Ricoh GR III files a smile comes to my face and I’m again left surprised by just how good this little camera is. I’m sat here now wondering if selling this camera was a smart move because it is such a uniquely small and capable camera it really should have a place filling a niche in my travel-camera line up.
I therefore hope that this totally personal perspective on this wonderful little camera doesn’t come across as too negative and that the images below provide encouragement to anyone reading this review with a view to purchasing a Ricoh GR III. For sure, like all cameras, it has its shortcomings but most of them evaporate the moment you get the images you’ve taken off the camera and onto your computer.
Thanks as always for reading and again, feel free to drop any polite comments or questions below!
Andy
Capturing Moments, Creating Memories
Amazing photos. Currently looking into a compact camera when I can preset recipes and capture nature, portraits and landscapes with my toddler – do you prefer this one or the fuji X100 VI?
Thank you – for ‘recipes’ and straight out of camera jpegs, the Fuji edges it. I think aside from the incredible size of the GR, the Fuji also wins on most other counts for me – tilt-screen, EVF and built-in ND filter plus the more general purpose 35 mm lens would lead me there for your purposes I think. That said, both are exceptional cameras and would serve you well. It kind of comes down to how small the camera needs to be for you to use and enjoy it. If you can live with the relatively compact nature of the X100, I’d choose that camwera. If it has to be pocketable, the GR is the only choice and a great one.
I have the same camera and I can see that some of your photos have a problem that I’ve had. If you like at the photos where there is a fair bit of sky, there are repeated ripple like aberrations. I’ve noticed this on some of my pictures. There are GR camera forums that discus this. When I’ve uploaded my pics to Lightroom, they are gone. No idea why, but maybe Lightroom auto-fixes this somehow.
Those lines only show on my website due compression – the files from the camera are fine.
Knowing the portability of a ricoh versus a Sony full frame and 35mm GM. Which would you think would be a wise choice for Rome? Trying to not carry too much or be too bulky when traveling.
That’s a tough one – for pure IQ and low-light performance you’d want the Sony FF and 35 GM – BUT, that’s not a very compact set-up and it’s also not that wide a lens. I’m not a fan of shooting with wide lenses but I did find the 28mm of the Ricoh to be hugely beneficial in Rome. The scale of the buildings is immense, you’ll want to capture some incredible interiors and, if like us, walk LONG distances. I have zero regrets taking the Ricoh and in general prefer to travel with a small fixed-lens camera. Enjoy your trip whatever you choose to take – it’ll be a win-win regardless.
Thanks for the quick response, that’s what I’ve been leaning towards when comparing a ricoh, my camera or an x100vi
Wonderfull series of GR 3, the ricoh files and your editing really matched nicely and showcase the power of GR 3, if only you can make it as receipe that would be really great, I dont want to do editing anymore :)
Thank you! I’ll definitely consider putting out a preset/recipe but I found the Ricoh files to be pretty sweet straight from the camera. I wish I still had mine, I miss it! Thanks for the comment!
I Googled “smallest compact camera” and up popped the GR range. ( and obviously your blog was in there somewhere too )
The new version 4 has significant enough improvements over the 3 to merit a purchase I think.
Although the AF issues remain apparently,which is both surprising and a little disconcerting
But the £1,100 price ( at launch ) is only £200 more than “like new” used examples of the 3 on a site like MPB.com as at Oct.25.
And with such a buoyant used market the financial hit of failing to get on with the 4 should be relatively gentle.
Although it’ll be interesting to see how much that price for the 3 comes down when the 4 gets into full circulation.
The parallels between the predicted demise of things like stand alone camera’s and vinyl records just reaffirms the belief that if something’s genuinley good it’ll still find a market somewhere.
Although quite why a smartphone user and very casual snapper like me actually needs a 1K compact is slightly harder to apply any logic to.
One of those things I’ll buy ….. and probably still die wondering about !
Of course,lovely photos like yours don’t help.
And Rome is an undeniably better ad for the camera then someone taking a few snaps of their local Tesco ! And thanks for sharing
Hi Toby – thank you and thanks for the comment. The GR IV does look tempting! I’ve got the WCL for my Fuji X100 VI though so have my 28mm needs covered for now! I think a ‘real’ camera will always trump a smart phone for people who genuinely love photography so no excuse needed to indulge in a compact camera in my view! Best wishes. Andy
Inspiring photographs, Andy. Thank you for creating such a compelling review. Your images nullify the valid points you make regarding the “cons” of the Ricoh GR iii. Pictures such as these illustrate the “less is more” principle when applied to camera technology. Your photographs have dispelled my doubts about the camera and have prompted me to be more creative.
Thanks very much Nigel, very kind. I definitely miss my Ricoh GR III! I may well have to repurchase at some point, I miss the compactness, the colours and the wonderful image quality to size ratio. Thanks for commenting, enjoy the GR!
These photos are beautiful! I was worried about the image quality being comparable to a cell phone, but that was unjustified. Is the camera suitable for manually setting the exposure each shot or is that a bit cumbersome?
Thank you, the image quality is soooo good on the Ricoh GR III and I would imagine even better on the IV. 100% better than an iPhone and such gorgeous colours. Having used an X100 VI for the last few months, the difference in IQ is stark – the Ricoh lens is waaaaay better in my experience. You can shoot the Ricoh GR III in manual mode but the dials and buttons are small and its intended to be a quick ‘street’ style camera so works better set up how you want it and minimising control inputs. The ‘snap’ function (basically zone shooting) is great for example. I actually regret selling my GR III now and may well go and get a IV at some point. I don’t think you’d be disappointed. Good luck in your deliberations!
Love the photos!
I was wondering if these are straight out of camera or have been edited? If so, what adjustments have been made? Thanks!
Hi Tom – thank you, very kind. These images were edited in Lightroom but I found the Ricoh files to be easy to edit with lovely colours. I can’t recall the exact tweaks I made but I think, after Fuji, the Ricoh files are my favourites to edit. I’m really interested in the recently announced Ricoh GR IV – if the AF is improved, I might well grab one. The files are THAT good. if you’re not into editing, the Ricoh jpegs are also lovely and they have some quite tasteful film ‘sims’ similar but not as comprehensive as Fuji. If you’re worried about the editing though, there aren’t many cameras that produce nicer files than the Ricoh in my experience. Thanks for commenting. Happy camera shopping!
These photos of Rome are stunning! Well done Andy.
Ricoh is selling a ton of these cameras, and the photos in this article are surely to help them move more!
Thanks very much Craig – it takes incredible photos for its size. Rumours are for a new version next year