Ricoh GR Review

June 17, 2013 | Mark Goldstein | Rating star Rating star Rating star Rating star Half rating star

Introduction

The Ricoh GR is a new compact camera that's aimed squarely at the enthusiast photographer. At the heart of the Ricoh GR is an APS-C-size CMOS image sensor with approximately 16.2 effective megapixels and no anti-aliasing filter, and a 28mm fixed focal length lens which has a fast maximum aperture of f/2.8, a nine-blade diaphragm and a manually adjustable ND (neutral density) filter. Images can be recorded either as JPEGs or in the Adobe DNG RAW format, there's a pop-up flash and an external hotshoe which can accept a flashgun or an optional optical viewfinder, and full creative control over exposure is available. Thanks to the newly developed GR ENGINE V imaging engine, the GR offers high-sensitivity shooting at up to ISO 25600, plus it can focus in 0.2 seconds and offers 4fps burst shooting. The Ricoh GR is available in black for £599.99 / $799. Two external viewfinders, the 28mm GV-1 and the 21/28mm GV-2, are both offered as an optional accessory for £220 / $219.

Ease of Use

The Ricoh GR is a wide and fairly slim compact digital camera that just about fits into the palm of average sized hands, measuring 111.7 mm (W) x 61 mm (H) x 34.7 mm (D) and weighing around 215g without the battery or memory card fitted, slightly bigger and heavier than the previous GR IV model.

Utilizing a magnesium alloy body, the new GR is an exceedingly well built camera, and certainly up there with the best that the other manufacturers have to offer. Our review sample has an under-stated, all-black appearance which lends the camera a professional, no-nonsense feel. Despite its small dimensions, the Ricoh GR has a large rubberized handgrip that allows you to get a really good grip, and there's a substantial area of the same material acting as a thumb rest on the rear and right-hand side of the body. The all-metal, central tripod mount is another giveaway sign that this is intended to be a serious camera (most compacts have a plastic mount squeezed into one of the corners).

The GR features a 28mm, f2.8 wide-angle fixed-focus lens, which will immediately put a lot of people off this camera. The GR's 28mm lens is perfect, however, for wide-angle shots, so if you're a fan of land- and city- scapes, or you're happy to get up close and personal, the combination of the GR's lens and every photographer's constant companion, their legs, proves to be more versatile than you might first think. Ricoh have also added a 35mm crop mode, which as the name suggests changes the focal length to a a more classic 35mm by cropping into the 16 megapixel image, producing a 10.2 megapixel photo instead. Also, the optional GW-3 Wide Conversion Lens (£190) can be fitted to the GR to provide a 21mm focal length.

The Ricoh GR has a greatly increased maximum ISO speed of 12800. Cleverly you can also set a specific shutter speed in Auto High ISO mode as well as setting the upper limit of the ISO sensitivity. Note that, unlike its predecessor, the Ricoh GR doesn't feature image stabilisation.

Whereas previous Ricoh compacts have virtually ignored video in favour of stills, the new GR offers Full HD movie recording at 30/25/24fps in the H.264 video format with stereo sound. During recording the camera can be set to continuously focus on the centre of the frame (manual, smap and infinity focus options are also available). Six image Effects including Retro and Bleach Bypass are available during movie recording, and the white balance can also be set. You can't set the aperture or shutter speed though, so you'll have to rely on the camera's exposure system when shooting video.

Ricoh GR Ricoh GR
Front Rear

The Ricoh GR features a 16 megapixel, APS-C-size CMOS image sensor an Anti-aliasing filter-less design, which promises fantastic image quality for a compact camera - you can judge for yourself on the Image Quality and Sample Images pages. There's the usual choice of Fine and Normal JPEGs, but Ricoh have stolen a march on some of their competition by providing a RAW mode setting. Even better, the RAW format that they have chosen is not a proprietary one, but Adobe's DNG format, which means that the Ricoh GR's files are instantly available in any RAW software that supports DNG (virtually every one). This is an excellent choice by Ricoh.

There are four external controls which form the creative heart of the GR. Located on the top right of the camera are the Shooting Mode dial, the new front command dial and what Ricoh refer to as the Up-Down dial, and on the back is the ADJ. dial. These controls allow you to choose which shooting mode you want to use, with a choice of full auto, program shift, aperture-priority, shutter-priority, shutter/aperture-priority (TAv) (borrowed from Pentax DSLR camera, this mode automatically sets the optimum ISO speed based on the shutter speed and aperture) and fully manual, and to control the settings of the particular mode that you have picked.

For example, in Manual mode, the front command dial dial sets the aperture and the Adj. dial sets the shutter speed, providing quick and intuitive access. In the aperture-priority, shutter-priority, shutter/aperture-priority modes, the Up-Down dial sets the exposure compensation. Furthermore, pressing the Adj. dial inwards allows you to quickly adjust five different settings that are commonly used. Press it to alter ISO Speed, Picture Size, Aspect Ratio, Focus and Exposure Metering, by default. Even better, the Adj. menu is customisable - you can choose what the settings do, allowing you to control exactly what you want quick access to, and you also set the Adj. dial to control the ISO speed by pressing left/right.

Continuing the customisation theme, you can configure the Ricoh GR and save the current settings as one of three My Settings modes, which are accessible by setting the Shooting Mode dial to either the MY1, MY2 or MY3 option. This allows you to configure the GR for different uses and allows quick access to each configuration (the camera remembers the settings when it's turned off). The two Function (Fn) buttons on the rear of the camera and the new Effect button on the side can also be customised to suit your particular needs. The Ricoh GR is one of the most customisable compact cameras that we've ever reviewed.

Ricoh GR Ricoh GR
Front Top

As the Ricoh GR offers a full range of advanced exposure controls, it's quite complex in terms of its design. There are 20 external controls in total, leaving just enough room for the 3 inch, 3:2 aspect ratio LCD screen on the back of the camera. Further appealing to the avid photographer in you, the Ricoh GR has a range of focusing and metering modes that should cover most situations. On the focusing side, the multi-AF system has 9 separate auto focus points, and there's also Spot AF, Pinpoint AF, Subject Tracking, Manual focus, Snap mode (can be changed to focus at either 1m, 1.5m, 2.5m, 5m or Infinity) and Infinity.

The Full Press Snap option takes a photo at one of the Snap mode distances with a full press of the shutter button. This means that you can use both the camera's auto-focus system by half-pressing the shutter button, and over-ride it to instantly shoot at at a pre-determined distance without having to wait for the camera to focus. In terms of metering, the multi metering mode is 256 segment, and there's also center weighted average metering and spot metering.

The new AF function button/lever on the rear of the camera toggles between AEL/AFL and the Continuous AF (C-AF) mode. When it's set to the latter, if you hold down the AF function button to focus on a moving subject and press the shutter release button at the same time, a series of sharp images of the subject is taken. Alternatively, the continuous shooting mode ican be automatically activated while the C-AF button is pressed.

Multi-pattern auto white balance is useful for scenes with mixed lighting - daylight and flash, or fluorescent and daylight, for example. Instead of just taking an average reading from the whole scene, which inevitably gets the white balance wrong for the secondary light source, the GR breaks the image down into small areas and analyzes and sets the white balance for each one. In practice it produces a subtle but noticeable effect that is particularly useful for capturing more natural portraits when using flash. Also very useful is the ability to change the power of the built-in flash which can be set at 12 levels from full flash to 1/64, enabling you to balance the intensity for both the subject and background.

The Ricoh GR's 3 inch, 1.23 million dot LCD screen is a real highlight. Both text and images really come alive on a simply breath-taking display that's one of the best of any camera that we've ever reviewed. It also has an automatic brightness adjustment function which as the name suggests automatically matches the screen's brightness to your surroundings. If you don't like composing your photos by holding the camera at arms length and looking at the LCD screen, there's also another way of framing your shots. You can additionally buy an optional, completely removable optical viewfinder. The OVF slots into the hot-shoe on top of the camera, allowing you to hold the camera up to your eye and instantly giving the GR the feel of a single-lens reflex camera.

Ricoh GR Ricoh GR
Pop-up Flash Side

The Dynamic Range Compensation mode records images with greater dynamic range. When the Ricoh GR is in DR mode it takes a single shot and attempts to expand the dynamic range. There are three DR strengths - Weak, Medium and Strong - and an Auto setting. You can also choose to bracket this feature too.

The electronic leveler is a neat feature that helps to ensure level shots while viewing through the LCD monitor, both in landscape and portrait mode. You can view the horizontal and vertical indicators on the LCD monitor to ensure that shots are aligned along each axis. If you're using the external viewfinder, or can't see the LCD screen in very bright sunlight, then the camera can also be set to make a sound to indicate a level horizon. It doesn't sound like a big deal in theory, but in practice it really helps to make all those wide-angle shots perfectly level.

The Depth of field indicator is an equally useful function. If you set the GR to either Manual or Aperture priority mode, and the Focus mode to Snap, Manual or Infinity, a vertical scale on the left of the LCD screen indicates the depth-of-field at the current aperture, helping to ensure sharp focus when you're not relying on the camera's auto-focus system.

In addition to Bracketing (exposure, white balance, effects, dynamic range correction, and contrast), Multiple Exposure and Interval Shooting modes, the Interval Composite mode takes a series of images at a fixed interval, then automatically combines the high-luminance pixel data from each images to create a single composite image, useful for quickly and accurately producing star trail images, for example.

The main menu system on the Ricoh GR is straight-forward to use and is accessed by pressing the Menu/OK button in the middle of the navigation pad. There are three main menus, Shooting, Key Custom Options and Setup. Quite a lot of the camera's main options, such as image size, sharpness, metering mode and continuous mode, are accessed here, so the Shooting Settings menu has 30 options spread over 3 screens, the Key Custom Options menu has 27 options, and the Setup menu has 40 options. Due to the high-resolution LCD screen and restricting the number of on-screen choices to 10, the various options and icons are clear and legible.

Ricoh GR Ricoh GR
Memory Card Slot Battery Compartment

Ricoh are well known for delivering responsive cameras, and the GR certainly continues in that tradition. The start-up time from turning the Ricoh GR on to being ready to take a photo is responsive at around 1 second. Focusing is very quick in good light, with a focusing speed of 0.2 seconds, despite not using the previous GR IV model's hybrid autofocus system. The camera also happily achieves focus most of the time indoors or in low-light situations, and macro focusing speed is pretty fast too at 0.4sec.

It takes about 0.5 second to store a JPEG image, allowing you to keep shooting as they are being recorded onto the memory card, and there is virtually no LCD blackout between each image. Shooting in RAW mode, the GR only takes around 1 second to store a RAW image, and you can also take another shot while it's being written to memory.

In the fastest Continuous mode the camera takes 4 frames per second for an unlimited number of images at the highest JPEG image quality, which is very good for this class of camera. Even better news is that the GR can also shoot up to 5 RAW images at 4fps. Using the Subject Tracking AF mode, while the shutter-release button is pressed the GR takes a series of photos and adjusts its focus on the subject at the same time using the external autofocus system, which proves very useful for quick-moving subjects.

Once you have captured a photo, the GR has a good range of options when it comes to playing, reviewing and managing your images. You can instantly scroll through the images that you have taken, view thumbnails (81 onscreen at once!), zoom in and out up to 16x magnification, view slideshows with audio, set the print order, delete, protect and resize an image. Level Compensation allows you to correct the contrast and tone of an image after it has been taken, White Balance Compensation the white balance, and Color Moire Compensation usefully removes any artificial color banding. The Skew Correction function alters any photo that was taken at an angle so it appears as if it were taken directly in front of you. There's even in-camera RAW Development, with 9 different parameters available.

Images are automatically rotated during playback to fit the current orientation of the camera. Pushing the Adjust dial instantly displays the image at a previously defined magnification, handy for quickly checking focus. The Display button toggles detailed settings information about each picture on and off, such as the ISO rating and aperture / shutter speed, and there is a small histogram available during both shooting and playback. The White Saturation display mode during image playback indicates over-exposed highlights by flashing those areas on and off. When taking a photo, pressing the Display button toggles between the detailed information, the histogram and gridlines to aid composition.

Image Quality

All of the sample images in this review were taken using the 16 megapixel Fine JPEG setting, which gives an average image size of around 6Mb.

The Ricoh GR produced images of outstanding quality during the review period. The GR produces noise-free JPEG images at ISO 100-1600, with ISO 3200 also looking pretty good. ISO 6400 only shows a little noise, while the fastest settings of ISO 12800 and 25600 are quite a lot noisier but still retain saturation and fine detail, making them perfectly usable for small prints and resizing for web use.

The Ricoh GR handled chromatic aberrations very well with limited purple fringing effects appearing only in high contrast situations. The 16 megapixel images were just a little soft straight out of the camera at the default sharpen setting of Normal and either require some further sharpening in an application like Adobe Photoshop, or you should increase the in-camera sharpening level. The Dynamic Range mode works well, resulting in images that have noticeably more dynamic range that those shot in the Normal mode.

The night photograph was excellent, with the maximum shutter speed of 300 seconds and the Bulb mode allowing you to capture enough light for most situations. Macro performance is OK, allowing you to focus as close as 10cm away from the subject. The built-in flash worked well indoors, with no red-eye and adequate overall exposure.

Noise

There are 9 ISO settings available on the Ricoh GR. Here are some 100% crops which show the noise levels for each ISO setting for both JPEG and RAW files.

JPEG

RAW

ISO 100 (100% Crop)

ISO 100 (100% Crop)

iso100.jpg iso100raw.jpg
   

ISO 200 (100% Crop)

ISO 200 (100% Crop)

iso200.jpg iso200raw.jpg
   

ISO 400 (100% Crop)

ISO 400 (100% Crop)

iso400.jpg iso400raw.jpg
   

ISO 800 (100% Crop)

ISO 800 (100% Crop)

iso800.jpg iso800raw.jpg
   

ISO 1600 (100% Crop)

ISO 1600 (100% Crop)

iso1600.jpg iso1600raw.jpg
   

ISO 3200 (100% Crop)

ISO 3200 (100% Crop)

iso3200.jpg iso3200raw.jpg
   

ISO 6400 (100% Crop)

ISO 6400 (100% Crop)

iso6400.jpg iso6400raw.jpg
   

ISO 12800 (100% Crop)

ISO 12800 (100% Crop)

iso12800.jpg iso12800raw.jpg
   

ISO 25600 (100% Crop)

ISO 25600 (100% Crop)

iso25600.jpg iso25600raw.jpg

Focal Range

The Ricoh GR's fixed lens offers a wide-angle focal length of 28mm, as illustrated below.

28mm

focal_range1.jpg

Sharpening

Here are two 100% crops which have been Saved as Web - Quality 50 in Photoshop. The right-hand image has had some sharpening applied in Photoshop. The out-of-the camera images are a little soft at the default sharpening setting of Normal. You can change the in-camera sharpening level to one of the preset levels if you don't like the default look.

Original (100% Crop)

Sharpened (100% Crop)

sharpen1.jpg sharpen1a.jpg
   
sharpen2.jpg sharpen2a.jpg

Chromatic Aberrations

The Ricoh GR handled chromatic aberrations excellently during the review, with very limited purple fringing present around the edges of objects in certain high-contrast situations, as shown in the example below.

Chromatic Aberrations 1 (100% Crop)

chromatic1.jpg

Macro

The Ricoh GR offers a Macro setting that allows you to focus on a subject that is 10cm away from the camera when the lens is set to wide-angle. The first image shows how close you can get to the subject (in this case a compact flash card). The second image is a 100% crop.

Macro

Macro (100% Crop)

macro1.jpg macro1a.jpg

Flash

The flash settings on the Ricoh GR are Auto, Red-eye-Reduction, Flash On, Slow Synchro, Manual Flash, and Flash Off. These shots of a white coloured wall were taken at a distance of 1.5m.

Flash Off - Wide Angle (28mm)

Flash On - Wide Angle (28mm)

ISO 64 ISO 64

And here are some portrait shots. As you can see, neither the Flash On or the Red-eye-Reduction settings caused any red-eye.

Flash On

Flash On (100% Crop)
flash_on.jpg flash_on1.jpg
   

Red-eye Reduction

Red-eye Reduction (100% Crop)

flash_redeye.jpg flash_redeye1.jpg

Night

The Ricoh GR's maximum shutter speed is 300 seconds, which is excellent news if you're seriously interested in night photography, and there's also a Bulb setting for even longer exposures. The shot below was taken using a shutter speed of 20 seconds at ISO 100. I've included a 100% crop of the image to show what the quality is like.

Night

Night (100% Crop)

night1.jpg night1a.jpg

Dynamic Range Compensation

When the Ricoh GR is in the Dynamic Range Compensation mode it takes a single shot and attempts to expand the dyanamic range. Here is an example which was shot with Off and then the three modes (Weak, Medium and Strong).

Off

Dynamic Range - Weak

dynamic_range_01.jpg dynamic_range_02.jpg
   

Dynamic Range - Medium

Dynamic Range - Strong

dynamic_range_03.jpg dynamic_range_04.jpg

Image Effects

The Ricoh GR has an extensive range of creative Effects which can be applied to both JPEG and RAW files, with 9 different options on offer which can be accessed via the new Effects button on the side of the camera.

Off

Black & White

effects_01.jpg effects_02.jpg
   

B&W (TE)

Hi-Contrast B&W

effects_03.jpg effects_04.jpg
   

Cross Process

Positive Film

effects_05.jpg effects_06.jpg
   

Bleach Bypass

Retro

effects_07.jpg effects_08.jpg
   

Miniaturize

High Key

effects_09.jpg effects_10.jpg

Sample Images

This is a selection of sample images from the Ricoh GR camera, which were all taken using the 16 megapixel Fine JPEG setting. The thumbnails below link to the full-sized versions, which have not been altered in any way.

Sample RAW Images

The Ricoh GR enables users to capture RAW and JPEG format files. We've provided some Ricoh RAW (DNG) samples for you to download (thumbnail images shown below are not 100% representative).

Sample Movie & Video

This is a sample movie at the highest quality setting of 1920x1080 at 30 frames per second. Please note that this 22 second movie is 64.6Mb in size.

Product Images

Ricoh GR

Front of the Camera

 
Ricoh GR

Front of the Camera / Lens Extended

 
Ricoh GR

Front of the Camera / Pop-up Flash

 
Ricoh GR

Side of the Camera

 
Ricoh GR

Side of the Camera

 
Ricoh GR

Side of the Camera

 
Ricoh GR

Side of the Camera

 
Ricoh GR

Rear of the Camera

 
Ricoh GR

Rear of the Camera / Image Displayed

 

Ricoh GR

Rear of the Camera / Turned On

 
Ricoh GR

Rear of the Camera / ADJ Menu

 
Ricoh GR

Rear of the Camera / Main Menu

 
Ricoh GR

Top of the Camera

 
Ricoh GR

Bottom of the Camera

 
Ricoh GR

Side of the Camera

 
Ricoh GR

Side of the Camera

 
Ricoh GR

Front of the Camera

 
Ricoh GR

Front of the Camera

 
Ricoh GR

Memory Card Slot

 
Ricoh GR

Battery Compartment

Conclusion

A camera with a fixed 28mm lens and no built-in viewfinder is never going to be everyone's cup of tea, but if you're in the market for a responsive, full-featured, understated and pocketable camera that delivers outstanding still images, then look no further than the new Ricoh GR.

In a departure from all previous GR models, the Ricoh GR (V) features a larger APS-C image sensor that delivers great results. There's almost no noise from the base sensitivity of ISO 100 all the way up to 3200, with the higher settings of 6400, 12,800 and even to a lesser extent 25,600 all perfectly usable for smaller prints - very impressive for any 1.5x sensor, never mind one housed in a humble compact camera. The tack-sharp 28mm lens and the on-trend absence of an optical low-pass filter both improve the image quality further, with the option of the ubiquitous Adobe DNG RAW format if you want to take control, complete with in-camera RAW processing.

The Ricoh GR also excels in the speed department, with snappy autofocusing, fast power-on, shutter-lag and shot-to-shot times, and even 4fps burst mode for both unlimited JPEGs and a small number of RAW files. The proven Snap AF mode makes the GR perfect for street-shooters, with the 35mm crop mode and the 21mm conversion lens very handy for those who desire a closer or wider view than the 28mm lens provides. And once again, the Ricoh GR excels in the customisability department, with three function buttons, three My shooting modes and other customisable controls making this a camera that you truly can setup to suit your way of working, although it does take a while to work out what the best combinations are.

Even the price of the Ricoh GR is appealing. At £599.99 / $799, it's substantially cheaper than its direct competitor, the Nikon Coolpix A, and also cheaper than an APS-C DSLR or compact system camera with a good quality 28mm lens fitted. If you're certain that a 28mm fixed lens will suit your style of shooting, then the Ricoh GR represents something of a bargain and comes Highly Recommended. 

4.5 stars

Ratings (out of 5)
Design 4.5
Features 4.5
Ease-of-use 4.5
Image quality 5
Value for money 4.5

Main Rivals

Listed below are some of the rivals of the Ricoh GR.

Canon PowerShot G1 X

The Canon PowerShot G1 X is a serious compact camera with a large 1.5-inch image sensor. Building on previous G-series models, the G1 X also offers a 4x, 28-112mm zoom lens, 1080p HD video with stereo sound, 3 inch vari-angle screen, optical viewfinder and manual controls. £699 / €799 / $799.99 is a lot of money to pay for a fixed-lens compact camera - read our Canon PowerShot G1 X review to find out if it's worth it.

Fujifilm X20

The Fujifilm X20 is a brand new premium compact camera with a large 2/3-type 12 megapixel sensor and a fast 4x optical zoom lens. Boasting impeccable build-quality, intuitive handling and a long-list of photographer-friendly features, is the Fujifilm X20 the ultimate pocket camera for the avid photographer? Read our Fujifilm X20 review, complete with full-size sample JPEG and raw images, videos and more to find out...

Leica X2

The Leica X2 is a pocket camera for professionals, offering a 16 megapixel APS-C sensor, fast f/2.8, 36mm lens, improved autofocusing and the usual superlative Leica handling and build quality. Is that enough to justify the Leica X2's £1575 / $1995 price tag? Read our in-depth Leica X2 review to find out...

Nikon Coolpix A

The Nikon Coolpix A is a new pocket camera for professionals. The Nikon A features the same 16 megapixel APS-C sensor as the D7000 DSLR, a 28mm f/2.8 lens, full manual controls, 1080p HD video recording, a high-resolution 3-inch LCD screen and 4fps burst shooting. Read our in-depth Nikon Coolpix A review to find out if this justifies the £999.99 / $1099.95 price-tag...

Olympus XZ-2

The new Olympus XZ-2 is a serious compact that's aimed at the enthusiast and professional user looking for a small yet capable camera. A 12 megapixel 1/1.7 inch CMOS sensor, fast f/1.8 maximum aperture, high-res 3-inch tilting touch-screen LCD, and a full range of manual shooting modes should be enough to grab your attention. Read our expert Olympus XZ-2 review, complete with full-size JPEG, RAW and movie samples.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX7

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX7 is the latest premium compact camera hoping to find a place in a professional photographer's pocket. With the fastest lens of any compact to date, the LX7 also offers an improved 10 megapixel sensor, full 1080p HD movies and an even better control system than the previous LX5 model. Read our in-depth Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX7 review with sample JPEG, RAW and video files now.

Samsung EX2F

The Samsung EX2F is a new pocket camera for serious photographers, sporting a super-bright f/1.4, 3.3x zoom lens, sensible 12 megapixel sensor and a swivelling 3 inch AMOLED screen. 1080p video, RAW shooting, ISO 80-12800, 10fps burst shooting, image stabilisation and full manual controls complete the EX2F's star attractions. Read our Samsung EX2F review to find out if this is the advanced compact camera for you...

Sigma DP1 Merrill

The Sigma DP1 Merrill is a new serious compact camera featuring an intriguing 46 megapixel APS-C sensor from Foveon and a fixed 28mm equivalent lens with a fast aperture of f/2.8. Read our in-depth Sigma DP1 Merrill review to find out what this unique camera is capable of...

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX1

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX1 is the first ever compact camera with a 35mm full-frame sensor. Promising to combine high-end DSLR image quality with compact portability, the Sony RX1 also features a 35mm Carl Zeiss prime lens with a fast maximum aperture of f/2, full 1080p high-definition video, high-resolution 3-inch screen, manual shooting modes, 5fps continuous shooting, ISO range of 50-25,600, and 14-bit raw support. Read our expert Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX1 review to find out if it's the best compact camera ever made...

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 is an exciting new premium compact camera. A large "1.0-type" 20.2 megapixel CMOS sensor, 3.6x 28-100mm lens with a fast maximum aperture of F1.8, full 1080p high-definition video with stereo sound, high-resolution 3-inch screen, manual shooting modes, 10fps continuous shooting, ISO range of 100-12800, Raw support and fast auto-focusing are all present and correct. Read our in-depth Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 review to find out if it's the best pocket camera ever...

Review Roundup

Reviews of the Ricoh GR from around the web.

stevehuffphoto.com »

Isn’t it nice when you have a camera that is small, well made, easy to use, and gives you superb quality out of the box? A camera with accurate colors, good AWB performance and nice high ISO. How about really nice and hassle free out of camera B&W for those times you want to shut out all of the color in the world. If a camera had all of this, along with a nice big fat APS-C sensor and decent Autofocus with a fast-ish wide angle lens built in I think many of us would jump in! Funny enough, it is usually NOT the big expensive cameras that give us all of this hassle free performance. Nope, this all comes from a camera coming in at $799, and let me tell you, it is a superb camera and tag along companion for your day to day life.
Read the full review »

ephotozine.com »

The Ricoh GR is the latest Ricoh GR digital camera, the 5th version of the compact "street" camera. Designed to fit easily into your pocket, the camera has a fixed focal length equivalent to 28mm, with this latest version featuring a much larger 16 megapixel APS-C sensor, without dramatically increasing the size of the camera.
Read the full review »

erickimphotography.com »

Disclaimer aside, I think this is currently hands-down the best bang-for-the-buck digital camera for street photography currently out there right now (will release soon for ~800 USD). I love the compact size, the superb image quality and high-ISO performance, as well as the ergonomics and handling. It has been traveling with me alongside my Leica MP as a second shooter — and the camera seriously kicks ass.
Read the full review »

techradar.com »

Ricoh had a reputation for producing superb 35mm film compact cameras such as the GR I and GR21 that found favour with enthusiast photographers. However, despite producing high quality images, the company's digital compact cameras such as the Ricoh GR II and Ricoh GR Digital IV haven't really attracted the same attention
Read the full review »

Specifications

Type
Camera Type Compact digital camera
Sensor
Type CMOS
Size

APS-C

Total Pixels

approx. 16.9 megapixels

Effective Pixels

approximately 16.2 megapixels

Still

Nb of recorded pixels:

[3:2]4928×3264 (L), 3936×2608 (M), 2912×1936 (S), 1280×864(XS)

[4:3]4352×3264 (L), 3488×2608 (M), 2592×1936(S), 1152×864(XS)

[1:1]3264×3264(L), 2608×2608(M), 1936×1936(S), 864×864 (XS)

Nb of individual recorded pixels:

L:4928×3264, 4352×3264, 3264×3264

M:3936×2608, 3488×2608, 2608×2608

S:2912×1936, 2592×1936, 1936×1936

XS:1280×864, 1152×864, 864×864

Movie

 

Sensitivity

Sensibility: Auto, AUTO-HI, Manual ISO 100 - 25600

Auto ISO rang: ISO 100-800(ISO AUTO)

Auto ISO range for SR: ISO100~25600(ISO AUTO-HI)

Lens
Focal Length

18.3mm, approx. 28mm in 35mm

Aperture: F2.8-16 (Smallest aperture : F16)

Digital Zoom

 

Construction

7 elements in 5 groups (2 aspherical lens elements)

Focusing System
Type

TTL contrast detection auto focus system

Functions

Multi AF (Contrast AF method), Spot AF (Contrast AF method), Pinpoint AF, Subject tracking AF, MF, Snap, in finity, Face recognition priority (only in Auto mode), Continuous

Focus Range (automatic)

Standard : approx. 0.3m to infinity

Macro : Approx. 0.1m to infinity

Largest magnification: approx 0.2X (with Macro mode, and focal length 18.3mm)

Focus Range (manual)

Manual : 0.1m - infinity

AF assist

AF Assist lamp available

Screen
Type

3.0" transparent TFT color LCD, With protective acrylic cover, 160°

LCD Frame rate 60 fps

Resolution

approx. 1.230K dots

Shutter
Speed

1/4000-300 sec, Bulb, Time

Exposure system
Metering

TTL metering in multi, center-weighted, and spot modes with autoexposure lock

Exposure Control

Manual (+4.0 to -4.0EV in increments of 1/3EV); auto bracketing (-2.0EV to +2.0EV, 1/3EV or 1/2 step)

Exposure Modes

Program AE, Aperture priority AE, Shutter priority AE, Shutter/Aperture priority AE, Manual exposure

Compensation

Manual (+4.0 to -4.0EV in increments of 1/3EV); auto bracketing (-2.0EV to +2.0EV, 1/3EV or 1/2 step)

Flash
Type Integrated flash control in serie
Guide Number

5.4 (ISO 100 equivalent)

Modes

Auto, Flash On, Slow Synchro, Manual, AUTO Red-Eye Flash, Flash On Red-Eye, Slow Synchro Red-Eye

Effective Range

0.2m - 3.0m (ISO AUTO)

Exposure Compensation

Available

Exposure Parameters
Modes

Auto shooting mode, Program shift mode, Aperture priority mode, Shutter priority mode, Shutter/Aperture priority mode, Manual exposure mode, Movie, My Settings Mode

Continuous shooting (approx. 4 fps (max. frames at cont. Shoot: 999 frames), Self-timer (2 sec, custom), Interval shooting , Effect bracket, Dynamic range bracket, Contrast bracket, Color space setting, FA/Move Target, Dynamic range compensation, Multiple exposure shooting, Interval composite, Noise reduction, Histogram, Grid Guide, Depth-of-field indicator, Electronic level indicator

Face Recognition

AF&AE available for Auto modes, up to 10 faces

White Balance

Auto, Multi-P AUTO, Outdoors, Shade, Cloudy, Incan descent 1, Incandescent 2, Daylight, Neutral White, Cool White, Warm White, Manual, Details, White Balance Bracket Function

Digital Filter

Black&White, B&W (TE), High Contrast B&W, Cross Pro cess, Positive Film, Bleach Bypass, Retro, Miniaturize, High Key

Movie
Recording

Full HD movie with HDMI terminal

Sound: monaural (audio sampling rate : 32KHz, 16bit, stereo)

Resolution: 1920×1080, 1280×720, 640×480

Movie edit functions: Clip Movie File, Save still image from movie

Playback
Options

Playback Functions:

Auto Rotate, Grid View, Enlarged Display (up to 16×), Slideshow, Resize, Skew Correct, Mode, Level Compen sation, White Balance Compensation, Trim, DPOF Setting, Color Moire Correction, Convert RAW, Clip Movie File, Save still image from movie,Eye-Fi Transfer

Storage
Internal

approximately 54 MB

External

SD/SDHC, SDXC memory card, Eye-Fi card (X2 series) compatible

File Format

Photo format: JPEG (conforms to Exif 2.3), RAW (DNG),

Video format: MPEG-4 AVC/H.264

Special Features
Features

TAv and PASM modes

Dedicated AF-L/AF-C button

Built-in RAW development

Numerous Shortcuts and customizable functions for intuitive operability

Bracketing function / Interval mode / Custom Image / Multiple exposure shooting /Four aspect ratio mode [16:9], [4:3], [3:2], and [1:1]

Various mode effects

Eye-Fi card compatible for easy image transmission to smart phones

Wide range of optional accessories

Electronic level

Noise Reduction Auto, Manual

Start-up time approx. 1 sec

Release time lug approx. 0.03 sec

Language

English, French, Germany, Spanish, Portuguese, Italy, Dutch, Danish, Swedish, Finnish, Polish, Czech, Hunga rian,Turkey, Greek, Russian

Interface
Interface

Video output: NTSC/PAL

USB: High-Speed USB

HDMI: HDMI output terminal (Type D, Micro port)

Power
Source

Rechargeable DB-65 lithium-ion battery,

Optional AC Adapter available

Performance

Capacity Still*: approx. 290 shots

Playback**: Approx. 190 min.

Movie* : approx. 45 min.

*/** (with rechargeable Lithium-ion battery)

Dimensions
Height

6.1 cm

Width

11.7 cm

Depth

3.47 cm

Weight

215g (body only), 245g

Compatibility
PC Windows XP SP3, VistaTM, 7 and 8
 
Mac OS X 10.5 or more recent
Accessories
Included Software

Silkypix Developer Studio 3.0 LE for PENTAX RICOH IMAGING

Kit Content

Rechargeable battery

USB power adapter

Power plug

USB cable

CD

Hand strap

Hot shoe cover

Optional

Rechargeable battery DB-65

Battery charger BJ-6

Leather case

AC adapter AC-5C

AV cable

HDMI cable HC-1

Cable switch CA-2

Lens cap

Hood and adapter

External viewfinder GV-1

External mini viewfinder GV-2

Wide conversion lens 21mm

External Flash TTL GF-1

Leather Hand strap GS-2

Neck strap GS-1

Neck strap ST2

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