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 II produced images of outstanding quality during the review period. The GR II 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 II 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 II. 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)
ISO 200 (100% Crop)	ISO 200 (100% Crop)
ISO 400 (100% Crop)	ISO 400 (100% Crop)
ISO 800 (100% Crop)	ISO 800 (100% Crop)
ISO 1600 (100% Crop)	ISO 1600 (100% Crop)
ISO 3200 (100% Crop)	ISO 3200 (100% Crop)
ISO 6400 (100% Crop)	ISO 6400 (100% Crop)
ISO 12800 (100% Crop)	ISO 12800 (100% Crop)
ISO 25600 (100% Crop)	ISO 25600 (100% Crop)

Focal Range

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

28mm

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)

Chromatic Aberrations

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

Macro

The Ricoh GR II 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)

Flash

The flash settings on the Ricoh GR II 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)

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)
Red-eye Reduction	Red-eye Reduction (100% Crop)

Night

The Ricoh GR II'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 15 seconds at ISO 100.

Night	Night (100% Crop)

Dynamic Range Compensation

When the Ricoh GR II 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 - Medium	Dynamic Range - Strong

Sample Images

This is a selection of sample images from the Ricoh GR II 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 II 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

Product Images

Front of the Ricoh GR II

Front of the Ricoh GR II / Lens Extended

Front of the Ricoh GR II / Pop-up Flash

Side of the Ricoh GR II

Side of the Ricoh GR II

Side of the Ricoh GR II

Side of the Ricoh GR II

Rear of the Ricoh GR II

Rear of the Ricoh GR II / Image Displayed

Rear of the Ricoh GR II / Turned On

Rear of the Ricoh GR II / ADJ Menu

Rear of the Ricoh GR II / Main Menu

Top of the Ricoh GR II

Bottom of the Ricoh GR II

Side of the Ricoh GR II

Side of the Ricoh GR II

Front of the Ricoh GR II

Front of the Ricoh GR II

Memory Card Slot

Battery Compartment

Conclusion

It's hard to get excited about a new camera that principally only adds wi-fi and NFC connectivity to its predecessor. The new Ricoh GR II certainly takes the title of "Smallest Upgrade Ever", with just a handful of other minor new features to justify the full RRP of £599.99 / $799. Still, the original Ricoh GR was an excellent camera in its own right, so while we wouldn't suggest (at all) that owners of that camera should rush out to upgrade, the Ricoh GR II remains an attractive proposition if you're looking for a responsive, full-featured, understated and pocketable camera that delivers outstanding still images.

The Ricoh GR II (V) features a large 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 II 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 an increased number of RAW files. The proven Snap AF mode makes the GR perfect for street-shooters, with the 35mm/47mm crop modes and the 21mm conversion lens very handy for those who desire a closer or wider view than the 28mm lens provides. The Ricoh GR II 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.

So although the Ricoh GR II is only a tiny step forward for the GR-series, feeling more like a stop-gap product rather than a fully-fledged new camera, its undeniably still a pleasure to shoot with, and importantly there are still very few direct competitors in the market. If the prospect of a small and discrete camera with a fixed 28mm lens and APS-C sensor sets your pulse racing, then despite its lack of technological progress, the Ricoh GR II is still well worth considering. We just hope that Ricoh up the ante for the next model...

Ratings (out of 5)
Design	4.5
Features	4.5
Ease-of-use	4.5
Image quality	5
Value for money	4

Main Rivals

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

Review Roundup

Reviews of the Ricoh GR II from around the web.

Specifications

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