New 24-MP Ricoh GR III is Coming

In another development announcement for Photokina, Ricoh says the upcoming GR III will be smaller than the current camera and have a 24-MP sensor, up from 16. The lens will still have the same 28mm ƒ/2.8 spec, but is redesigned. The body now has 3-axis SR (Shake Reduction, Ricoh's and Pentax's name for IS) which is also used to simulate an anti-aliasing filter for reducing moiré and color effects. The viewing monitor is now a touchscreen and sports a 3:2 ratio.

The Ricoh GR is almost a cult camera, beloved by owners for its simplicity, pocketability, and excellence.

Slated for early 2019, the price of the new camera has not yet been announced.

Mike

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Comments

[Stanleyk]

Ouch....I am trying to save for the GFX 50R.

[Ned Bunnell]

My immediate reaction to the news about the upcoming GRIII...

https://instagram.com/p/BoJyPuslI_W/

Cheers,
Ned

[John Krumm]

Funny, all these improvements make me nervous, especially a lens redesign. The 28 mm lens in the GR is a little miracle. But you have to expect they know this and are at least matching the performance. Good to see another generation of a unique camera.

[Jonathan Auch]

The GR is/was my favorite camera of all time. Changed the way I shoot on the street. But I hear rumor that the new GR doesn't have a pop-up flash?! Absolutely devastating. Don't they know their own creative history? Have a look at Daido's work, mostly GR (film) and almost all with flash...

Also disappointed there still isn't going to be a tilt screen, a selfie tilt screen would've been especially nice. If Sony can do it on their RX100 series, certainly Ricoh can manage.

[Maggie Osterberg]

Since I developed a slight motor tremor, I'm over the moon that one of my favorite cameras will come with IS, opening up low light, non-flash shooting for me again!

[Trevor Johnson]

The next Ricoh GR will be smaller, why? It's fine as it is. I hope the old converter lens, (20mm effective), works with it, but I doubt if it will.

Sometimes there is some moiré, but that's very rare.

The GR is my favourite ever digital camera, and if the new one is too different from the present, I shall buy another one and squirrel it away.

[DNY]

Sigh. As one of the cult followers, I am a but underwhelmed by the news. I will likely keep on shooting with my beloved GRII until it dies from dust inhalation.

[Stan B.]

Don't generally use the flash, but it is good to have- what it could most use is a tilt screen. And messing with that lens kinda makes me nervous...

[Christopher May]

I commend Ricoh on continuing this line and making it more appealing with each generation.

My "carry everywhere" camera is a Nikon Coolpix A that was similar to the original Ricoh GR. I enjoy the Nikon user interface since it matches my Nikon DSLRs and wish that Nikon had kept developing the Coolpix A the way Ricoh has been doing with the GR. Alas, I think Nikon missed the mark with the pricing on the A. The original pricing effected a lukewarm reception for the A and I think that left enough of a bad taste in management's mouth for any potential follow-ups to be relegated to the dustbin of development.

That's really a shame, too. Every time I open one of my Coolpix A files, it always surprises me. The 16MP sensor in the A has been a favorite of mine since the days when I had a Pentax K-5 and a Nikon D7000. Stripped of the AA filter and paired with a very capable lens, it really sings. The part that amazes me the most, though, is that they shoe-horned all of that into a tiny little package that is easy to bring along.

The new Ricoh seems like it will build on the strengths of its predecessor and will be even more appealing for its little niche in the photo world. I may need to get past my reservations about using another user interface and pick up a GR III when they become available. The addition of Shake Reduction would just about perfect this style of camera and would be a welcome companion for daily life!

[Dennis]

Bummed that they didn’t add a tilt screen. Otherwise it’d be a perfect fit for me.

[Andre]

Finally, a desirable piece of kit I can actually afford. I'm seriously tempted to downgrade on my next smartphone refresh and supplement it with a GR instead. Somehow a $200 smartphone and a GR III sounds more tempting than an iPhone X.

[Tim Bradshaw]

I still live in hope that they'll do a GRish camera with a 40-50mm (equivalent) lens. I would buy that instantly.

(I would probably seem cooler if I had a stronger opinion on exactly what focal length -- '43-45 mm or I wn't buy it' -- but having stuck to 50 for a very long time (mostly because the Pentax 50/1.4 spoiled me although I did not realise this at the time, I think I can live with anything in that range now.)

[Andre Y]

On the topic of cult cameras, my vacation camera carry is a Ricoh GR and the Sigma DP3 Merrill, which is what I have with me right now on a tropical island. Not only because I adore both cameras, but they also use the same batteries and their fields of view are complimentary.

So the prospect of a new GR and a full-frame Foveon sensor (whose lenses can be shared with more conventional cameras) really excites me!

[Oskar Ojala]

Very exciting! I'm another Nikon Coolpix A user, but the sensor and AF of the A are a bit long in the tooth, which becomes apparent when using my main camera. This update promises a number of key improvements, like the high resolution which will be useful in having a little room for cropping and keeping moire low.

[beuler]

I always wonder why makers of successful single focal length cameras don't branch out into other focal lengths. Where is the GR III 21mm f4 or GR III 35mm f2?

Or how about a Fujifilm X121 (an X100 camera with 14mm lens) or Fujifilm X170 (an X100 camera with 50mm lens)? I am sure there are many photographers not buying these cameras because the focal length does not suit them. And I also think that some photographers would happily own 2 or 3 X100 or GR cameras with different focal lengths.

[Jonathan Auch]

DPreview has posted pictures of the new GR prototype...

Perhaps, I am in the minority, but this new Ricoh GR prototype is a complete failure.

They've gutted the familiarity of the camera and the controls, with little to no added functionality (touchscreen aside).

I am actually flabbergasted.

It seems like they have lost the plot. Do they not know the history of their own camera???

I have been looking at Daido Moriyama's new book 'Record', and many of the pictures were made with the GR, most with the onboard flash...

They removed TaV mode, function buttons (back and side), exposure comp rocker, back-button focus, and most disappointingly the pop-up flash...

They've screwed the pooch and did not add a tilt/selfie screen, EVF/OVF, or 4k video...

They've replaced the back 4-way selector with one of those damn selector wheels, which have always been terrible on every camera.

All for the sake of what? A few centimeters? The camera was plenty small before.

If anything give us a just slightly larger camera, with integrated viewfinder and flash, tilt screen, better IBIS, and weather sealing...

If Sony can do this with its RX100 series, there is really no excuse.

[Andre Y]

I came here to post similar sentiments as Jonathan. The DPR photo on page 5 of their preview tells me that someone who doesn't understand the GR ethos got to redesign and ruin what was arguably the most perfect camera interface on the market.

The deletion of the AFL/AEL button makes using back-button focus now impossible or difficult. No other button falls to hand as easily on the back of the new GRIII.

The deletion of the vertical +/- lever on the right shoulder makes me worried about the possible loss of one of the best features of the GR (and some Pentax cameras): pressing that lever instantly set the exposure settings in manual mode to what's being metered. This is really useful in manual mode if, for example, you point the camera from something very dark to something very bright: instead of toggling through umpteen shutter speed and/or aperture settings to get to the new exposure, just point the camera, press the lever, and the camera meters and sets the appropriate settings. It's sort of like AE-L in P mode, but frozen until you press the lever. I hope that makes sense.

Anyway, set to spotmeter mode, and using the fast-set feature above, the GR's exposure can be more precisely, consistently, and quickly set than any other camera out there. It's one of those features that help make the GR such a seamless extension of one's eyes and brain.

The rotating 4-way controller was a disaster on my Sony NEX-5. I can't believe anyone would use such a flawed, wrongheaded control: it's so easy to accidentally press it in the wrong way when you are trying to rotate it but there it is in the new GRIII.

Oh well, I guess there's some money saved and perhaps spent instead on an L- or Z-mount camera.

[David Mantripp]

Looks pretty much like a GR (re)designed by Pentax engineers.

Very, very disappointing. I can’t see who will buy this.