Ricoh has announced the launch of a new version of its GR family (which has been on the market for more than 20 years); but no, it is not a GR IV but the Ricoh GR IIIx, an almost traced version of the GR III that improves its autofocus and, above all, “brings another point of view to street photography“And it does swapping your usual 28mm prime lens for a 40mm one (in both cases 35mm equivalent focal length), closer to the field of view of the human eye.
For the rest, the Ricoh GR IIIx hardly differs from its range sister (which we saw for the first time at the 2018 Photokina and was launched at the beginning of the following year), maintaining the idea of offering a high quality compact specialized in street photography.
For this, the new model continues to bet on the same APS-C CMOS sensor from 24 megapixels (without low pass filter) and processor GR Engine 6, the SR stabilizer and all the specifications that make the GR III one of the most interesting advanced compacts on the market.
A new optics
The new goal 26.1mm f2.8 “provides a standard angle of view that provides images with a more natural perspective and a more faithful sense of depth for a completely different street photography“. At a technical level, optics incorporates two aspherical elements thinking of “reduce distortion and chromatic aberration to a minimum, while effectively minimizing the generation of flare and ghosting in backlights“.
Other interesting features of the lens are its minimum focusing distance of only twelve centimeters (which do not make it suitable for macro photography) and the inclusion of a neutral density filter “that closes the aperture in two steps to capture high-contrast, high-resolution images“.
Its luminosity remains at the same value (ƒ2.8) which allows, thanks to the nine-blade diaphragm, to create “a natural bokeh effect and a true sense of depth with larger apertures“.
The other major new feature of the Ricoh GR IIIx is its revamped focusing system, a “High-speed, high-precision hybrid AF system […] combining superior precision contrast autofocus mechanism with phase detection AF that ensures high-speed focusing operation“. Thanks to this system, now the camera will have face and eye detection.
This feature, which will also be coming to the GR III via a firmware update, will work “with precision“and will be able to discriminate the main subject from the secondary ones when there are several in the same plane.
In addition, there are also other minor news, like the new function DOF priority to prioritize aperture, the moire correction function in image playback, an electronic level to check camera tilt, and an interval composition mode, “effective for capturing landscapes in the wake of the moon and stars“.
Otherwise, the Ricoh GR IIIx will use the same battery rechargeable than the GR III and hardly differs in thickness two millimeters major (its measurements are 109.4 x 61.9 x 35.2) and a weight that rises by five grams (for a total of 262 grams). Finally, the camera will arrive with new accessories designed for her; among others a conversion lens that extends the focal length to 75 mm in universal pitch and 107 mm with crop and the GV-3 mini-viewer, with a guide adapted to the new 40 mm focal length.
Price and availability
The two models next to each other to verify that they are practically the same.
The Ricoh GR IIIx will be available to end of this September with a recommended price of 999 euros (one hundred euros more than the GR III).