Ricoh GR III Owners Thread

Well I bit the bullet and my GR3 arrived yesterday.

Pretty blown away by it to be honest. Quality is fine for my needs, but I'm pretty astounded by how slow I can handhold it. I know it's wide, but 1/2sec for acceptably sharp images is amazing for me. Obligatory cat-test-shot from someone who comes to investigate every time I point a camera at him, coming within min focus distance way too quick. Macro mode FTW. Really nice and sharp and the exposure is bob on too which can be tricky for a black cat. Pocketable, and feels good in the hand.

 
Looking at the GR3 but unsure which focal point. Want a simple travel camera to snap the family in the moment on their holidays with me and capture some of the places we're seeing. Yes I have a phone but sometimes the ergonomics aren't great and want to hand to my partner to snap with me in the scene.

28mm vs 40mm both have the uses.

Perhaps the 28mm and punch into 35mm or crop later as files more forgiving than the 12mp phone files at cropping.
 
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redlion said:
Looking at the GR3 but unsure which focal point. Want a simple travel camera to snap the family in the moment on their holidays with me and capture some of the places we're seeing. Yes I have a phone but sometimes the ergonomics aren't great and want to hand to my partner to snap with me in the scene.

28mm Vs 40mm both have the uses.

Perhaps the 28mm and punch into 35mm or crop later as files more forgiving than the 12mp camera files at cropping.
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The beauty of the GRiii is that it is so portable, you can take it anywhere unobtrusively.
Auto-area AF works well and tracking is supposed to be good - always defaulting to the centre so you know where it is.
Snap focus is useful and snap focus distance priority gives you control of DOF.
I have a button dedicated to Crop so I can select it in camera if I choose but the IQ is so good cropping later works well.
RAW processing in camera is interesting too. :)
 
redlion said:
Looking at the GR3 but unsure which focal point. Want a simple travel camera to snap the family in the moment on their holidays with me and capture some of the places we're seeing. Yes I have a phone but sometimes the ergonomics aren't great and want to hand to my partner to snap with me in the scene.

28mm vs 40mm both have the uses.

Perhaps the 28mm and punch into 35mm or crop later as files more forgiving than the 12mp phone files at cropping.
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I went through the same thinking and bought the 28mm as easier to crop than add!
 
I have the 40mm, and almost always crop something from the edges, not with the in-camera pre cropper but in post.
 
I've seen a few photographers singing the praises of the GR3's lately. They make a very good argument. Apparently the battery is rather small though. I'm curious to know how many shots people are getting out of theirs.
 
Plain Nev said:
I've seen a few photographers singing the praises of the GR3's lately. They make a very good argument. Apparently the battery is rather small though. I'm curious to know how many shots people are getting out of theirs.
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I don't have a definitive answer because I don't count and my activity varies, however, mostly one battery will last a day+.
I have 2 x 3rd party spare batteries and I have only ever had to use part of a 2nd ... they are very small & light to carry.
Having said that I can say much the same for my Leica Q
 
Mine is fine and I've been using it quite a bit lately. I don't count the shots.

I did invest in a battery charger - because Lord knows how long the USB port door will last continually coming off and on - and got 2 free batteries with it. With the extra (OEM) one I purchased with the camera, that makes 4. As Gramps says, they're very small and pocketable, so it's not a big issue for me either.
 
Harlequin565 said:
Mine is fine and I've been using it quite a bit lately. I don't count the shots.

I did invest in a battery charger - because Lord knows how long the USB port door will last continually coming off and on - and got 2 free batteries with it. With the extra (OEM) one I purchased with the camera, that makes 4. As Gramps says, they're very small and pocketable, so it's not a big issue for me either.
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There’s a view, maybe Ricoh shares it, that any extra weight is more convenient in the pocket than in the camera.
 
Plain Nev said:
I've seen a few photographers singing the praises of the GR3's lately. They make a very good argument. Apparently the battery is rather small though. I'm curious to know how many shots people are getting out of theirs.
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I got around 180 shots on my first usage for an evening family event. Battery is tiny but glad it charges via USB-C for quick burst charge. Would definitely get another battery for days on the road.
 
Gave the GR III a good going over the past week. It's such an interesting camera. It's like nothing I've used in the past from my time with a Lumix G3, Sony RX100 or Fuji X-T20. Love the compact form factor as slipped in the pocket or slim case to throw into the day bag.

The 28mm was great on my travels as it gave varied shots from landscape to environmental portraits and fact same FOV as a mobile meant the family could snap away.

The only -ve was the family got some out of focus shots as too used to using a mobile phone and didn't always focus on the faces. Hopefully with time they get better.

The 35 and 50 crop came in super handy for a few shots where was seated and couldn't move in as much.

The camera had a few gremlins though as sometimes wouldn't switch off or wouldn't turn off or let me preview the images. It'd throw an error and had to take the battery out.

With all that said I loved the 20mm (40 equivalent) on the Lumix and 27mm (40.5) on the Fuji so wondering about the GR IIIx now that I'm home again to see how I'd fare with that.

My main shots are family orientated so did like cropping into the 35/50 which gave me some good results.

6400 ISO was also usable over a phone and the IBIS handy for lower shutter.
 
redlion said:
sometimes wouldn't switch off or wouldn't turn off or let me preview the images. It'd throw an error and had to take the battery out.
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That's odd, never experienced it myself - did you buy it new?
 
gramps said:
That's odd, never experienced it myself - did you buy it new?
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Amazon Warehouse. It happened again yesterday whereby said couldn't zoom into image on playback. Might need to speak to Amazon on sorting it out.

Amazed at 1/6 shots during low light.
 
1/30sec, ISO 1250. This is a really good camera for low light.

R0000158.jpg
 
Production issues for Ricoh.


Full press release from Ricoh Japan:

Notice and apology regarding temporary suspension of orders for high-end compact digital camera RICOH GR series

Dear customers,

Thank you very much for your continued patronage of Ricoh Imaging products.

The RICOH GR series of high-end compact digital cameras has been well received by a large number of customers, and we have received orders that far exceed our plans. Currently, we are increasing production in order to deliver products as soon as possible, but the situation continues to be unable to keep up with production, and customers who have already placed orders are also waiting for delivery.

Therefore, we regret to inform you that we will temporarily stop accepting orders for the RICOH GR series from today.

We deeply apologize for the inconvenience caused to our customers.

We will resume accepting orders when a stable supply can be expected. We will notify you again on our website regarding when orders will resume.

We will do our best to deliver the product as soon as possible, so we appreciate your understanding.

Products subject to suspension of orders:

  • RICOH GR III
  • RICOH GR IIIx
  • RICOH GR III Diary Edition
  • RICOH GR IIIx Urban Edition
Source: Ricoh Japan
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Wonder where this leaves the GR iii successor? :(
 
gramps said:
Production issues for Ricoh.




Wonder where this leaves the GR iii successor? :(
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I read this the other day, and the author said/assumed it was to make way for the successor.

Have you still got yours Gramps?
 
d00d said:
I read this the other day, and the author said/assumed it was to make way for the successor.

Have you still got yours Gramps?
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I sold mine in the end David and hoped that a successor would be due this month after a video I watched where one of the Ricoh guys was being interviewed but alas not et.
I've considered getting another (but GR iiix), or a Fuji X100F/V ... and I did try a F/F Sony RX1R, which was nice but had issues so I had to send it back.
Bobbing between stick with the Leica Q or get a 2nd camera atm. :facepalm:
 
... interesting, you think you now prefer the GR3X over the GR3.

I must get out more and use mine.
 
This might explain why I didn't see anything much from Ricoh at the Photoshow. One less temptation. Unless I go back and look a bit harder... it's not that far away and I have a free ticket to use up.....
 
Chipper said:
This might explain why I didn't see anything much from Ricoh at the Photoshow. One less temptation. Unless I go back and look a bit harder... it's not that far away and I have a free ticket to use up.....
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Go get some first hand gossip and report back. ;)
 
gramps said:
Big disappointment?
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I thought initially it was some sort of early April fools joke to be honest, until I saw it advertised on wex for pre-order. I would have thought with all of this time that has passed lets make this camera weatherproof, fix the control wheel issue and maybe some new features on the firmware and maybe a new lens. I suppose we should be thankful to Ricoh they really are thinking so far outside of that box. :)
 
todders said:
I thought initially it was some sort of early April fools joke to be honest, until I saw it advertised on wex for pre-order. I would have thought with all of this time that has passed lets make this camera weatherproof, fix the control wheel issue and maybe some new features on the firmware and maybe a new lens. I suppose we should be thankful to Ricoh they really are thinking so far outside of that box. :)
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Weather-sealing.
30-40mp.
Monochrome.
Just three of the repeated requests from users ... but £1k+ for a mist filter? :thinking:
 
gramps said:
Weather-sealing.
30-40mp.
Monochrome.
Just three of the repeated requests from users ... but £1k+ for a mist filter? :thinking:
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It's a real missed opportunity for sure, I think if I wanted to shoot like this I will just use my film camera I might dust my Zeiss Werra off for an outing. Would love to see all these upgrades but especially monochrome. Who knows it may happen then again I never thought Pentax would make another film camera, I was really disappointed to see the half frame but glad they are doing something different I suppose.
 
Weather-sealing and a tilting screen would be nice. It'll probably happen one day, no rush.

:p
 
Used a NISI filter holder today with a 1/8th Black Mist filter attached.
I had thought that it might be too bulky but it was fine and actually proved useful in not revealing when the lens was out or retracted.
Anyone else used any filters with the GR?
 
Well just bought a used GRiiix - arrives Tuesday, so will see how I get on with the different focal length.
I don't imagine it will take over from the GRiii and I have concerns that I will lose part of the scene that I don't want to lose, but I could be surprised. :)
 
Been out with the GRiiix this afternoon.
It's quite different in use to the GRiii, although I hadn't taken time to properly set it up.
It's easy to chop things out of the frame and focus didn't always work, though it did stay at f2.8 for much of the time due to not being setup properly.
Will see how I get on with it, having been used to the 28mm. :)
 
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Took my GRiii down Route 66 these last few weeks. Since buying this camera I've loved it more than any of my others, and have used it almost exclusively. That said, I did umm and ahh about taking my Pansonic Lumix GX80 this time, maybe with a 12-35. But even though the Lumix is small, it's still not pocketable the way the Ricoh is. So the Ricoh won out.

Alas, in the super-bright sunshine of New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, and California I was shooting blind. Couldn't see the screen, couldn't see the settings, it was point, shoot, and hope - and review later in the hotel room. So I think, for a travel camera I'm going to have to go back to something with a viewfinder. Still love the GRiii, though, especially for UK street work in the gloom and rain.

All that said, I'm pleased with some of the shots of the Giftshop Highway and will post them in a separate thread :)

Derek
 
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