Ricoh GR comparative review: Digital Photography Review

Studio scene comparison (RAW)

This is our standard studio scene comparison shot taken from exactly the same tripod position. Lighting: daylight simulation, >98% CRI. Crops are 100%. Ambient temperature was approximately 22°C (~72°F).

For this scene we use our standard RAW workflow (sharpening turned off in the raw converter and applied at an equal level in Photoshop before saving as JPEG):

Load RAW file into Adobe Camera RAW (Auto mode disabled)
Set Sharpness to zero (all other settings default)
Open file to Photoshop
Apply a Unsharp mask: 100%, Radius 0.6, Threshold 0
Save as a TIFF (for cropping) and as a JPEG quality 11 for download

Because the Sigma DP1 Merrill is not supported by Adobe Camera Raw, its processing settings are slightly different. For this reason its files will only be visible here and in the Nikon Coolpix A review.

Load RAW file into (Auto mode disabled)
Sharpness set to -2 (all other settings default)
Save as TIFF
Open file to Photoshop
Apply a Unsharp mask: 50%, Radius 0.6, Threshold 0
Save a JPEG quality 11 for download

Note: this page features our new interactive studio shot comparison widget. Click here to find out more.

GearShop

Ricoh GR Compact Camera●

$796.95

Buy on GearShop

Ricoh GR 16.2 MP Digital Camera with 3.0-Inch LED Backlit (Black)	$789.99
Ricoh GR 16.2 MP Digital Camera with 3.0-Inch LED Backlit (Black)	$789.99
RICEP Ricoh GR DIGITAL IV US 10 MP Digital Camera with 1x Optical Zoom and 3-Inch LCD screen (Black)	$478.00
RICOH Degital Camera GR DIGITAL IV	$380.00
RICEP Ricoh GR DIGITAL IV US 10 MP Digital Camera with 1x Optical Zoom and 3-Inch LCD screen (White)	$616.00
Ricoh A12 50mm f/2.5 Macro GR Lens with APS-C 12.3 MP CMOS Sensor	$448.80
RICOH Digital Camera GR DIGITAL III GRDIGITAL3	$336.78
Ricoh GR Digital II, Elegant Point & Shoot 10mp Digital Camera, 4x Digital...	$225.00
Ricoh S10 24-72mm f/2.5-4.4 VC Ricoh LENS with 10MP CCD Sensor	$199.00
Ricoh Gr Digital Iv Digital Camera White Edition ,Limited White	$519.99
Ricoh GXR Interchangeable Unit Digital Camera System with 3-Inch High-Resolution LCD	$156.99

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Comments

Total comments: 11

Ugh!
UGLY Moiré!
M.

0 upvotes

Great litlle camera, would like to have one.
But it would be nice if there could be also a version with eq of 35mm lens.

1 upvote

I've just bought this camera, love it. I work in a camera store so I've had time to make my decision.
I'm not sure if you know this but this camera does have a built in crop feature that allows you to select a 35mm equivalent. Basically when you select this feature the camera crops a 35mm equivalent off of the APS sensor blowing the image up to fill the LCD screen. When in this mode, the camera becomes a 10MP camera.

0 upvotes

Could anyone tell me about the pros and cons of this camera vs a Fuji X camera and vs a Sony RX100 II for street and indoor photography? Especially in low light.

0 upvotes

Hi Michael,
Fuji X cameras (X100, X100S and XPro 1) all are fantastic cameras - but for a street shooter they are more obtrusive than the GR. The GR doesn't look like a serious camera, so you look like someone taking snap shots. All four of these cameras are fantastic in low light. I don't know if you know this but on this site you can go to the review of one camera (in the GR review it would be page 15) and look at a low light comparison. The photo has a cursor so you can move to anywhere on the page - select cameras to compare in raw or jpg,
The RX100 II is a great camera but I would have to say that it's unfair to compare it to the others mentioned here, as the sensor is about one quarter the size of the others. This means, that while the RX100II has high resolution, its pixels are much smaller in size, so they don't perform as well in low light. You can use that comparison page to check this.
BTW, I work in a camera store, and I've just bought the GR for street shooting.

Comment edited 7 minutes after posting

0 upvotes

I work in a camera store, and I've had plenty of time to play with this camera. Over time I had lost the excitement I associated with photography. After all, I get to play with these things 8 hours a day.

I've carried big equipment, shooting everything and enjoying it less.

This camera has reawakened me to completely new possibilities. It looks like a cheesy point and shoot camera - totally unobtrusive on the street - but it shoots amazing images. This is the ultimate street shooters camera - no one will ever know.

I'm impressed with the low light characteristics of the camera and it's easily held in one hand - it has preset distances to minimize auto focus speed, ie., if most of your shots are at 15 feet, you can preset the camera giving you instantaneous AF around 15 ft.

If I were to be super critical I would rather have image stabilization in camera - but it's a small price to pay, and I'll be shooting most everything at higher IS0s (around 800)

This one I have to have.

1 upvote

Dear Ricoh enthusiast,

I really want to buy the GR Expert. I had the GR film version and though it was a stunning camera. On the strength of it I bought the first GRD and was hugely disappointed by it's poor light handling capabilities. I've waited years for Ricoh to improve it and judging by the reviews it's getting they have finally done it. And then I look at the sample images in this review and it just reminds of what I remembered about my first GRD ... flat images, poor contrast, no real sense of depth. Does anyone agree or am I missing something?

0 upvotes

Oh man!!! If you like "a cheap whore"colours then buy Nikon, Sony, Canon compacts, etc. This is not a toy for fanboys!!! Také a pics from your window, donload it and check the reality and comp. screen. Whoa!! Is it real or what!

Comment edited 1 minute after posting

0 upvotes

When an image from a camera is flat and has poor contrast straight from camera, it is often because the camera hasn't added any processing of its own, leaving that to you, the photographer. It's a good thing, leaving you more room to make adjustments in post-processing.

0 upvotes

I like this camera after seeing the IQ compared to the Fuji-X100s and the Nikon-A. but size for size, I think I'd rather carry a Samsung NX300 with one of their several pancake lenses on it, in my pocket. Not much size difference, and you have more versatility than these cameras. Just saying.

(I have an NX20 and am only eyeing these types of cameras because I'd like something smaller to slip into my pocket to have on me at all times)

the interface is definitely a huge deciding factor between these two very similar models. I'll go for direct controls over menus any day.

Comment edited 2 times, last edit 11 minutes after posting

1 upvote

I also have NX10 and some time ago I bought 30/2 lens and it's still "big....." I cary my Ricoh all the time!!!

1 upvote

Total comments: 11