RickCorbishley
Member
I’m a Fuji user who’s just bought the Ricoh GR lllx. This review is purely my impressions as a new user rather than anything technical.
All my life I’ve sought after a small camera that produces excellent quality images. My main interest is street photography and I use a Fuji X100V in the main, although it’s not jeans pocketable. I’m very happy with the Fuji when I’m actually out photographing but there are other times when I want something with me ‘just in case’, something to carry in my jeans or shirt pocket.
Until now I’ve carried a Sony RX100 lll in my pocket but I’ve never liked it. The 1” sensor just isn’t quite big enough and I dislike Sony in use, they are uninspiring and not enjoyable to use, unlike the Fuji.
I was aware of a big following for the Ricoh GR range for street photography but always thought of it as a point and shoot version of the X100V and felt it was a compromise I wasn’t prepared to take; I like the analogue controls of the Fuji cameras. Plus the 28mm equivalent lens was too wide for me.
Then along came the GR lllx with its 40mm equivalent and I decided to take a closer look. It felt good in the hand and was easily jeans pocketable so based on all the very good reviews I decided to take a chance. However, it was clearly going to be compared with the X100V and that is a tall order.
Spoiler – I love it.
First impressions:
I am old school and like analogue controls. I hate delving through menus for something that should be at your fingertips. The GR lllx has a PASM dial, which I hate, but it also has six user settings from which you can quickly select three for different uses. I have ones for street photography, general use, manual control, landscape, portrait, and black and white. A quick turn of the dial changes all the settings as predetermined for your use.
In addition, there are a couple of dials to adjust speed/aperture, a function button, adjustment button within which there are five adjustment options e.g. focus, exposure, image quality etc. and two other buttons in the control dial that can be customised. I find that I normally set my camera up for a particular use then change very little after that. The options to change settings were generally accommodated with the buttons available on the camera so I didn’t feel like I was missing much.
I did wonder about the 40mm lens, as I am used to the 35mm for street, but I find it okay. I miss a zoom for general use, but you can’t have everything. Similarly, there is no viewfinder but the screen is good and responsive to touch. You can fully access the menus using the screen including focus and shooting. You can have it on, with information or not, or switch it off completely; you are then flying blind but may be appropriate in some settings.
There are a number of features that I really like:
You can mount a flash and there are a couple of small ones from Pentax and Metz suited to this camera. They aren’t the most powerful but as there is no inbuilt flash, they work quite well without adding something unwieldy to an otherwise small camera.
Because it is so small, and frankly looks like a basic point and shoot, you are not going to intimidate too many people by pointing this in their direction. But this is one of the strengths of the GR lllx. For street, it is perfect. It all but disappears in the hand and possibly the least obtrusive camera you can buy. If you want to bling it up a bit, you can swap out the ring cap to a bright coloured one which I think looks really good but makes it far more noticeable.
It comes with a USB cable and adapter to charge in camera although you may wish to buy a separate charger. It also comes with a small wrist strap that ties on. I use a Peak Design Cuff strap that works perfectly and with an extra anchor attached, can be changed to carry on my shoulder with the Peak Design leash. I also bought the Ricoh leather case so I can fasten it to my belt; it isn’t cheap but very good quality. Either way, you won’t be struggling with the weight by end of a long day; you will likely not notice it’s there.
It isn’t the most sophisticated of cameras, but the manual is still 170 pages long and there are plenty of settings to play with. It would be better suited to someone with a reasonable degree of photographic experience to get the best from it and it is well worth reading the manual to do just that.
Having said all of the above, I do photography for two reasons; for enjoyment, and to produce a good quality image. This camera is fun to use and the image quality is fantastic. What more can you ask for (perhaps some skills to go with it)?
Would I buy it again? Absolutely; I love it.
All my life I’ve sought after a small camera that produces excellent quality images. My main interest is street photography and I use a Fuji X100V in the main, although it’s not jeans pocketable. I’m very happy with the Fuji when I’m actually out photographing but there are other times when I want something with me ‘just in case’, something to carry in my jeans or shirt pocket.
Until now I’ve carried a Sony RX100 lll in my pocket but I’ve never liked it. The 1” sensor just isn’t quite big enough and I dislike Sony in use, they are uninspiring and not enjoyable to use, unlike the Fuji.
I was aware of a big following for the Ricoh GR range for street photography but always thought of it as a point and shoot version of the X100V and felt it was a compromise I wasn’t prepared to take; I like the analogue controls of the Fuji cameras. Plus the 28mm equivalent lens was too wide for me.
Then along came the GR lllx with its 40mm equivalent and I decided to take a closer look. It felt good in the hand and was easily jeans pocketable so based on all the very good reviews I decided to take a chance. However, it was clearly going to be compared with the X100V and that is a tall order.
Spoiler – I love it.
First impressions:
- Fits easily in a jeans pocket
- Is light to hold but has a nice heft to it
- Feels like a premium camera
- Comfortable to hold with one hand
- Quick to start up and close
- Buttons and dials in the main feel good but the control dial is a bit too sensitive for me
- Screen is clear and easily brightened
- There are several ways to customise the main settings so they are immediately accessible
- It is a prime lens (40mm equivalent which is good for street) but I prefer a zoom for general use
- It isn’t the prettiest of cameras; it looks like a basic point and shoot (that has a plus side).
I am old school and like analogue controls. I hate delving through menus for something that should be at your fingertips. The GR lllx has a PASM dial, which I hate, but it also has six user settings from which you can quickly select three for different uses. I have ones for street photography, general use, manual control, landscape, portrait, and black and white. A quick turn of the dial changes all the settings as predetermined for your use.
In addition, there are a couple of dials to adjust speed/aperture, a function button, adjustment button within which there are five adjustment options e.g. focus, exposure, image quality etc. and two other buttons in the control dial that can be customised. I find that I normally set my camera up for a particular use then change very little after that. The options to change settings were generally accommodated with the buttons available on the camera so I didn’t feel like I was missing much.
I did wonder about the 40mm lens, as I am used to the 35mm for street, but I find it okay. I miss a zoom for general use, but you can’t have everything. Similarly, there is no viewfinder but the screen is good and responsive to touch. You can fully access the menus using the screen including focus and shooting. You can have it on, with information or not, or switch it off completely; you are then flying blind but may be appropriate in some settings.
There are a number of features that I really like:
- It has a feature to expose for the highlights. It often means a generally underexposed image but one that can then be successfully pulled back in editing without blown highlights. I’ve not come across that before and it can be really useful.
- There is a small button to lock the top PASM dial to stop it moving inadvertently. It is easy to use, even one handed, and is a nice and useful touch.
- The snap focus works really well. It is essentially zone focussing, but easy to control with the touch of a button or two (in the absence of focus/aperture rings on the lens). You can set it to focus on 1m, 1.5m, 2m, 2.5m, 5m and infinity, and focus at that point instantly with a full press of the shutter button. This can be turned on or off but is great for street photography.
- It has something called program line. This prioritises either depth of field or maximum aperture when in program mode, whichever you select.
- You can set one of the function buttons to brighten up or darken the screen easily and quickly. Handy in daylight, as there is no viewfinder.
- There are three lanyard holes. You can carry it on a shoulder strap either landscape or portrait if that’s of interest.
You can mount a flash and there are a couple of small ones from Pentax and Metz suited to this camera. They aren’t the most powerful but as there is no inbuilt flash, they work quite well without adding something unwieldy to an otherwise small camera.
Because it is so small, and frankly looks like a basic point and shoot, you are not going to intimidate too many people by pointing this in their direction. But this is one of the strengths of the GR lllx. For street, it is perfect. It all but disappears in the hand and possibly the least obtrusive camera you can buy. If you want to bling it up a bit, you can swap out the ring cap to a bright coloured one which I think looks really good but makes it far more noticeable.
It comes with a USB cable and adapter to charge in camera although you may wish to buy a separate charger. It also comes with a small wrist strap that ties on. I use a Peak Design Cuff strap that works perfectly and with an extra anchor attached, can be changed to carry on my shoulder with the Peak Design leash. I also bought the Ricoh leather case so I can fasten it to my belt; it isn’t cheap but very good quality. Either way, you won’t be struggling with the weight by end of a long day; you will likely not notice it’s there.
It isn’t the most sophisticated of cameras, but the manual is still 170 pages long and there are plenty of settings to play with. It would be better suited to someone with a reasonable degree of photographic experience to get the best from it and it is well worth reading the manual to do just that.
Having said all of the above, I do photography for two reasons; for enjoyment, and to produce a good quality image. This camera is fun to use and the image quality is fantastic. What more can you ask for (perhaps some skills to go with it)?
Would I buy it again? Absolutely; I love it.
