The Ricoh GR for Street Photography

The Ricoh GR for Street Photography

by -
101
The Ricoh GR for Street Photography

Introduction

Streethunters.net is a website that has been going on now for nearly 2 years. I remember when we published our first post in May 2013, we shared it with the world and we got something like 1 or 2 visits. But we didn’t stop. We persisted and since then we have been blessed with a growing number of simply fantastic Readers!

Some of you are active in our highly interactive GooglePlus Community, the SHRC, some prefer to comment here on our website. Others participate in the conversation on our StreetHunters YouTube channel, or the StreetHunters Facebook page. We also get messages from you on our Twitter and our Streethunters.net Flickr Group.

We are so very grateful for your constant involvement and simply amazing ideas and suggestions. We try to do our best to share with you topics that we hope you find interesting and helpful. In return we get your extremely useful feedback in return, your valuable perspective on our work and most importantly we feel how strong your support is. Thank you all.

A couple of months ago, one of you dear Readers named Buru Lwyd, wanted to support Streethunters.net with a unique and special way. It all begun from a simple Social Media post where I expressed my desire about trying out a specific camera. He owns one of those cameras, so he thought it would be a good idea if he sent me his, so I could try it, put it through it’s paces and then let him know what I thought about it. That way I would see for myself if I liked it and I would know if I would be willing to buy one. So, he sent it over to the Streethunters.net HQ here in Crete and I got to spend a couple of months with it. The camera that I had the opportunity to borrow was none other than the King of Street Photography itself, the Ricoh GR!

The Ricoh GR for Street Photography

This is going to be a review of the Ricoh GR 16MP compact camera for Street Photography. Before you read on, I would like to mention that I am not a camera expert. This review is from a totally personal point of view, the point of view of a Street Photographer. I will not examine how good it is for landscape photography, sports, etc. Just Street. If you would like me to add anything to the post, please don’t hesitate to make suggestions in the comments below. During this review I will discuss the Ricoh GR’s size, weight, build quality, handling, performance, features, low light performance, image quality and value.

Size & Weight = Portability

The Ricoh GR for Street Photography

The Ricoh GR is a small camera by many standards. It can easily fit into a loose jeans pocket, any jacket pocket or just lightly hang around one’s neck. It is 117 x 61 x 35 mm (4.61 x 2.4 x 1.38″) and weighs 245g. That is really light and small. During the couple of months I had the Ricoh GR, it lived in my jacket pockets. It never and I mean never stayed at home while I was out. This only is one of the reasons why this camera is so freaking awesome! It is so portable you forget you have it with you. I remember flying to Athens, going without a camera bag, just because I had everything I needed in my pocket. That was a great feeling. Nothing can beat the Ricoh GR in convenience, size and weight, so it get’s a good rating!

Rating: 10

Build quality

The Ricoh GR for Street Photography

The little Ricoh GR is build from a Magnesium alloy and plastic. It feels solid in the hand, like it can go through a lot of hardship. Well, it should be tough if it is meant to survive in pockets. The grip is rubber and the buttons and dials are all plastic but feel perfect. In my opinion the camera doesn’t feel cheap or poorly built. The LCD screen is big at 3”, bright and snappy. A great little camera! The lens is of very high quality. Just what one would expect from the Ricoh GR series.

Rating: 8

Handling

The Ricoh GR for Street Photography

Wow! This is one of the best designed cameras I have ever used! The controls are all where they are suppose to be, the buttons and dials are all super responsive and comfortable and the camera can be operated perfectly well with just one hand! Snap focus is a joy to use and makes the camera super responsive. The Ricoh GR might be a little tricky to set up initially, but once you have got over that, it is a pure joy to use! What really impressed me was the level of customisation the camera allowed me to have. I could even tell it to turn the power switch light off if I liked, so it wouldn’t show in the dark. What a great user experience! Combine that with the unmatched portability and you have one impressively stealthy and practical camera in the palm of your hand. 

When it comes to menus they are easy to understand, even if they are many options to choose from. The 3 MY buttons allow you to switch easily and fast between custom setups so you are ready for any situation with the flick of a button. When using a flash, the Ricoh GR is again easy to use. Just flip the flash up, choose one of the many flash options, adjust exposure and there you have it. Set one of your MY buttons for use with a flash and with the turn of a button and the popping up of the flash you are ready for shooting in the streets with the flash at night! The LCD screen has all the needed information laid out perfectly on it. You will not be looking for options, wasting time. Everything is there in front of you as long as you choose so. Remember, this camera is highly customisable.

Rating: 9

Performance

"Death bed" by Spyros Papaspyropoulos

The Ricoh GR uses a large APS-C sized 16MP image sensor. We will look at the Image Quality later on, but as for the performance of the camera goes with AF, Snap Focus, Manual Focus, etc I will say this. It does what it has to do and it does it well. I used the latest firmware update. Firmware 4.0. In the daylight, Auto Focus was good enough. It wasn’t lightning fast, and sometimes if wasn’t accurate focusing on the backgrounds, but it was good enough for me and the type of Autofocus Street Photography I do. When switching to Snap focus though, the camera transformed into the King of Street Photography. Snap focus for all you that don’t know that term is basically Zone focusing in Ricoh GR lingo. The Ricoh GR offers a menu that gives the user the ability to focus to a certain zone of distance (closest distance and a certain furthest distance). This is graphically represented on the screen and very easy to comprehend and tweak. By using Snap focus the photographer knows what will be in focus. For example I always set the Ricoh to f8.0 chose a focus distance of 2m, that gave me a hyperfocal distance from 1m to infinity. That way I knew that everything I photographed from 1m onwards was in focus. So, all I had to do was worry about my shutter speed and ISO. Luckily the Ricoh GR has the TAV option that lets you set the shutter speed and aperture and automatically changes ISO to meet your requirements. So, combining that with Snap Focus, gives you total freedom in the Streets meaning it performs just great. But I will only rate it with a 7 because it’s Autofocus isn’t the best I have tried. It is good, but that’s it. 

Oh, one more thing. I heard from various fellow Street Photographers that the Ricoh GR suffers from “camera shake”. I didn’t notice anything like that. I managed to shoot photos at 1/15th without any issues what so ever. If the camera is handled properly and the shutter speed is equally or above 1/125th of a second, there should be no camera shake even for the most shaky of photographers. If the camera is still when making photos, there is no camera shake. That means that if someone takes a shot and their whole hands shakes or they are swinging their arm in the air or running or something like that, then camera shake should be expected, as it is with any other camera. What I think is that because it is so small, some photographers tend to think they are shooting with their smartphone that has a very small sensor. This baby packs and APS-C sized sensor. The larger the sensor the more steady one has to be when taking a photo. So, I think they should work on their grip before blaming the Ricoh GR.

Rating: 7

Features 

The Ricoh GR for Street Photography

As for features, wow this camera comes packed with tons of them! One of it’s best features is that you can customise it so much that you can be sure nobody else in the world can have the same set up. Don’t let that scare you. It might be a camera for geeks but it is also very easy to use. I only had to skim the manual to understand how it works and the only reason I did that was because I knew I would have it for a limited amount of time. It is worth to note that you have nearly every feature you can find in a high end DSLR jam packed into your pocket. How cool is that!? Stuff like Silent mode (dead silent), built in ND filters, 2 crop modes (35mm and 47mm equivalent), various auto focusing and exposure options, 3 custom modes, 2 custom function buttons, the fantastic Snap Focus feature and more. You can check out a complete set of features in any official camera review, such as Dpreview.com’s Ricoh GR review.

The bottom line is that If you are a slightly experienced Street Photographer, you will find that this camera performs superbly and that is has all the features that you will ever need in the Street.

All the features but one! There is something that I missed dearly in the Ricoh GR, something that drove me crazy. It doesn’t have a viewfinder. Some of you might not use a viewfinder and might think that this isn’t even worth mentioning, but personally I have been shooting with cameras with built in viewfinders for ever and suddenly using one without one, made me feel exposed and uncomfortable. The LCD screen is great, I can’t complain about that, but I found it very annoying when I was trying to be stealthy at night and I had it shining on my face. I could turn it off, but then I wouldn’t be able to compose. To work around this issue, Ricoh offers two external Optical ViewFinders (OVF) that can be purchased separately but they are just pieces of glass, with no helpful information for focusing, metering and exposing. Not only that, they cost quite a bit, bringing the overall cost of the camera up to non competitive levels. So, this is a huge no no for me and something that made me think twice before getting one of these babies for myself. That 3” screen could have been made smaller to accommodate an EVF. I would have enjoyed the camera more. For this reason it will have to make do with a 7 for features.

Rating: 7

Low light performance

"Date Night" by Spyros Papaspyropoulos

The Ricoh GR has a big sensor. That helps it perform very well in low light situations. At high ISOs the Ricoh has no issues. I managed to shoot easily at 3200, 6400 and even at 8000 ISO. I mostly kept my images in colour up to 3200 and at higher ISOs I converted to Black & White. The results at 6400 Black & White where very satisfying. At 3200 near perfect for a camera that fits into my pocket. This is a very good low light performer given that it comes with one fixed f2.8 lens which isn’t the fastest lens one could hope for. I shot it many times at night and indoors and I have nothing but good experiences from those situations and some pretty technically impressive shots to show.

Rating: 8

Image quality

"Soaking up the sun" by Spyros Papaspyropoulos

I remind you all that this is a compact camera with a fixed lens. So, keeping that in mind if I had to say what I think about the image quality of the Ricoh GR, I would reply with one word only. Great! The image quality is simply great! When I handled the camera properly, meaning that I had a good shutter speed and was focusing on taking a good looking photograph, I got a good photograph with excellent image quality. No doubt about it, the Ricoh GR delivers the goods and can be compared to other great compacts such as the Fujifilm X100 series, the Sony RX100 series, the Panasonic Lumix LX100 and more. This great image quality is the combined result of super sharp glass and a great image sensor that has been stuffed magically into such a small body. Great work there by Ricoh.

Rating: 9

Value 

The Ricoh GR for Street Photography

Currently the Ricoh GR is selling at a very, very impressive price. You can purchase it on Amazon.com new for as low as $596.90 and on Amazon.co.uk new for as low as £439.00. In the rest of Europe it is sold for €599 new. The cost of the camera compared to what it has to offer is very, very good! So, I can’t really say much about this other than it is well worth it’s money! It is more than reasonably priced for what it offers. If you have had doubts getting this camera, don’t. Just go get one now.

Rating: 10

Conclusion

The Ricoh GR is a great camera for Street Photography! It is small, light, silent and when used properly very responsive and accurate. It is one of those cameras that gets better and better with practice. In other words, the better you get, the better the Ricoh GR performs. I sent it back to Buru a week ago and I miss it already. The fact that I could just carry with me such a handy camera at all times was a luxury. Would I use the Ricoh GR as my main camera? Hmmm, even though it is awesome, I would not use it as my main camera. There are things that I miss, such as interchangeable lenses, an EVF or at least an OVF with overlaid information. I understand that this is a compact, so I will not act all crazy and compare it to a system camera, but I still feel that owning only the Ricoh GR and nothing else would make me feel that something is missing from my arsenal.

As for a backup camera? Definitely yes! The Ricoh GR is going to be purchased one day or another and added to my list of cameras. I feel that my pockets are empty now. Having such a good camera with me at all times was a blessing. I got a few shots I would have never managed to get with any other camera. Comparing it to my compact film cameras, the Ricoh GR is better. It might be slightly bigger than my Olympus mju II but it is quieter. There is no mechanical sound. The Oly does deliver great photos, but it lacks in features and there are no manual controls. 

Before I wrote this post, when I was using the Ricoh GR on a daily basis, many friends asked me how it compared to the Sony NEX-6 I used to own. Well, the image quality is very close, but I think the Sony has better IQ. The Autofocus is nothing compared to the NEX-6 AF, and feature wise it is not as good. The Sony has the flipping LCD and the awesome EVF. However the portability of the Ricoh GR combined with the big sensor and great IQ makes up for everything that might be missing from it. Of course I am now comparing two different types of cameras, but hey, you asked me so I had to reply.

If you want to know more about the Ricoh GR, just ask me in the comments. If you would like me to share with you my personal settings, I will gladly do so in another post. All you have to do is ask and I will deliver.

Do you want to buy the Ricoh GR?

As you know we are affiliated with Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk, so if you would like to buy the Ricoh GR from one of these e-shops, please support us by using the links provided below:

Stay Sharp & Keep Shooting!

Review overview
Size & Weight - 10
Build Quality - 8
Handling - 9
Performance - 7
Features - 7
Low Light Performance - 8
Image Quality - 9
Value - 10
Summary
The Ricoh GR is a Street Photographer’s camera. If used properly it can deliver amazing results in any situation. It performs great for a compact in both day and night, but it’s autofocus isn’t the best you will find. However the Snap Focus feature is great and easily makes up for the not so good AF. The image quality is great and it is packed with features. It has a solid build quality, handles great, it is silent, unobtrusive, small and light. If purchased without an external OVF it is priced very reasonably. All in all, the Ricoh GR is a great little camera, perfect for the Streets!
8.5
Spyros Papaspyropoulos
Spyros Papaspyropoulos is passionate about Photography, especially Street Photography. Because of that passion he considers himself a Street Photographer. If you would like to see his work you can also visit his Street Hunters Profile. He is co-founder of Street Hunters.

SIMILAR ARTICLES

0
Helen Levit

4

101 COMMENTS

    • Hey there Jimmy! Thank you for reading mate and thank you for your kind words 🙂 Glad you enjoyed the review. The Ricoh GR is a great little camera that can be taken with you anywhere. What makes it even more exciting is the Image Quality and Handling. For me, it is the ultimate carry around / backup digital compact camera on the market.
      Stay Sharp & Keep Shooting!

  3. Nice review, Spyros. I would be grateful if you posted your personal settings for the MY1, MY2 and MY3 options.

    • Hello Rlvk and thanks for commenting! I am planning to release a post where I share my MY1 settings. Those were the only ones that I managed to photograph with my iPhone before shipping the Ricoh GR back to it’s original owner. I will see if I can remember MY2 and MY3 but if I don’t that’s cool, because the MY1 was the one I used 95% of the time.
      Stay Sharp & Keep Shooting!

  4. Great article Spyros…thanks for the personal review…always the more helpful ones. Would you mind sharing the settings for the low light photo of the lady next to the building please? It’s an amazing shot. Thanks again

  7. thank you for reviewing this camera. great info and super informative.
    I’ve always had a soft spot for ricoh and loved the companies film compacts.
    I bought a digital ricoh in 2008 and was disappointed, after this review i think it might be time to revisit a digital ricoh.

    • Hey there Joy Jo Jo! Glad you enjoyed the review. I absolutely adore the Ricoh GR and I think it is an essential carry around camera. It delivers high quality images and it is packed with features that can be found on most DSLRs. A great little powerhouse. If you decide to get it, please come back and let me know what you think of it. Cheers!

  8. helpful review Spyros, thanks ; i always believed that Ricoh GR was a great 2nd camera, with 2 crop factors. So that we can have the luxury of keeping another Dslr + 100mm f/2 or 135mm f/2 lens for a little away or distant subjects. Yes we feel the absence of inbuilt OVF. I am a lover of White color. There are used White Ricoh GR being sold online, but don’t know if i can go with those 3-4 year old versions ? or buy latest one only ? …

    • Hi Chirag,

      Thank you for your comment. Yes, the Ricoh GR is a great backup camera since it delivers fantastic IQ and is so small and convenient to carry around at all times. Plus it works great in low light. The White Rich GRs are not made with APS-C sensor sizes so this review doesn’t apply to them. This review is for the Ricoh GR with the APS-C sensor that comes in black and dark olive green (collectors edition).

      Stay Sharp & Keep Shooting!

  9. Nice review! I actually own a GR, bought not long ago and still playing with set ups – customisation. In this respect, any info on your My1 would be great (will send you an email with my address). One quick question: in some shootings the camera displays a yellow “warning sign” on the display which I believe indicates the settings are not good and a shaky picture could be the results. I have seen one more “warning” of that sort – don’t actually remember.. bottom line: cannot find an official guideline on those warnings, do you have any clue about?
    The little GR is ever so good, thus far, I need to improve in using its capabilities, thus I am off shooting on the street now!
    Thanks for sharing and keep the good work/nice pictures up!!

    • Hello Ale,
      Thanks for commenting. I have returned the camera to the original owner, but I can send you a set of photos I have made from the Ricoh GR LCD screen for the MY1 settings I used to use. I have also replied to your email saying the same thing 🙂
      As for the warning signs, I know of the camera shake icon, but I never got any other warning when I was using it. Have you got a manual? I think you can find a manual online and maybe there is something about that in there.
      I miss the Ricoh GR and I am surely going to get a new one soon!
      Have a ton of fun with it!

  10. Great write up Spyros. Articles like yours and others has really increased my interest in the GR series.

    I’ve recently bought a GRD3, yup, I know its a few versions behind the one you tested, but absolutely loving the shooting ‘experience’ when using the 3. Your article also seems to cover the great shooting ‘experience’.

    I like to think of myself as a street shooter, that’s my interest. Got a long way to go when it comes to confidence/technique/eye on the streets but somehow, I feel more at ease using the 3 rather than my main camera, even though the 28mm forces me to get closer to my subject than when using a 35mm on my main.

    I’m off to Tokyo in a few days and plan to pop into the Ricoh building on the Ginza to lust over some Ricoh eye candy too so that will probably just ram it home how much I love this camera!

    Keep up the great articles.

    • Hi there Yesmodo,

      Glad you liked the post and thanks for taking the time to comment. Yes, the Ricoh GR offers a nice Street Photography experience unique to itself and equal to no other camera. A very fast and discreet “draw” that also offers stunning IQ.

      Stay Sharp & Keep Shooting!

  11. Spyros….

    Super review on the GR… I have emailed a request for the photos ( if possible) of your MY1 street settings which you made available to Ale..
    Great work guys..
    Gordo’

  14. Thank you for the great insights and review of the GR! I just got myself a GR today. I’d appreciate it very much if you could share your MY settings. Thanks!

    • Hello Mark!

      Thank you very much for your kind comment.
      Please send us an email using our form or contact email on our contact page and I will gladly send my MY settings over.

      Stay Sharp & Keep Shooting!

  15. Thanks Spyros for a great review. I was exactly in search of a backup camera for my street photography and I think I got one. I will surely disturb you if I feel any help with this camera in future.

  16. I’m coming from a Rx100 to then the Olympus em10 + Leica15mm and now considering to get the GR. You can take a look at my photostream to see how I use those cameras as daily snappers.

    What attracts me towards GR: Lens, IQ, Pocketability, responsiveness…

    What I fear:
    1- lowlight AF: does firmware 4 make it fast and reliable?
    2- IQ: How high in ISO can you go? can it do above 6400? (the nikon D5500 can do 16000)
    3- responsiveness: how fast on and off?
    4- any of you used an eyefi card for mobile transfer?

    thx all for your answers

    • Hi Yannick! Please find my answers below:
      1- No, the AF in lowlight sucks, but I use snap focus and flash, so I don’t mind.
      2- I would not go above 8000. 8000 is workable.
      3- Very responsive camera. On-off in a second.
      4- No I have not used an eyefi card.

      Hope this helps.

  17. Hi Spyros,
    I’m new to this blog and to street photography.
    Thank you very much for this review.
    It would be very helpful for me toknow your MY1, MY2 and MY3 settings, as I just boughy this camera.

    Thanks again

    Max

    • Hi Max,

      I noticed you commented twice. All comments are pending approval that is why they didn’t show up immediately. I have approved your second comment, since they were similar. Thank you very much for liking the review. The Ricoh GR is a great little camera and a close companion of mine. You can see photos I have made with the Ricoh GR if you visit my Flickr stream at https://www.flickr.com/photos/spyrospapaspyropoulos/. Most are from the X-Pro1 but I have some cool shots scattered around from the Ricoh GR. As for the MY settings, sure, I will gladly send them over to you. Just send me an email using our contact page and I will send photos of my Ricoh GR LCD display showing you what settings I am using for each MY.

      Kind Regards

  18. Hi Spyros,
    Sorry but my english not very goog.

    Where can i see your my settings ?

    Thanks and Hi from Canary Islands

  19. Hi from Paris Spyros,
    After having read your review,I have just bought a used GR …
    I sent you an email.if you can send me your MYx settings?
    Thank you
    Jacques

  20. Hello there can you email me your settings please? Much appreciated. quality review. loving the camera at the moment.

  22. Thank-you for sharing with us your experience with Ricoh Gr. I was convinced and 3 days ago I bought a new GR II and now I am trying to study the long…long menù..
    Please Can I request your MY1, MY2, and MY3 settings?
    Can you help me a little bit
    thx again.. a keepp up the good work !
    Adalberto

  25. Can you also send me the settings please? Thank you for sharing your work. Really like your review. I just bought it after I read your review.

  26. Hi there…I finally got around to picking up a Ricoh GR and read your review shortly after. I would be very interested in checking out your MY1,2 and 3 settings…Much appreciated

  27. Hello
    Great reviews, great pictures – congratulations!
    Would be happy to see your settings GR
    Regards

  28. Spyros, great article! This little GR has got me back into photography and I’m getting fantastic results. It’s hard to explain to people the power of this camera until I send them to my Flickr page and they are amazed! There is a lot to learn and same as everyone else if you could email your settings when you get a chance I would really appreciate it! Also I’m guilty of this a well using the black and white mode a lot but it’s nice to see your street in color. Looking forward to your thoughts on the Fuji X Pro 2 if your going to upgrade from the 1. All the best!

    • Hey there Paul thanks for the comment! Yeah that Ricoh GR is one hell of a camera! I always pack it just in case something happens. As for the X-Pro2 well until I can afford it I can only speculate and base any kind of opinion on other peoples reviews. It might be a while until I get my hands on one but when I do I will be reviewing it to pieces! Please send me your email. Just jump to our contact page and you can get in touch from there. Stay Sharp & Keep Shooting man!

  29. Hi Spyros many thanks for a great article,i bought the camera based on your review.
    i would really appreciate if you would share your my settings.
    A big thank you.

  30. Hi there! Great review, like a lot of people, I too would enjoy seeing your settings. When you send, could you let me know what the optimum scenarios to switch between your My settings are?

    Thanks!

  31. Hi Spyros, i have picked up a Ricoh grii and i am really interested in the settings for MY1 MY2 & MY3. Thank You!

  32. Hi Spyros, Fascinating article. Very informative. Could I please have you MY1 MY2 And MY3 settings as well.
    Thank you.

  34. Hi! Thanks for sharing. I just got my Gr ii, that’s my first camera ever and I love it. I see you are still replying after more than 2 years, would you mind to share your personal MyN settings? Thank you… Pino

  35. Hi Spyros!

    I am confused between Ricoh GR ii and Fuji X70. Both seem similar yet there are some subtle differences.

    Fuji X70 seems to have more features but Ricoh’s image sharpness and handling seems more appealing.

    Also, one of the most frequent complaints I have read in the different forums is that Ricoh has an issue of dust on sensor. Did you face any such problems while you were/are using it?

    I am a beginner with interest in Street photography. I have been using Canon SX 30 IS for quite a long time. I want to move over to a camera which is portable, handles low light well and can be saved in raw. I do not want to buy the bulky dslrs or mirrorless cameras. I have zeroed in on these two cameras.

    What is your suggestion regarding this?

    Thanks,
    Rohan

  36. Thanks for your info.
    I am late to GrII, but start to LOVE it. After buy it, I shoot it freely on my community day festival, apply only auto focus (yes, I am new to street photography), and at the end of the day, my photos were beautiful, even with b&w. That leads me to study more deeper into snap mode and further settings. I think I should set MY1 as on sunny day, in b&w, MY2 as full auto in color and MY3 as in overcast, not too sunny day. What do you think? May I request your MY1, MY2, and MY3 settings?

    • Hello Daniel and thank you for taking the time to read through my Ricoh GR review! I am happy you like that camera, because it is indeed a great, great camera! Concerning the settings you have, I can’t really know if they are good or not, since you live in another place than me where light is almost certain different to mine. I am sure you have set your Ricoh GR up just like you like it and that is the best way to use this camera in my opinion. However, if you want my settings, I will send them over to you in your email shortly. Cheers!

  37. Thank you for your kindness. I have received your settings. I will accepte it and modify it to suit me.
    I bought and enjoyed Phaidon photo books long time ago. I know now that I have street photography passion in my blood.
    Thanks again.

  39. Hi Spyros, such a nice review, same for your video with Gr/X70, loved it too 😉
    The Gr (i have the GR2) is an awesome camera, highly customisable and have a razoe sharp IQ 😉
    keep up the good job dude 😉
    i’ll email you to get a look @ your My’s settings

    Best regards from France ^^

  43. Thank you for making time to write this review I found it very useful!!! I bought one a few months ago, really enjoying it but I guess I find it different as you have to get much closer and be quite brave. You made me realise practice makes perfect and to take it out more often as it fits in any of my handbags. Soooo much lighter then my full frame camera. Great macro on it too.

  45. Interesting review. This is a camera I have had for a number of years and used to own the film version of this camera. Although I own another and potentially better camera, this camera is a godsend for wide angle shooting. I would be interested in you “MY” settings as I haven’t yet used the settings. Many thanks.

  47. Really enjoyed your post, I recently joined the Ricoh cult with a gr2 any settings would share would be appreciated, and this little beauty has impressed me so much I plan on surprise birthday gift to myself in October, of anotherGr2. Have you had chance use Gr111, if so any impressions you would care to share?

  48. Hi Spyros – my chosen field is “walking around” photography, and I’ve had and used the GR 1 for some time. Thinking, as is common, to galvanise my photography with a new camera, I have wrestled with various expensive sets of specifications. Frustrated, I have turned back to the Ricoh with huge relief, and am determined to bond with it and improve my use of it. Much enjoyed your web page, and would love to have your three settings to play with and consider. Thank you, Richard.

    • Hello Richard,

      Thank you for taking the time to read my blog post and share your thoughts. I am still using my Ricoh GR (v1)! Every time I use it I feel amazed at what it can do. Such a compact, feature rich little powerhouse. I would gladly share my settings with you. If you could please send me an email at the website email account I will reply with my settings.
      Stay Sharp & Keep Shooting!

  49. Hi Spyro,
    Great an detailed assessment on this camera ! Well done .
    Since I ve came across this a bit late however I would like your advise wrt the latest model GR 3 . I m taken by the high ISO range and the stability function.I am keen on street and travel photography and I m considering the Fuji X100 V also , any ideas on their merits?
    All the best –
    Spyros Corbetis

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.