Ricoh GR3 User Report What's new, what's improved ? 24 March 2019

The Ricoh GR series of enthusiast compacts   began with the original GR1 in 1996. This was the first of a line of 35mm film compacts.

The first digital version was the GR Digital with a small CCD sensor in 2005.

The first GR to use the APS-C size (diagonal 28mm) sensor was the GR of 2013.

This was followed by the GR2, which was basically the GR with connectivity enhancements.

Now in 2019 we have the  GR3.

The GR3 was preceded by one of the longest product wind-up campaigns  in the history of photography. If memory serves correctly I recall reading official pre-release information about the GR3 about 9 months before anyone could actually buy the camera.

Although this model looks superficially like previous GR iterations it is in fact completely new with nothing important carried over from the previous model.

The sensor, pixel count, stabiliser, lens, autofocus system, processor, body and controls are all new.

The GR2 had acquired niche cult status as a high quality camera suitable for street, candid and documentary work by expert/enthusiast users.

This gave the designers of the GR3 a challenging task.

So, cutting right to the chase,  is the GR3 a better camera than the GR2 ?

Having compared the two side by side for several weeks I say yes, but only by a small margin and with caveats.

Please note I refer here only to improvements which I can observe as a user. If something is listed in the specs as an upgrade but does not lead to better results or usability then I do not rate that as an improvement.

My usage is mainly street, documentary and family photography. I do not use video or continuous AF with this camera.

The main improvements in the GR3 are:

1. Outdoor View Setting.  If this feature was not available I would not buy this camera.

I live in Sydney where bright sunny days are the norm.  When I am outdoors photographing in sunlight or cloudy bright light with the GR2 I cannot properly see the image preview on the screen at all. The process of framing up a shot is mostly guesswork.

But the GR3 has the facility to increase screen brightness +1 or +2 steps. This makes all the difference for me. 

Unfortunately three button presses are required to activate the brightness increase and three more presses to return it to normal.

2. Sensor based image stabiliser. This allows me to hand hold down to around 0.8 seconds with good results.  One nice feature is that the stabiliser will automatically switch off when the timer is set, indicating the camera is on a tripod or other rigid support. Every camera should offer this option because without it I am forever forgetting to switch off the stabiliser when the camera is on a tripod.

3. Decently close “Macro”, good enough for large insects and spiders and small flowers and easy to use.

4. I find the touch screen useful for selecting AF area. I have the touch screen and the cross keys both set up for AF area selection and use both together.

5. Face detect can be set together with [Select AF] which I use most of the time and is useful when I want to focus on a single face in the frame.

6. Post shot screen blackout time is markedly reduced in the GR3. I guesstimate blackout on the GR2 at about half a second while blackout on the GR3 is about 1/10 second or thereabouts. The difference is substantial giving the GR3 a worthwhile advantage in rapidly changing, multi-shot situations.

7. The GR3 has a built in ND filter which is useful. Even better [ND Auto] can be set in the menu so you can use a slow shutter speed outdoors if desired. 

1.  You might think a 50% increase in pixel count would deliver an obvious benefit but on my numerous tests that has not been the case.

With close-in work mainly using people as subjects  I find it very difficult to convince myself that the GR3 is capable of delivering any image quality improvement.

With more distant and complex subjects like a cityscape with a mixture of trees, houses and industrial features, I can see a small benefit to the GR3 in detail and resolution.

But I have to look closely at images matched for size side by side on my big sharp computer screen to pick the difference.

2. Ricoh promised less high ISO noise and the GR3 delivers but on my tests the improvement is only about 0.5 EV steps between ISO 3200 and 6400 using images matched for size side-by-side.

3. I see no difference in low ISO dynamic range.  By the way when the Auto ISO lower limit is set to 100 the GR3 will select ISO 200 in bright light when ISO 100 would seem more appropriate. I will try to find out the reason for this.

4. The GR3 is smaller than the GR2 which makes no difference to the usability for me.

5. The GR3 has a hybrid contrast detect (CDAF) plus on sensor phase detect (PDAF) autofocus system. On some cameras like my Sony RX10.4 this runs like a rocket but the GR3 operates in a more leisurely fashion.

Outdoors and moderately bright to low light  indoors I rate the GR3 as slightly faster than the GR2.

In addition the GR3 still gives that typical CDAF pumping action of the focus system, although this is more apparent on the GR2.

At very low light levels the AF becomes slower with even more pumping to find the focus point. To its credit however the GR3 does eventually find focus and in my tests with many pictures in low light has a zero mis-focus rate. If the camera indicates focus established, it is.

1. The GR3 uses a different (DB-110) battery from the GR2. The new battery is smaller and permits fewer shots than the GR2 battery. To make matters worse the GR3 comes without a separate charger.  

To make things worse still the DB-110 batteries were not available to buy separately when the GR3 was released.

I got around that by buying some Olympus Li-92B replacement batteries form an aftermarket supplier together with a separate charger. The Li-92B’s work OK in the GR3 and display the battery status indicator but have lower power rating so may not give as many shots per charge.

2. Camera data is now superimposed over the lower part of the screen. The GR2 has this data on a black strip below the screen where it is easier to see.

3. There is no longer a direct AF Lock facility which can be allocated to any button. This irritates the heck out of me as AF Lock is a feature which I use frequently.  

The workaround is to allocate MF to the Fn button. Half press the shutter button to set focus then press the Fn button to jump into MF at the focus distance already set.

That works but requires and extra button press to get in and out.

4. No built in flash. Some users who like to use the flash were very unhappy about this but I never use flash with this camera so its loss was of no concern to me.  There is no dedicated clip-on leaving flash users to figure out for themselves which flash units will work. Apparently those suitable for Pentax cameras are OK but they all look rather large to me.

5. A new and different 21mm wide angle lens and adapter are required much to the annoyance of those users who already have the W/A accessory lens and adapter for the GR2.

The GR3 is undoubtedly a very good camera  within the constraints of the genre (fixed W/A lens, fixed screen, no EVF).

It has a very good lens which is sharp to the corners even at f2.8  and it makes very good pictures.

Based on the JPGs (ACR cannot yet open the CR3 Raws) it can match or better the pictures coming off the EOS RP which I am also testing at the moment.  

But it does not represent the dramatic leap forward in image quality, features or usability that the GR was in 2013.

For the user who already has and is happy with the GR2, you will not see a great deal of  improvement in usability or picture quality by moving up to the GR3.

For a newcomer to the GR world either a GR2 or GR3 represents a great entry although at different price points.