Family reunion: Shot with the Ricoh GR IIIx on a home tour in the UK: Digital photography review

The best thing about the Ricoh GR IIIx is that it’s basically just a GR III with a slightly longer lens.

The worst thing about the Ricoh GR IIIx is that it’s basically just a GR III with a slightly longer lens.

If you are familiar with the original GR III, you can be completely honest in this article. The GR IIIx offers exactly the same ergonomics and pretty much exactly the same performance and image quality as its predecessor, but with a 40mm-equivalent lens instead of 28mm. I say ‘pretty much’ because that new lens obviously affects the images you can take with the GR IIIx, and the reduced depth of field makes focusing at wide apertures a bit more important. But for all intents and purposes, two cameras practically indistinguishable from each other are being used.

As a hiking companion, the GR IIIx (like the original GR III) is near-perfect thanks to its pocketable styling. During my 3-day walk along the Yorkshire coast, I kept the GR IIIx comfortably tucked into my shirt pocket. ISO 100 | F5 | 1/800 second

Why can that be considered a good thing? Simply because the GR III, like its predecessors, is a very nicely designed camera that does what it was designed to do so well. It’s arguably not as versatile as some competing-looking models (namely the Fujifilm X100-series, with their 35mm equivalent lenses) because it lacks a built-in electronic finder or tilting LCD. rear, but in my opinion it makes up for these limitations by being really pocketable. And, don’t forget, many photographers just prefer 28mm to 35mm. The GR IIIx combines all the characteristics that make the GR III so appealing, but with a longer lens, for photographers do not like 28mm.

The viewfinder (optional) helps frame shots in bright conditions, but its accuracy isn’t great and gets worse at close focusing distances. Being purely optical, it also cannot provide any indication of AF location or acquisition.

By chance, GR IIIx came to DPReview’s office just before I set off on my trip to the UK in September, to visit family after an 18-month Covid-imposed absence (I wrote about my last trip to the UK). his, among other things, in this article). So into my camera bag, the new GR IIIx, neatly replacing the GR III I originally intended to shoot.

Everyone is different, but I would describe 28mm as a good general proxy for view. I mean if I’m looking at a scene, most of what I can reasonably capture at a glance is in the frame of a 28mm equivalent lens. On the other hand, the 40mm equivalent is a good proxy for field of attention. That is, what am I really? concentrate above, in a larger scene. The extra reach offered by the 40mm made the GR IIIx extremely appealing to me when it was announced, I recall all the times the GR III’s lens seemed a bit too wide.

The 40mm equivalent is a good proxy for field of attention. That is, what am I really? concentrate above, in a wider scene

The new GR III and GR IIIx are almost physically indistinguishable, but they’re not exactly the same. The GR IIIx is slightly thicker than the GR III, although the difference is negligible. Similarly, while the new lens looks, on the surface, almost exactly the same (and retracts into the barrel as before, when the camera is off), the GW-4 extension lens + adapter for the GR III won’t. fits the ‘x’, and the new GT-2 telegraphy The adapter will not fit the original GR III. Of course, even if you maybe Cross-mount them, there won’t be any point – they are designed for the specific lenses of the two respective cameras.

The GT-2 teleconverter turns the GR IIIx’s 40mm-equivalent lens into a 50mm-equivalent, while also activating the in-camera crop mode to deliver a 75mm-equivalent field of view. Image quality with the adapter attached is decent, but it’s a bulky lens, and when paired with the GT-2, the GR IIIx becomes noticeably larger and significantly heavier.

With the exception of these small differences, with the GR IIIx Ricoh hasn’t messed with any of the qualities that make the GR III so appealing. I spent a week wandering around North Yorkshire with the GR IIIx tucked in my shirt pocket, exactly the same way I carried the original GR III on countless hikes and city walks. all over the world. It’s right there when I need it, and when I don’t, I barely even know I’m carrying it.

I still appreciate the front control dial for quick adjustment of exposure parameters, I still love having the help of the in-body stabilization system, the touchscreen and all the rest. I wish the screen tilted outwards and I still find myself wanting small EVF for accurate framing in bright light, but none of the shortcomings were severe enough when I was out and about and my enjoyment of using the camera was diminished. Oh, and the battery life is still unquestionable, but I’ve long since adjusted myself to the need to fully charge the power bank in my camera bag all the time. In short, the actual GR IIIx shooting experience (hey – that’s the title of this article!) is exactly the same as the original GR III.

The GR IIIx’s small, unflattering form factor makes it ideal for natural portraiture. Even so, this shot shows the difficulty of shooting at close range: my subject is looking away from the lens and I, while I was squinting at the rear LCD, trying to make sure he was framed correctly. ISO 160 | F2.8 | 1/50 second

There is, however, a downside to Ricoh’s ‘light touch’ approach to making changes, which became apparent when I started downloading images for a critical review. While on paper the difference between 28mm and 40mm might not seem like much, it’s actually quite significant and this has some unexpected effects on the GR IIIx’s handling.

In some conditions (e.g., very bright ambient light), the rear LCDs of both the GR III and GR IIIx are unwieldy unless you manually increase the brightness (which reduces the display time). battery capacity is already not larger). This is not news. As a longtime GR III shooter, I’m used to this limitation, but fortunately the 28mm is wide enough to allow for a slightly ‘sloppy’ framing when snapping. What’s more, the GR III’s 24MP resolution is enough that I’ve never bothered to trim a few MPs off if it meant a straighter horizon or removing some dead space I accidentally included in the frame. Figure. So one of the reasons why I like shooting with the original GR III so much is that I don’t need to worry too much about precision framing.

NS National Covid Memorial Wall, opposite the Houses of Parliament, in London. A lot has happened since I last came home in February 2020 – nothing good. Wall (unfinished) commemorating those in the UK who lost their lives to Covid with hand-painted hearts. It now stretches for more than a third of a mile. ISO 100 | F4 | 1/125 second

However, when shooting with the GR IIIx’s 40mm lens, there is less latitude. Add to that the difficulty of framing correctly in bright conditions (there’s a myth that it rains constantly in the UK, but for most of my time at home the temperatures are in the 60s and 70s). unusually low*, with long periods of intense sunlight) and the end result was that I found myself running into frequent and unexpected problems during my trip with the correct layout.

Bringing a new camera on a vacation is always something of a risk, but the GR IIIx has proved so familiar that it feels like part of the family.

My eyesight isn’t terrible, but my close-focusing isn’t what it used to be (a problem exacerbated by inactivity caused by the pandemic). As such, I find myself wearing reading glasses more and more when just doing things… in general. I can comfortably focus on the image on the GR IIIx’s LCD screen when I hold the camera within arm’s reach (i.e. the way most people take pictures with their cell phones) but when shooting portraits , I like to have my eyes as close to the camera lens as possible, so that my subject’s eye line isn’t off-axis. With the GR IIIx, that meant keeping it within a few inches of my face – too close for me to comfortably focus on the onscreen image.

The expensive (optional) 40mm optical finder works well for what it is, but as with all such search engines, its critical accuracy is poor, especially when relatively close shot. And of course, there is no indication of autofocus point positioning or AF lock.

One of my favorites, near the High Barn overlooking the Vale of York. As you can see, there is very little fringing from the GR IIIx’s 40mm equivalent lens, even when shooting in direct sunlight. ISO 100 | F4 | 1/200 second

To be fair, while many (but by no means most) images I took with the GR IIIx weren’t quite as well framed as I would have liked, user error certainly played a role. Or maybe I should say ‘bad user habits’. I’ve gotten so used to shooting with the GR III’s 28mm lens over the past few years that it took me a while with the GR IIIx to program it myself. As I spent more time with the camera, my hit rate increased.

Bringing a new camera on a vacation is always something of a risk, but the GR IIIx has proved so familiar that it feels like part of the family. My only regret is that I didn’t bring my original GR III for the trip. After a few weeks of only shooting with the GR IIIx, I think I know what my ideal travel camera kit would be. It will include two cameras: GR III for landscape and casual street style shots and GR IIIx for portraits and details. Why do shirts have two pockets?

* It is the lowest temperature of 20 degrees Celsius.

Ricoh GR IIIx Sample Library

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