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Opening Monologue


It is stealth black and can hide behind an iPhone without detection. It is so nondescript that you can point it directly at a subject on the street, and they will barely notice that a camera is pointing at them. Yet, once an exposure is made, the takeaway is a high quality 24MP image that's capable of making posters. What is this ninja camera? It is the Ricoh GR III, and it's the subject of today's TDS photography podcast.





Digital Photography Podcast 681



Ricoh GR III Review and Comparison to the Fujifilm XF 10






What a feeling of freedom to embark upon an afternoon of street photography in San Francisco with nothing more than the Ricoh GR III ($899) in my front pocket. Between that, and my iPhone on the other side, I had everything that I needed for my adventure.



Today, I'm going to talk about the performance and the images produced by the svelt GR III. First, let's take a look at the feature highlights.



24.2MP APS-C CMOS Sensor
GR Engine 6
28mm f/2.8 Lens (35mm Equivalent)
3-Axis Shake Reduction System
3.0" 1.037m-Dot Touchscreen LCD
Full HD 1080/60p Video Recording
Bluetooth LE and Wi-Fi
Hybrid AF System, Macro Mode
35mm and 50mm Focal Length Crop Modes
USB Type-C Port, 1x SD Card Slot




"Stockton Tunnel at Night" - Captured with a Ricoh GR III in Hard Monotone mode. Handheld. ISO 3200. Photo by Derrick Story.



The things that I liked about this little powerhouse:


Very responsive - Fast performance is something that you want in a street camera.

Really impressive image stabilization - I kept pushing and pushing the handheld long exposures, and I captured shots that I liked at 1/2 second.

Outstanding black and white options - There are four B&W modes: Monotone, Soft Monotone, Hard Monotone, and Hi-Contrast B&W - and they are all excellent. Hard Monotone is my favorite.

Easy to Use and Powerful Macro Mode - Just push a button, and get close.

Handy Crop Mode for 35mm and 50mm Perspectives - I programmed the FN button to cycle through the different crop modes so I could change them on the fly. The standard dimensions for an image are 6000x4000 px. At 50mm crop mode, you still have 3360x2240 px.




"Building Speed, Union Square" - Captured with a Ricoh GR III, ISO 100, standard color mode. Photo by Derrick Story.



Now, how does the $899 Ricoh GR III compare to the $499 Fujifilm XF 10 compact camera.



Image Stabilization Winner - Ricoh - The IS is quite good in the GR III, and the XF 10 doesn't have stabilization.

Flash Photographer Winner - Fujifilm - Yes, the GR III has a hot shoe, but who wants to carry a flash around that's bigger than the camera? The XF 10 has a super intelligent built-in flash that works great.

Connectivity and Geotagging Winner - Fujifilm - The XF 10 connects easily to my iPhone and uses its location data to geotag my images. After many tries, I could not get the GR III to connect to my smartphone via bluetooth.

Film Simulation Winner - A Draw - Both cameras have great film simulation filters. The GR III is a tad better at B&W and the XF 10 is a notch better at color.

Autofocus Winner - A Draw - The XF 10 has been criticized for its slowish autofocus, but using single point focusing, it performs about the same as the GR III. And to tell you the truth, I don't have a problem with either of them.

Macro Mode Winner - Ricoh - The close up mode on the GR III is really good, and on the XF 10, it's really frustrating.

Looks and Operation Winner - A Draw - I love the auto lens cap on the GR III and really don't like the removable cap on the XF 10. But the XF 10 has great looks and a leather strap compared to the nondescript styling and string strap of the GR III. I also like the around the lens command ring on the XF 10.




"Classic San Francisco" - Captured with a Ricoh GR III in Standard Color mode. ISO 100. Photo by Derrick Story.



So is the Ricoh GR III worth the hefty price tag? I think it comes down to image stabilization, hot shoe, and design.