Ricoh GR IIIx Review: Compact Digital Camera

In 2021 Ricoh spun its expert GR III compact into an "x" version, stretching the 28 mm equivalent focal length to 40 mm. The change brings a little versatility to a body beloved of street photographers — though it is not without rivals. This review is based on the published test of the GR IIIx, not on a hands-on trial of our own.

Launched in 2019, the GR III arrived with a handsome set of upgrades, starting with an APS-C sensor raised to 24.2 Mpx and stabilised on three axes. The body remains resolutely minimalist, its general ergonomics closer to the compacts of the 2000s: no viewfinder, a fixed screen, and few or no external connections. In September 2021 it gained a sibling, the GR IIIx, with its fixed 40 mm equivalent lens.

Despite that simpler-than-the-competition design, the GR III and IIIx occupy a fairly confidential market — the large-sensor compact — dominated by Leica's full-frame Q3 and Q2 and challenged by Fujifilm's X100V, the darling of social media in the early 2020s that has since become genuinely hard to find. This is exactly where Ricoh slots its two cameras: a sensor similar to the X100V's, autofocus with nothing to be ashamed of, a less eye-catching look, but a very contained size and price that make the GR IIIx a rather interesting alternative.

Nothing changes between the GR III and the IIIx in the hand: apart from the lens marking now reading 26.1 mm instead of 18.3 mm, the two bodies are impossible to tell apart. The camera stays truly compact and slips into even a small pocket without complaint. It also carries 2 GB of internal storage — hardly enormous, but enough for around forty files should you forget an SD card. Despite the reduced footprint, the GR IIIx offers a decent set of controls, though it does without an electronic viewfinder, and its touchscreen does not articulate.

The GR IIIx may be several years old, but it still holds its own for responsiveness. Start-up takes close to half a second — appreciably brisker than the Fujifilm X100V — and in daylight the autofocus is fairly quick for an expert compact. When light falls, the IIIx slows only slightly and continues to outpace the X100V, which is notable given the Fuji's more recent architecture and brighter f/2 lens against the Ricoh's f/2.8. Shot-to-shot pacing is less impressive: expect to wait over half a second between frames when firing repeatedly.

Continuous shooting is not this camera's strength. The burst runs at just over 4 fps with or without tracking — where the Fuji reaches 11 fps — and the buffer tops out at only 11 consecutive frames. The face- and eye-recognition system also trails the leaders in the field: face detection is broadly successful, but eye detection proves far more erratic, catching the subject's eyes only occasionally. Single-point autofocus is the wiser companion here. Ricoh's Snap mode compensates cleverly, locking focus at a preset distance — 1 m, 1.5 m, 2 m, 2.5 m, 5 m or infinity — so you can shoot instantly without checking focus at all, a street photographer's old friend.

The stabilised 24.2 Mpx APS-C sensor spans 100 to 102,400 ISO, and the images it produces are of very fine quality — rich and detailed. The first traces of digital noise are barely perceptible around 800 ISO; grain becomes genuinely noticeable at 3200 ISO, troublesome around 6400 ISO, and files remain exploitable up to 12,800 ISO before degrading too far. Ricoh deserves credit for a light JPEG treatment that avoids heavy smoothing and preserves the character of the shot. Sensitivity behaviour is roughly level with the rival X100V, whose more assertive JPEG processing and X-Trans sensor deliver a slightly lesser impression of sharpness.

Exposure latitude is solid in the shadows: detail recovers well down to -3 EV, with noise arriving in earnest at -4 EV and becoming marked from -4.3 EV. Highlights are more delicate — fine up to +1.6 EV despite a slight tint shift, visibly losing detail at +2 EV, and recoverable at +2.3 EV only at the cost of strong colour drift.

The lengthened 40 mm optic slightly reworks the optical formula without upsetting the family behaviour: sharpness is already very good from f/2.8, with pleasing consistency between centre and edges, peaks from f/4, holds a good level to f/8, and predictably softens at f/11 and f/16 — apertures best reserved for landscapes. A macro mode focuses between 12 and 24 cm, against roughly 20 cm at closest in normal use; the longer, less distortion-prone focal length makes genuinely close subjects practical and diversifies compositions — an option Leica also offers on the Q3, and always a welcome one.

Calling the GR IIIx a poor video camera is an understatement. Its 2019 foundations were already dated at launch, and the ceiling remains Full HD — from 24 to 60 fps — captured, remarkably, with a slight crop. No 4K at all, and the footage's sharpness disappoints as much as the stills impress. Settings are cut to the minimum, there is no microphone or HDMI connection, recording stops at 25 consecutive minutes or 4 GB, continuous autofocus stutters, and rolling shutter is quite pronounced despite the modest resolution. Video here is strictly an occasional convenience.

The Ricoh GR IIIx is a genuinely attractive camera. It slips easily into a pocket and delivers very fine image quality thanks to its large APS-C sensor and a 40 mm lens of real quality. The simplified ergonomics suit this kind of camera well — one almost forgives the absent viewfinder. Ricoh still has real work to do on autofocus tracking and, above all, on video capture before this becomes the truly indispensable expert compact.

Where can you buy the Ricoh GR IIIx in the UK — and how much is it? Amazon UK carries it, and the current verified price is shown in the buying panel above rather than quoted here, so it cannot go stale. GR-series cameras habitually sell above their launch-equivalent pricing — demand has outrun supply for years — so treat sharp discounts with suspicion.

Why does the GR IIIx cost more than its launch price? Persistent scarcity: the GR series' cult following keeps demand ahead of Ricoh's production, and street prices have settled above the original positioning as a result — a market reality this review's price verification reflects rather than an anomaly.