GR III Digital Compact Camera, 24mp, 28mm f 2.8 Lens with Touch Screen LCD

auto focus is really bad.

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This camera has a handful of deal-breakers (for most people) that you should know about: - It doesn’t have a zoom: it’s fixed at 28mm full-frame equivalent. This means it frames photos in a similar way to the main back-camera of most smartphones. - The battery life ain’t great: it’s rated at 200 shots/charge - It doesn’t have a viewfinder: you have to use the rear screen If you can live with these shortcomings: this is the camera for you. I got it as a mountaineering/alpine climbing camera because it is so small and light. It fits easily into the chest pocket of my belay parka. I was previously using a Sony A7R III (I still do when weight/bulk is not an issue, awesome camera), but I found that it was staying in my pack when the climbing started to get difficult and require rope-work. What I like about this camera: - Excellent dynamic range. Way better than my phone (Pixel 3) and better than any other pocketable camera. It gives my Sony a run for its money. - Decent build quality: despite being small, it feels pretty solid - Recharges via USB-C: I can use my laptop or my cellphone charger to charge this up, helps dull the pain of the poor battery life a little. Granted, it does not charge fast. - Great menu system: maybe I just have PTSD from Sony’s horrid menus though… - Size: it’s so small, pocket able in all but the skinniest of hipster jeans - RAW format: it shoots in .dng format which is open source and very easy for programs to read. I usually convert my RAW files into DNG format when I import into Lightroom, the fact that they are already in this format saves me a step! (and some processing time) Some gripes: - I still wish it had an electronic viewfinder (EVF) the screen can be tough to see in bright sunlight - The tripod mount is in an absolutely horrid location. I like to leave an arca swiss tripod plate on my cameras at all times. A sturdy one that requires a tool to remove. I can’t really do that with this camera since the tripod plate blocks the battery/memory card door. The idea of carrying a tool on a climb, with the specific purpose of removing a tripod plate so I can then swap a battery…makes me pretty grumpy. This is a really poor design choice! - USB-C charging is slow. It only seems to charge at around 5W, which his pretty poor in 2019 when most phones can charge at 18W. This would’ve sped up charging times by ~3X. - Autofocus in lowlight: I’m probably spoiled by Sony’s amazing AF, but the AF on this camera is very poor when the light gets low. If your subject can’t be lit by the AF lamp, you can almost forget about being able to auto-focus. It brighter conditions the AF is good, but not great. - Video quality: it’s terrible. If you have a smartphone manufactured in the last 4 years, don’t even bother with the video on this camera.

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A great piece of hardware. The capabilities are extremely impressive in a package this compact. It’s very lightweight, great on the go. You can get well deep into various features and settings. The menu screens are a little tedious due to the lack of physical but work well if you can take the time to get the shot you want. Low-light and autofocus don’t mix well with this camera, but that’s not a huge issue given the overall mission of the camera. I’ll keep exploring the settings to see if I can boost its low-light performance.

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This camera is not for everyone. If you are a skilled photographer who would like to have a pocketable camera you want to carry with you when you dont want to carry a big DSLR or even mirrorless, then this is the camera to get. I have tried to buy a small camera over the years to complement my DSLRs, but it has always come up short. That is until the Ricoh GR iii. Its small, compact, pocketable, one-hand operated, and has tons of features and controls to customize your camera. I have compared the outputs to my Nikon D850s, and the image quality comes so close that I wouldnt have known which camera if I didnt know beforehand. Its even smaller than my Fuji XF10, which is now sitting in my closet waiting to be sold along with my other small/compact cameras. Well done, Ricoh!

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Its great to take pictures and the pictures look great on this camera. Its too bad this camera doesnt allow those images to be downloaded from its internal memory to any location. Yes, theres Bluetooth and WiFi and you can always pull the SD card and download the images but... Bluetooth doesnt work on the GR III. WiFi doesnt work even after I update to the latest firmware (1.10) and pulling the SD card works but theres not option to transfer any images on the internal memory to the SD card. Complete waste of money. Nobody needs or wants a camera that doesnt allow images to be downloaded.

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So Ricoh almost doubled the price and rolled out a premature GR III. The auto focus is disappointing, the APP doesnt even support the GR III, yet. If you use a/any flagship cellphone and the GR III to take landscape photos(eg. sunset photos), 9 out of 10 times cellphone camera would win. If you are not a professional street photographer, I would not recommend the GR III.

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I purchased this camera for climbing photography during multipitch and alpine climbs. This camera is small and light enough to lead with in a small top loading soft case slung across my chest with a second backup keeper cord clipped to a single runner also across my chest. Image quality is great and its a easy to take out one handed and get good shots even while lead belaying. Because of the ergonomics of the gr iii, shooting one handed feels a lot more secure than trying to take photos with a slippery smartphone. The aps-c sensor means you can crop quite a bit and still get good quality pictures. Im extremely pleased with this camera. I know a lot of people complained about the lack of flash and electronic viewfinder but for climbing these are unnecessary and this camera being so small, light, and low profile is perfect.

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This is the first non-Sony camera I have bought in a decade. It takes better pictures than the RX 100 V or VI, especially in low light. F2.8 is not fast but because of the APSC sensor the Ricoh GR iii works well in evening social situations. Plus it is truly light and pocketable. I will still use my Sony X1 R 2 when I want superior quality and I prefer a 35mm to a 28mm focal length when I am walking around, but for casual snapshots of friends the GR iii is amazing. It is so easy to slip it into ones jacket pocket. I have had no issues with battery life and the auto-focus is decent, even in low light, and snap focus very effective. I am going on a trip later this week and planning to take the GR iii and the RX 100 VI for zooming in daylight, and leaving my full frame Sonys at home.

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Im not going to make a massive written review waxing eloquent about this camera. This thing is beautiful and the shots it produces are also beautiful. Ricoh has a mostly brilliant camera here. Below, Ill share some of my pics Ive taken and some basic pros and cons. The greatest thing about this camera is it gets me outside and shooting MUCH more often than I do without a camera like this. Pros: Amazing image quality Touch screen Is great and very responsive Menu system is better (in my opinion) ISO sensitivity has been improved JPEG film simulations are amazing Snap focus is awesome for stealth street shooting So tiny, I literally carry it everywhere Focusing with the touchscreen is very easy and quick Cons: Macro responsiveness and focus isnt as good as the GRII Overall autofocus isnt super amazing Battery life isnt very good Shooting alot of photos at once causes the camera to heat up significantly (not a big deal in my opinion) Connecting to my phone via bluetooth and wifi is not very easy to set up Flash has been removed (but its not a big deal to me) Video quality sucks (I know this isnt a dedicated video camera or anything, but crispy video would be nice!)

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I had the Ricoh II but this version takes incredible photos comparatively - I’m stunned by the quality and vibrancy each time I review what I shot. I’ve even stopped using my Sony mirrorless and instead I take the Ricoh III everywhere now. I’m traveling abroad for a few months and it’s ideal. The battery life is abysmal — I easily go through four batteries in a couple hours of shooting — but the quality is so good, in general, nevermind for such a discreet and portable camera, that I can deal with this tradeoff. Other notes: the camera gets really hot with continuous use. Not enough where you can’t hold it, but it’s noticeable. Also, the focus isn’t great in low light. Despite the cons, I’m glad I upgraded. The photos off this thing are amazing!

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