Ricoh shows off with long -awaited GR IV compact camera, but it doesn’t look like the most important upgrade I wanted
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- Ricoh GR IV Prototype can now be seen by the public in the GR Space Showroom of the company in Tokyo
- Ricoh has already confirmed that GR IV is on course for a launch ‘Autumn 2025’
- A variation with highlight diffusion filter follows in ‘Winter 2025’
I have waited sharply for a first glance at the coming Ricoh GR IV – But now that it has happened, I can’t help it, but I feel a bit impressed. Disappointed, even.
The long -awaited replacement for the excellent Ricoh GR III (it will be stopped), the GR IV is the next flagship model in Ricoh’s iconic range of premium digital point-and-shoots.
The GR series has received something of a cult classic status from photographers, appreciated for their pocket size, modest design and use of large sensors. They are ideal for both street photography and on vacation snapshots, so the release of a new model is always something of an event for photo lovers.
And now a prototype of the Ricoh GR IV can be seen in GR Space, the showroom of Tokyo Camera and Photography of the company, so that curious members of the audience can take a look (but have no practical experience is just an external prototype, so not functional).
It should be an exciting time for a Ricoh fan like me, but I find the lack of changes in the GR III a bit over. The design is, for example, nearby identical to the GR III. I would like to have seen a built-in flash and a tilt LCD screen, but the prototype does not have that either.
I also want improvements in autofocus, and the robustness of the camera – and these things also look doubtful. Although I warn that, with this a prototype, things could change between now and the release date of autumn 2025.
Reasons to be cheerful?
On the positive side, it will be supplied with a sensor with a higher resolution, new lens, better image stabilization, some control tweaks and refinements such as a plus / min switch and a D-path instead of a control wheel, 53 GB of built-in memory (as well as a microSD-card slot is not in the way that is already shared, already that is shared, already that is shared, already sd-) Transformational.
Instead, it seems that the GR IV becomes a small upgrade. There is nothing wrong with that, and users upgrade older GR models or buying their very first GR camera will probably have a treat. People who have a GR III or GR IIIX, on the other hand, can find few compelling reasons to make the upgrade.
That said, I can’t wait to give the camera a real-world test to find out the most important thing: how it performs in the field. Be sure that TechRadar will get an assessment stitch test as soon as Ricoh is able to borrow one for us.
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