The Ricoh GRIII is loved among an increasingly dwindling list of compact high-end cameras for its pocketable, discrete design. But the original variation of the compact camera turns six in just a few weeks – a key anniversary that’s fueling a rumor wildfire about a potential Ricoh GR IV.
Ricoh hasn’t shared hints on the compact outside of an interview last year with one of the compact camera’s designers that could be interpreted hundreds of different ways. But a number of unsubstantiated rumors are emerging about the latest in the series. Some platforms are calling for an update to the compact to come sometime in 2025 with updated autofocus and battery life. Others are insisting that the camera won’t even be called the GR IV.
None of those rumors can be substantiated and all of them should be considered with a dubious eye. Yet, at the same time, the Ricoh GR III’s 2019 launch date means the compact is aging fast – and with the compact camera coming back into the limelight, 2025 could be the perfect time to launch a new iteration of the camera.
Before the current five-plus year gap on the current model, there were roughly four years between the GR II and the GR III and two years between the GR and GR II. Of course, Ricoh hasn’t been totally silent on the series since – there is the Diary Edition, the GR IIIx with a longer lens, and the GRIII HDF and GRIIIx HDF, which added a digital highlight diffusion filter but changed little else.
Before that, The current GR series evolved from a series of cameras including the Ricoh GR Digital III all the way back to the 35mm film GR1 from 1996. Looking at the evolution of the series with multiple name changes, suddenly the rumor that the next model could carry a different name doesn’t seem so far-fetched.
When I tried out the Ricoh GR III HDF, I loved the built-in diffusion feature that could be turned on and off. But many of the camera's features felt outdated, at least for a compact camera breaching the four-figure price point. Both the autofocus and the 4fps burst felt far behind modern standards, as did the video topping out at FullHD.
With both compact cameras and retro cameras trending, I don’t necessarily think a successor to the GR III would need to update the 24MP APS-C sensor, which is still plenty of resolution for a crop sensor. (Although, in keeping with the retro trend, I would hope to see the digital HDF filter included in the next model as well.) I think it should also strive to keep the compact body, as that’s one of the key differentiators between the GR series and the popular Fujifilm X100 lineup.
What I really hope to see in the rumored successor is an improvement to autofocus and speed, which would help the GR series branch beyond the street photography genre in an era where more compact camera options are sorely needed. I rarely see new camera launches with the burst speed in the single digits, and even a jump from 4fps to 10fps would be a significant improvement.
Another feature that I would love to see is one that photographers in every genre could get behind: weather-sealing. Being unable to take your camera out in the rain is a missed opportunity, especially when even an iPhone can withstand a bit of rain now.
Will we see a Ricoh GR IV in 2025? The rebounding compact camera industry sorely needs it – but with more than five years since the Ricoh GR III already, the successor will need to bring more than minor tweaks.
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