Talk of a new Ricoh GR IV has been circulating for quite a while, so its announcement was only a matter of time. What’s interesting is not just what Ricoh has done with the new camera (or not done), but the way it presents the art of capturing moments as important – and it is. The GR is not my favourite camera, but Ricoh’s philosophy is refreshing in a market dominated by numbers and specifications and quarrels over whose cameras are better.
There are a series of small but significant improvements in the new Ricoh GR IV. One of these is its new 25MP back-illuminated sensor, which offers only a modest resolution increase over its 24MP predecessor but brings a new maximum sensitivity of ISO 204,800. We might not have seen any major steps forward in sensor resolution in the past few years, but there has been a quiet revolution in sensor performance which is probably a lot more significant.
The GR IV’s low light capabilities will be boosted by its improved 5-axis in-body stabilisation system, now rated at 6 stops of compensation, though this drops to 4 stops at the edge of the frame. Increasingly, manufacturers are quoting separate compensation figures for the frame center and periphery, acknowledging that camera movement is exaggerated towards the edges of the frame.
Ricoh has also upgraded the 28mm equivalent f/2.8 lens on this camera, which now boasts 7 units in 5 groups, with a new, large aspherical element added at the rear. I thought the lens on the old camera was pretty good for edge to edge sharpness but pretty prone to vignetting, so it will be interesting to see what the new one is like.
Other improvements include a new GR Engine 7 processing engine and a redesign of the lens barrel for faster startup and operation.
This looks like a great set of improvements to a camera that already has a cult following, and it’s great to see Ricoh concentrating on what this camera is good at and how to make it even better, and not simply trying to compete with rivals in the numbers game.
The Ricoh GR IV is available for pre-order at B&H and Wex, links below. Other resellers are available!
Leave a Reply