Ricoh GRIII Review

(Full disclosure: Ricoh kindly lent me the GRIII for a two-month period. I was not asked to write a review. These are my genuine thoughts.)

I’d never shot with one before but I was no stranger to the GRIII - you can’t be a street photographer in Tokyo and not notice all the GRs everywhere. (Several of my friends own one, too.) Nonetheless, it was a massive departure for me as someone that's been shooting manual focus lenses on full-frame digital bodies for several years.

It's light. Tiny, too. Pocketable. Years ago I used to keep up with camera reviews and the writers seemed very generous with the label "pocketable". There was a habit of touting bricks (or thereabouts) as being pocketable. The term fits the GRIII however, which sat comfortably in my jacket pocket when I wasn't shooting. And you know what they say: the best camera is the one you have with you...

I threw on an old thumb grip from another camera I used to own to improve my hold, but given it's size and weight, I don't think it was really necessary.

I opted for the 28mm over the newer 40mm GRIIIX, but feel I would've enjoyed that too. As it happens, 28 and 40 are my two most-used focal lengths.