Ricoh has finally updated his favorite compact camera from Cult, and it's a beauty

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The Ricoh GR II is a cult product: a tiny compact pocket camera with a large APS-C crop sensor and a fixed 18.3mm f / 2.8 lens. While Sony dominates the point-and-shoot market with its versatile RX100 series, the GR II is a minimalist alternative designed for photographers who want to take a step back from any gadget. The new GR III retains much of what made it attractive before, with some key improvements that should make shooting a little easier under difficult conditions.

Fans have been demanding for some time an update of GR II (and even GR I). It was announced in 2015, and even then, it was hardly an improvement over the original of 2013. Since then, the camera technology has evolved a lot and the GR III represents the first major overhaul of the compact shooter. For starters, the new camera offers 3-axis sensor offset stabilization, which is good for up to four compensation stops, according to Ricoh. In recent years, stabilization in the camera has become almost standard in high-end cameras, and it's nice to see it turn into a compact compact.

In addition, the GR III is equipped with a 24.24-megapixel APS-C sensor at higher resolution than the 16MP GR II. In addition to the higher resolution, the GR III also supports ISO, with a range from 1000 to 102 400, while the GR II is 25 600. This gives you a little more flexibility to increase sensitivity, which allows you to increase the shutter speed in dark conditions or in situations where you want to capture fast action.

There is also a dual autofocus with phase adaptation on sensor and contrast detection. Since the first is new in the general resource range, it should allow for faster tuning, as well as improved tuning in situations where contrast tuning can be a problem (areas without strong contrast). Also a first for the GR line, the new camera receives a touch screen. Which means it's much easier to focus. Just tap the point that needs to be clear.

You will notice that there is now an instant flash. Ricoh has finally removed this virtually useless feature.

The goal of 18.3 mm could be a point of contention for newcomers. Personally, I have always liked the fact that the GR II has a fixed lens without zoom. This requires you to consider your shots and, as a speed-driven photographer, I appreciate how simple the GR II or Fujifilm XF10 are in their presentation. It's a break from speed.

the The XF10 is also a decent comparison camera for the GR III. It was released last year and, like the GR III, it is a compact shooting game with a 24MP APS-C sensor, a fixed lens equivalent to 28 mm and an ISO sensitivity above average. It can go up to 51,200. The main difference between the two, besides the price (the XF10 at $ 500 is cheaper than the GR II and the GR III), is that the XF10 pulls in 4K and lacks the stabilization of the onboard camera. When you run in darker conditions, you must stop and take a breath before taking the picture, otherwise you risk blurry photos. Although I spent much less time with the GR III, I was never afraid of a sudden.

Unfortunately, there was a miserable storm in New York the day I spent with the GR III and I was not allowed to leave the area where we were informed of the camera, which I've left few valuable places to test the damn thing.

The photos are a little fresh, but this lemon peel was really pale in real life.

The GR III can focus within 6 cm distance, which means you can distinguish every detail of the ring of my class.

This is a JPEG file directly out of the camera (Ricoh has not provided RAW files), so these blacks can be less overwritten after post-processing.

This is shot at 1/500 and 2500 ISO. You can start to see the grain in the shadows, but the light and dark areas are surprisingly well balanced.

The brick and the safety net both retain good detail even when you zoom in.

Unfortunately, the event was entirely composed of Caucasian people, which means that, until the exam, this photo helps to judge how it treats the skin tones. In addition, it was shot at ISO 4000 and is quite grain free where it needs to be.

What surprised me, apart from the beautiful balance of colors and the inconsistent contrast, is how bright the GR III is. The GR III can focus less than 6 cm away and is always nice and clean when taking a quick shot of the city beyond the building in which we were.

ISO performance was also solid. A photo taken in a dark room and facing a much brighter photo contained a lot of grain, but it was not unattractive and the darkest photo I shot, a selfie at ISO 4000, is clear and does not contain grain where it is needed .

But the quality of this camera will require more than an hour of testing at the Ricoh office in Midtown. Especially because the GR III is not a cheap camera. When it ships in March, it will cost $ 900. This is exactly what Sony's RX100 series cameras do, which can do a lot more (including zoom) but have a smaller sensor. It's also almost twice as much as the Fujifilm XF100, or the GR II, which is still available.

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