My Current Favorite Camera: The Ricoh GR III

2025-09-04

A closeup shot of the Ricoh GR III showing its small size The Ricoh GR III is about the size of a pack of cards when the camera is off and the lens is fully collapsed.

I love shooting all sorts of photography, and my professional camera is a mirrorless DSLR - the Canon R6. It is a wonderful camera, but after carrying it for half an hour or more, you can feel the weight of the large camera body and lens dig into your shoulder strap.

The slot that this little camera occupies is right in between my mirrorless DSLR and my phone camera. It has the portability and quickness of operation as a phone camera, but at the same time, the quality of a much larger professional camera. It gives you just the right amount of options you need in a digital point-and-shoot.

A photo shot from the sidewalk looking at a man playing pool inside of a bar The image stabilization is so good that you are able to get sharp results at night even with a slow shutter speed.

The next generation of the camera, the GR IV, was just announced at $1500. The GR III was $900 when it was released in 2019. Looking at the specs between each of the generations, the $600 difference cost is not worth the miniscule improvements. If you are looking to get a GR, find a III or II on eBay or at a camera store and you'll be content just as if you got a IV.