RICOH GR IIIx Digital Camera

The Ricoh GR IIIx's finest feature is that it's essentially a GR III with a little longer lens.

The Ricoh GR IIIx's biggest flaw is that it's just a GR III with a slightly longer lens.

To be entirely honest, if you're familiar with the original GR III, you might not need to read anymore. The GR IIIx has the same ergonomics and nearly the same performance and image quality as its predecessor, but with a 40 mm equivalent lens instead of a 28 mm. I say 'very much because the new lens certainly has an effect on the photographs you'll be able to take with the GR IIIx, and the reduced depth of field makes focusing at wide apertures slightly more difficult. However, in operation, the two cameras are virtually indistinguishable from one another.

Because of its pocketable physical factor, the GR IIIx (like the original GR III) is a near-perfect trekking companion. I had the GR IIIx tucked securely inside my shirt pocket for a three-day trip down the Yorkshire coast.

Why would something be thought to be a good thing? Simply because the GR III, like its predecessors, is a beautifully built camera that excels at what it was meant to achieve. Because it lacks a built-in electronic finder and a tilting back LCD, it's not as flexible as some ostensibly-competitive devices (particularly, the Fuji film X100-series with their 35 mm equivalent lenses), but it makes up for these shortcomings in my opinion by being actually pocketable. Not to mention that many photographers prefer 28 mm over 35 mm. The GR IIIx has all the features that make the GR III so appealing, but it has a longer lens for photographers who don't favor 28 mm.

The (optional) viewfinder aids framing in strong light, but its precision is poor and worsens at near focusing distances. Because it is totally optical, it cannot offer any indication of AF placement or acquisition.