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Features

Opinion: What I’d Love to See in a Full Frame Ricoh GR Camera Body

Chris Gampat
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06/21/2018
3 Mins read
Chris Gampat The Phoblographer Ricoh GR II review product images 8

Last Updated on 06/21/2018 by Mark Beckenbach

If a full frame Ricoh GR camera body ever makes its way into the world, this is what I’d want from it.

There is a hope amongst many photographers out there: that one day a full frame Ricoh GR camera body might actually make it out into the world. It’s the dream of many a photographer, especially those in the street photography community. But otherwise, it would also just be nice for those who travel and want a compact camera with solid image quality to tote around. This lust comes partially from just how good their film point and shoot cameras still are even today. They still sell for a lot of money online and even though their last GR II was a solid camera, it’s time to upgrade to something even better.

At Least a 36MP Sensor

Ricoh/Pentax put the same 36MP sensor in the Pentax K-1 and Pentax K-1 Mk II. It would only make sense in terms of supply to put that sensor into this camera. It’s a good sensor with lots of dynamic range, good color and great high ISO output. 36MP is also more than enough to make big prints. Said prints would be great for zine makers and those who do their own galleries.

Phase Detect AF

One of my problems with the original Ricoh GR cameras were the slow autofocus. I think that considering what Fujifilm, Canon, Leica and Sony have done, it’s pretty mandatory to give a full frame Ricoh GR camera good autofocus. It will mean that you’ll be able to catch the slightest of moments on the street as they happen.

A 28mm f1.7 Lens Would Be Nice, With a Leaf Shutter

Leica gave the Leica Q a 28mm f1.7 lens and charged a premium for it. But by all means, the Leica Q is also a fantastic camera. Ricoh could go and do something similar. I’d be really happy if they did.

Zone Focusing on the Lens

Most street photographers shoot with zone focusing. While the lens should have autofocus and a leaf shutter, it should also allow photographers to use zone focusing with relative ease. Zone focusing helps photographers in many ways when you’re trying to capture candid moments as they happen.

Weather Sealing

It would be really nice if the full frame Ricoh GR camera had weather sealing built in. This would mean photographers would be able to go out and shoot in the rain or snow, where lots of fantastic moments tend to happen in the streets.

Keep the Built In Flash

Please, Ricoh, keep the built in flash. Coupled with the leaf shutter, it can help deliver really beautiful images using the high speed sync function on the camera.

A Nice Black and White Mode

The full frame Ricoh GR camera should have a black and white mode that looks like and emulates the feel of film. It would mean that you can use the camera’s built in WiFi to beam images to your phone, then to Instagram where they’ll look like Tri-X or Delta. What more do photographers want?

A Solid EVF

Lastly, I’m asking for a solid EVF on the full frame Ricoh GR camera. Even if it means making it a bit bigger, I’d gladly cover it with a leather half case and wear it like a piece of jewelry.

autofocus camera fujifilm full frame Ricoh GR camera leica lens ricoh sony street photogrpahy
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Chris Gampat is the Editor in Chief, Founder, and Publisher of the Phoblographer. He provides oversight to all of the daily tasks, including editorial, administrative, and advertising work. Chris's editorial work includes not only editing and scheduling articles but also writing them himself. He's the author of various product guides, educational pieces, product reviews, and interviews with photographers. He's fascinated by how photographers create, considering the fact that he's legally blind./ HIGHLIGHTS: Chris used to work in Men's lifestyle and tech. He's a veteran technology writer, editor, and reviewer with more than 15 years experience. He's also a Photographer that has had his share of bylines and viral projects like "Secret Order of the Slice." PAST BYLINES: Gear Patrol, PC Mag, Geek.com, Digital Photo Pro, Resource Magazine, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Finance, IGN, PDN, and others. EXPERIENCE: Chris Gampat began working in tech and art journalism both in 2008. He started at PCMag, Magnum Photos, and Geek.com. He founded the Phoblographer in 2009 after working at places like PDN and Photography Bay. He left his day job as the Social Media Content Developer at B&H Photo in the early 2010s. Since then, he's evolved as a publisher using AI ethically, coming up with ethical ways to bring in affiliate income, and preaching the word of diversity in the photo industry. His background and work has spread to non-profits like American Photographic Arts where he's done work to get photographers various benefits. His skills are in SEO, app development, content planning, ethics management, photography, Wordpress, and other things. EDUCATION: Chris graduated Magna Cum Laude from Adelphi University with a degree in Communications in Journalism in 2009. Since then, he's learned and adapted to various things in the fields of social media, SEO, app development, e-commerce development, HTML, etc. FAVORITE SUBJECT TO PHOTOGRAPH: Chris enjoys creating conceptual work that makes people stare at his photos. But he doesn't get to do much of this because of the high demand of photography content. / BEST PHOTOGRAPHY TIP: Don't do it in post-production when you can do it in-camera.
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