Ricoh Announces GR IV

2025.08.21

Today, the Ricoh GR IV made its official debut, after being announced back in February. This advanced compact camera follows a long line of fixed-prime-lens digital cameras offering full manual-controls with efficient controls.

The GR-series has seen relative success due to its very small target audience. While offering advanced features and dual control-dials, GR cameras fall short of a Premium classification due to their lack of a viewfinder and no provision to add one. Having a prime lens also cuts out some audience. Still, it is good to see variety in a market that is constantly shrinking.

The new Ricoh GR IV is build around a 26 megapixels APS-C BSI-CMOS sensor without an Anti-Alias Filter to achieve the maximum sharpness afforded by its fixed 28mm F/2.8 equivalent lens. New to this fourth-generation is a 5-axis builtin image-stabilization mechanism that is effective to 6-stops over hand-held photography. Using it, the Ricoh GR IV implements two of the best tricks pioneered by Pentax, who was aquired years ago by Ricoh. One is automatic leveling. This corrects for up to 1½° of tilt when IBIS is Off and 1° when it is active. The other is introducing slight blurring of the image to simulate an anti-alias filter when photographing dense patterns.

This latest model is the most compact in the series, measuring just 33mm in depth and weighing only 262g. This diminutive size is an achievement in itself and is even more impressive considering the new IBIS system. It also manages to squeeze in dual control-dials and a good number of buttons. The main loss is the previously said lack of a viewfinder. For this Ricoh made efforts to give the GR IV an outstanding rear screen. Here, it is a 3" LCD with 1 megapixels and a gap-less design reinforced with resin. It is designed to reduce reflections and glare, a very crucial consideration for a digital camera without any viewfinder.

One can see blow just how packed with controls this compact camera is. It offers full manual-controls, including Bulb and Timed exposures up to 20 minutes. There are several metering modes, outstanding WB fine-tuning, an Interval Timer, Multiple Exposures and more. This camera also captured video, albeit only at Full HD and up to 60 FPS. Cameras that have the same resolution usually capture 4K video too. There is a maximum 25 minutes recording time too.

Two extra measures were taken to reach this small size. One is that the Ricoh GR4 uses Micro SDXC cards and the other is that it comes with a USB-C port with Display-Alt mode. This saves it from having an HDMI port. Users will need an adapter to use a standard display. However, there are plenty of monitors that support USB-C input. Even more, some portable displays provide pass-through power which could, in theory, charge the GR IV while its output is being displayed.

The Ricoh GR IV will come for $1500 USD, making it among the most expensive fixed-lens cameras around. Its availability date has not been announced yet but it is possible to preorder one from Adorama or B&H Photo. This ensures you will be among the first to get one. Those reputable affiliates of ours will only charge buyers once the product has shipped. They also ship internationally.

• Digital Camera