Remember when we told you the Ricoh GR IV was on the way? Well, somewhere between all the shiny gadgets and questionable inventions flooding our inbox, we completely missed the fact that it actually launched last August. Oops.
Anyhoo, the Ricoh GR IV quietly succeeded the beloved GR III with a new 25.7 MP APS-C backside-illuminated sensor, a redesigned 28 mm f/2.8 lens, improved 5-axis image stabilization, faster autofocus, a larger battery, and better dust resistance (though still not officially weather-sealed).
Perhaps the most underrated upgrade is the inclusion of 53 GB of internal storage, meaning you can shoot a whole day’s worth of RAW files without even putting a memory card in the camera. In other words, Ricoh refined an already excellent recipe instead of trying to reinvent it.
It was later joined by the GR IV HDF, which added Ricoh’s Highlight Diffusion Filter for a softer, film-like rendering. In other words, Ricoh refined an already excellent recipe instead of trying to reinvent it.
Now, Ricoh is giving street photographers another reason to empty their wallets with the Ricoh GR IV Monochrome.
As the name suggests, this version ditches the colour filter array entirely in favour of a dedicated monochrome sensor. The reward? Sharper black-and-white images, finer tonal gradation, richer contrast, and none of the interpolation that colour sensors require before producing a monochrome photo. If your idea of photography begins and ends with shades of grey, this is about as pure as it gets.
Everything else that made the GR IV a pocket-sized street photography powerhouse remains intact. You still get the compact body that slips into a jacket pocket, the fixed 28 mm-equivalent lens, in-body image stabilization, and the understated design that lets you blend into the crowd instead of announcing yourself with a camera the size of a small microwave.
The Ricoh GR IV Monochrome is available now for US$2,199.95(or US$2,196.95 on Amazon). It is certainly not cheap, but then again, neither is seeing the world in black and white—especially when it looks this good. For those who are interested to know, the Ricoh GR IV sells for US$1,599.99, and the HDF commands a tad more at US$1,699.99.
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Images: Ricoh.
