Ricoh GRIII / Small but mighty

As photographers, we love geeking out on gear. We get excited about that new camera launch, or that gadget that can help level up our work.

But there comes a point where too much ‘stuff’ becomes a detriment to the creative process.

It’s been a journey (a slow one), but I’ve begun turning to a minimal mindset when it comes to photography. As a small person, lugging around a ton of gear isn’t practical and I’ve often questioned if I need it all to create what I want.

Disclaimer, I am not a minimalist photographer and definitely need a fair amount of gear to conduct my day-to-day work for clients. If you’ve seen my travelling studio, it requires a heavy-duty cart that I lug around to offices and events. After years of being a professional photographer, this is quite possibly my favourite setup and I now have a great system down.

On the flip side of this, I love the freedom of heading out on a photo walk with just a small point-and-shoot. My current favourite street camera is my Ricoh GR III which is an 18mm point and shoot camera. Compact, small, APSC sensor and SO sharp.

I’m by no means technical so here’s a brief spec sheet.

General

• 18mm (28mm equivalent)

• APSC CMOS Sensor

• 24 megapixels

• Shoots both RAW and JPEG formats

• Battery lasts around 200 shots

• Small point-and-shoot (The size of my iPhone 12 mini)

• Internal Memory available

• SD Card slot

What I love about this camera

Don’t underestimate this small but mighty camera. At first glance, it looks like a generic point-and-shoot. But there is so much to love about this camera.

• This camera takes SHARP images.

• It’s the one camera that I reach for in a pinch if I’m popping out the door and need just any camera besides my phone to bring with me.

• It’s a fun camera to shoot with and document the day-to-day.

• The colours are great and Ricoh has done a great job at making it so easy to pair with my phone for editing. These days I don’t even have to transfer the files to my computer. My selects go straight from camera to phone and edits get done right away.

• I have yet to master this but the Ricoh GRIII has a snap focus option that allows you to lock in a focal distance making doing street photography simpler

I brought the Ricoh on a trip to the Sunshine Coast a few years ago and we took a walk to the Skookumchuck Narrows and shot the above image of a surfer in the waves. This image (above) ended up getting accepted at the Professional Photographers of Canada Image Competition in 2023.

Ricoh GR III