Ricoh’s trendy compact camera has now been officially discontinued in favor of its successor. The Ricoh GR III has now been officially discontinued by the company’s headquarters in Japan, while some retailers have already followed suit in changing the best-selling compact camera’s status.
The Ricoh GR III is being discontinued in favor of the compact camera’s successor, the GR IV. Ricoh’s Japan website now lists the camera among the discontinued models, while retailers like B&H have also already designated the camera as discontinued.
The new Ricoh GR IV includes a new sensor and processor, but perhaps the biggest change between the two models is the price, with the Ricoh GR IV listing at $1,499 / £1,199 / AU$2,099.95. The Ricoh GR III HDF edition, meanwhile, listed for $1,149.95 / £1,099 (about AU$1,765) at launch.
Photographers hoping to get a discount by picking up the older model will likely be sorely disappointed, as the remaining stock for the GR III appears to be scarce, and even used models appear to be listed for close to the original list price.
When Ricoh first teased the GR IV, it indicated that it was ending production of the GR III. However, the timing may come as a surprise, as pre-orders of the GR IV aren’t expected to ship until mid-September.
While the Ricoh GR III may be dead, the reasons for the compact camera’s success continue on in the GR IV. The Ricoh GR IV shares much in common with its predecessor, including an APS-C sensor crammed into a pocketable camera. The GR IV also keeps the HD video specs and 4 fps burst, but updates the processor and adds a few extra pixels to the sensor.
Importantly, the Ricoh GR IIIx hasn’t yet earned the discontinued status from Ricoh Japan. While the company has replaced the GR III with the GR IV, the company hasn’t yet announced an X model, which takes the same compact camera concept but adds a longer 40mm equivalent lens rather than a wide angle.
The Ricoh GR III got caught up in the compact camera trend and, at times, faced stock issues towards the end of the camera’s lifespan. The successor, the GR IV, is being shipped in limited quantities, according to retailers.
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