Ricoh reveals APS-C compact that's significantly cheaper than Nikon's

Ricoh reveals APS-C compact that's significantly cheaper than Nikon's
The Ricoh GR IV successor has landed

Pentax Ricoh has announced the successor to the GR IV. Simply named the Ricoh GR, the new camera features a 16.2 million pixel APS-C sized sensor but still keeps a reasonably small body size.

Along with the new sensor is a newly developed lens. The 18.3mm f/2.8 lens is roughly equivalent to 28mm in 35mm terms. Pentax Ricoh claims that the lens minimises distortion and chromatic aberration by incorporating two high-precision aspherical lens elements and a highly refractive low-dispersion glass element.

It also has a nine-bladed diaphragm to produce a rounded bokeh effect at larger apertures. A manually adjustable inbuilt ND filter is also included to allow for wider apertures in bright light.

Anti-alias

Pentax Ricoh says that the lens has been optimised for the APS-C sensor. The camera, like the Nikon Coolpix A, has also had the anti-aliasing filter removed, which should enhance performance.

Ricoh reveals APS-C compact that's significantly cheaper than Nikon's

A high-speed autofocusing system promises speeds of 0.2 seconds, while a start-up time of just one second is also boasted. Continuous shooting is available at up to 4fps.

Despite the increase in sensor size, the Ricoh GR boasts a body that's not too much larger than the Ricoh GR IV, which has a 1/1.7-inch sensor.

Other improvements include an increase in the number of digital filters, an upgrade to the precision of automatic white balance and Eye-Fi compatibility.

The Ricoh GR price will be around £599 (approximately US$920 / AU$882) and will be released onto the market in May 2013.

Amy Davies

Amy has been writing about cameras, photography and associated tech since 2009. Amy was once part of the photography testing team for Future Publishing working across TechRadar, Digital Camera, PhotoPlus, N Photo and Photography Week. For her photography, she has won awards and has been exhibited. She often partakes in unusual projects - including one intense year where she used a different camera every single day. Amy is currently the Features Editor at Amateur Photographer magazine, and in her increasingly little spare time works across a number of high-profile publications including Wired, Stuff, Digital Camera World, Expert Reviews, and just a little off-tangent, PetsRadar.