For travelers seeking the ultimate in portability without sacrificing image quality, the Ricoh GR III emerges as a top contender. This camera, along with its sibling, the Ricoh GR IIIx, packs impressive capabilities into a truly pocketable design, making them ideal companions for any journey. While resembling a classic point-and-shoot in size and form, these cameras house a large APS-C sensor and a remarkably sharp lens, delivering image quality that rivals many mirrorless cameras, but with a focus on fixed focal lengths.
The Ricoh GR III and GR IIIx cameras side by side showcasing their compact design, ideal for travel photography
The Ricoh GR series has long been favored by street photographers for its discreet appearance and rapid shooting capabilities. However, the very features that appeal to street shooters—its compact size, exceptional image quality, and ease of use—also make the Ricoh GR III and GR IIIx outstanding choices as the Best Point And Shoot Camera For Travel.
Ricoh GR III
The Best Compact Camera for Street Photography and Travel
The Ricoh GR III boasts a wide-angle lens perfect for capturing expansive travel scenes and urban landscapes. It provides exceptional sharpness in a small body, though it’s worth noting it lacks a viewfinder and offers only a fixed wide-angle perspective.
Check Price
$967 at Amazon
$967 at Adorama
Ricoh GR IIIx
The Ideal Travel Camera with a Standard Focal Length
Sharing all the strengths of the GR III, the GR IIIx features a 40mm equivalent lens, offering a more standard perspective. Choosing between the two depends on your photographic style and typical travel subjects.
Check Price
$1,047 at B&H
$110 at Adorama
Unmatched Image Quality in a Pocketable Body for Travel
The Ricoh GR III and GR IIIx excel in delivering exceptional image quality for their size, a crucial factor for travel photographers who prioritize packing light. Despite their slim profiles, these cameras house an APS-C sensor, significantly larger than those found in typical point-and-shoot cameras. This larger sensor allows for greater light capture, resulting in images with richer detail, wider dynamic range, and superior low-light performance – all highly desirable when capturing diverse travel scenes, from bright landscapes to dimly lit interiors.
Both cameras boast sharp lenses that produce crisp images across their aperture ranges. Their macro capabilities are also noteworthy, allowing for close-up shots of details encountered during travels, like flowers or local crafts. The GR III can focus as close as 6 inches, while the GR IIIx manages 12 inches. Even with a maximum aperture of f/2.8, they are capable of producing pleasing portraits with softly blurred backgrounds, useful for capturing candid moments with people you meet on your journeys.
Color accuracy and pleasing contrast are hallmarks of both models, straight out of the camera. JPEG images, using the Standard image control mode, require minimal editing, a boon for travelers who prefer to share photos quickly and easily. Furthermore, while the lenses aren’t designed to produce sunstars, they effectively minimize flare when shooting towards bright light sources, a common scenario when photographing sunrises or sunsets during travel.
Close up of the Ricoh GR III screen showing its user-friendly interface and customizable settings, beneficial for quick adjustments while traveling
Excellent JPEG Output and Creative Freedom for Travel Photography
For travelers who appreciate streamlined workflows, the Ricoh GR III and GR IIIx stand out with their excellent JPEG output. Unlike many cameras where JPEG images are often seen as starting points for editing, these Ricoh cameras produce JPEGs that are satisfying even for experienced photographers. This is particularly advantageous for travel, where time might be limited for extensive post-processing.
Beyond standard JPEGs, the GR III and GR IIIx offer a range of creative JPEG shooting modes, similar to the Fujifilm X100VI. These include classic options like Vivid and Monotone, as well as more unique presets like Hard Monotone and Positive Film. The cameras also allow for deep customization of these presets, enabling photographers to create and save their own “recipes” tailored to their travel photography style. Adjust parameters like saturation, hue, contrast, sharpness, and clarity to achieve specific looks directly in-camera, enhancing the creative possibilities without needing to rely solely on raw image processing.
Ricoh’s Positive Film mode, for example, is excellent for adding punch to travel photos, increasing contrast and subtly desaturating colors while emphasizing reds, oranges, and blues – perfect for vibrant travel scenes.
Designed for One-Handed Operation and Travel Convenience
The ergonomic design of the Ricoh GR III and GR IIIx is remarkable, especially considering their brick-like compactness. They are among the few serious cameras truly designed for one-handed operation, a significant advantage when exploring busy streets or needing to shoot quickly while on the move. Intelligently placed dials, a rocker switch for exposure compensation and menu navigation, and a responsive touchscreen interface contribute to this ease of use.
Customization is a key aspect of their ergonomics. Users can configure controls to have frequently used settings readily accessible at the press of a button. The command dial further enhances usability with three User modes, allowing for the creation of custom shooting profiles suited to different travel scenarios. Imagine setting up a Soft Monotone mode with Snap Focus for discreet street photography on a cloudy day, or a Negative Film mode for relaxed beach photos with a vintage feel – all quickly accessible via the mode dial.
A street scene captured with the Ricoh GR III showcasing a cyclist and pedestrians, highlighting the camera's ability to capture candid travel moments
Snap Focus: Capturing Fleeting Travel Moments
A signature feature of the GR series, Snap Focus, is particularly beneficial for travel photography, especially street or documentary styles. This mode allows photographers to pre-set a focus distance and capture shots instantaneously by fully pressing the shutter button, bypassing the usual autofocus step. For capturing fast-moving subjects or spontaneous moments that unfold quickly during travel, Snap Focus is a game-changer, ensuring you don’t miss decisive shots while fumbling with autofocus.
Fixed Lenses and Creative Workarounds for Travel
While the fixed lenses (28mm equivalent on GR III, 40mm equivalent on GR IIIx) might seem limiting, they encourage creative composition and contribute to the cameras’ compact size. For travelers needing more reach, Ricoh offers in-camera crop modes that provide a tighter field of view at the cost of resolution. The GR III can crop to 35mm or 50mm, while the GR IIIx offers 50mm or 71mm options.
Additionally, conversion lenses are available. A wide conversion lens for the GR III expands the field of view to 21mm, and a tele conversion lens for the GR IIIx narrows it to 75mm or 107mm (with crop mode). However, these add-on lenses do increase bulk, somewhat compromising the cameras’ inherent portability.
A person easily slipping the compact Ricoh GR III into their pocket, demonstrating its ultimate portability for travel
Truly Pocketable: The Ultimate Travel Companion
The Ricoh GR III and GR IIIx truly embody the “compact” in “compact camera,” making them unparalleled travel companions. While other cameras might be considered compact compared to DSLRs or mirrorless systems, the GR series stands out for genuinely fitting into a pants pocket without discomfort. This level of portability is a significant advantage for travelers who want to keep their camera readily accessible without needing a dedicated bag.
Measuring just 4.29 x 2.44 x 1.3 inches, they are smaller than many other high-end compacts. This seemingly small difference in size can be crucial, making the GR III and GR IIIx comfortable to carry in a pocket all day, ready to capture any travel moment.
GR III HDF and GR IIIx HDF: A Special Edition for Unique Effects
For photographers interested in unique visual effects, Ricoh offers the GR III HDF and GR IIIx HDF versions. These models replace the standard neutral density filter with a highlight diffusion filter (HDF). This filter adds a soft glow around bright light sources, creating a distinctive look that can be enabled or disabled via a dedicated button.
This built-in diffusion filter offers a different effect compared to traditional front-mounted diffusion filters, affecting point light sources more intensely while having a subtler impact on the rest of the scene. While the standard ND filter is generally more broadly useful, the HDF versions cater to photographers who specifically desire a dreamy, diffused look in their images.
Limitations for Travel: Battery Life, Autofocus, and Durability
Despite their many strengths, the Ricoh GR III and GR IIIx have some limitations to consider for travel photography. Battery life is a notable concern, with a rated 200 shots per charge, and real-world use often yielding even fewer. Carrying extra batteries and a portable charger is highly recommended for extended travel days.
Autofocus performance, while adequate for static subjects, is not as fast or reliable as some competitors, and tracking moving subjects is challenging. For travel photography involving action or wildlife, this might be a drawback. Snap Focus can partially compensate, but it’s not universally applicable.
Video quality is another area where these cameras fall short. Footage is limited to 1080p at 60fps and can be shaky and lack detail. For travelers prioritizing video, other options might be more suitable.
Finally, dust ingress is a known issue with the GR series. The lack of weather sealing and lens extension mechanism can draw dust into the camera, potentially leading to sensor dust spots over time. While servicing is possible, it’s an additional consideration for long-term use, especially in dusty travel environments.
Conclusion: The Best Point and Shoot Camera for Specific Travel Styles
The Ricoh GR III and GR IIIx are not without their compromises, but their strengths – exceptional image quality, true pocketability, excellent JPEG output, and unique features like Snap Focus – make them compelling choices as the best point and shoot camera for travel for photographers who prioritize portability and image quality in a compact, discreet package. They are particularly well-suited for street photography, urban exploration, and travel styles where capturing candid moments and high-quality stills in a lightweight setup is paramount. For travelers needing zoom capabilities, robust weather sealing, or advanced video features, other cameras might be more appropriate, but for those who value the core strengths of the GR series, these cameras are exceptional travel companions.
