Buying guide

Ricoh GR III vs GR IIIx

The Ricoh GR III and GR IIIx are the same camera with two different lenses. The III sees 28mm, the IIIx sees 40mm. Everything behind the lens is identical: the 24MP sensor, the processor, the 3-axis stabilization, the battery, the 2GB of internal memory, the menus and all twelve Image Controls. So the decision is one question, how wide do you want to see, and this page is mostly about answering it honestly. Recipes do not care which you pick: every recipe on the GR III & GR IIIx page runs on both.

The two side by side

Figures from Ricoh's specification page and launch announcements. Prices are the US launch MSRPs; both cameras have sold below them for years.

What 28mm does, what 40mm does

Ricoh's own line on the IIIx is that 40mm is "close to the photographer's own effective field of view." 28mm shows more than you notice; 40mm shows about what you were looking at.

• On the street, 28mm is the classic GR view because it takes in the whole situation: the person, the shop front behind them, the shadow on the pavement. You shoot from close, which is the GR habit, and snap focus at 1.5m or 2m covers most of it. 40mm makes you stand back a step, isolates one subject, and keeps buildings from leaning in at the edges. People who find 28mm cluttered usually end up happier with the IIIx.
• For portraits, the IIIx, clearly. At 40mm a face at conversation distance keeps its proportions and separates from the background; at 28mm you have to be inside arm's length to fill the frame and noses grow. The portrait recipes were mostly made on 28mm bodies all the same, because a GR is the camera that is there when someone is standing in good light.
• Traveling, 28mm wins indoors and in tight streets, churches, markets, anywhere you cannot step back. 40mm wins for details, food on a table, and the shot across a square where 28mm leaves the subject small. Both have crop modes that preview the other view at lower resolution: 35mm and 50mm on the III, 50mm and 71mm on the IIIx.
• For close-ups, the III focuses to 6cm in macro mode, the IIIx to 12cm. Because the IIIx frames tighter that works out to a similar subject size, but the III gets you physically closer to small things.

Everything else is the same

The sensor is the same 24.24MP APS-C chip, the stabilization the same 3-axis unit, the battery the same DB-110 rated at about 200 shots, the card the same full-size SD next to about 2GB of internal memory. The menus are identical down to the page codes. So are the twelve Image Controls and the two custom slots, the numbered Filter Effect on the black and white modes, the two-stop ND filter, the ISO range and the 1080p video. If you have read a GR III review, you have read a GR IIIx review with a different lens on the front.

That is also why the recipes transfer one to one. A recipe is Image Control, nine sliders, a white balance shift and grain; none of those know what the lens is. The Image Control guide covers what each mode and slider does, for both bodies at once.

The HDF versions

Both cameras exist as an HDF model (2024), which removes the two-stop ND filter and puts a Highlight Diffusion Filter in its place. It softens highlights and blooms point lights for a film-like glow, and it switches on and off, but you cannot have the ND back. Buy the HDF only if you already like the look of a diffusion filter on the front of a lens; otherwise the standard body keeps the ND for shooting wide open in bright sun. The which-GR guide goes deeper on that trade, and on the GR IV generation.

Which to buy used

Both are now used-market cameras. The GR III launched in March 2019 at $899.95 and the GR IIIx in October 2021 at $999.95, and Ricoh has said production of the IIIx, the IIIx HDF and the IIIx Urban Edition is expected to end with the units shipped in October 2026, with the 40mm GR IVx planned for winter 2026 or later. Expect IIIx prices to hold up while it is the only 40mm GR you can get.

• Pick the focal length first, then the body. Do not buy a IIIx you found cheap if you wanted 28mm; you will crop-mode your way to resentment.
• Check the firmware in the Setup menu. Negative Film arrived with firmware 1.70 on the III and 1.20 on the IIIx (January 2023), and a good share of the most-saved recipes are built on it. The update is free, but it tells you how the previous owner treated the camera.
• Shoot the sky at f/16 and look for spots before money changes hands. Dust on the sensor is the classic GR III-generation complaint, and cleaning it is a service job.
• The battery is small on both. Budget for a spare DB-110 whichever you choose; it is the first item on the GR III accessories and GR IIIx accessories pages for a reason.

Questions people ask

What is the difference between the Ricoh GR III and GR IIIx?

The lens, and nothing else that changes the pictures. The GR III has a 28mm equivalent lens, the GR IIIx a 40mm equivalent. Sensor, processor, stabilization, battery, memory, menus and all twelve Image Controls are identical. The IIIx is 5g heavier and 2mm thicker because of the longer lens, and it focuses no closer than 0.2m where the III manages 0.1m.

Do GR III recipes work on the GR IIIx?

Yes, exactly. A recipe is a set of JPEG settings, and the two cameras process JPEGs identically, so a recipe dialed in on one looks the same on the other. Every recipe on the GR III and IIIx page runs on both bodies.

Can I get the 40mm look from a GR III with crop mode?

Partly. The GR III's crop modes give you a 35mm or 50mm field of view by using less of the sensor, so you lose resolution and keep the 28mm lens's perspective and depth of field. The IIIx has crop modes too, at 50mm and 71mm. Crop is a fine way to find out which view you reach for before you buy; it is not a substitute for the other lens.

Which is better for portraits, the GR III or the GR IIIx?

The IIIx. 40mm keeps faces in proportion at a normal talking distance and pulls a person out of the background; 28mm stretches features when you get close enough to fill the frame, so on a GR III people work best as part of a scene. Neither is a portrait lens in the 85mm sense.

Is the GR IIIx discontinued?

Ricoh's GR IVx development announcement of August 26, 2026 says production of the GR IIIx, IIIx HDF and IIIx Urban Edition is expected to conclude with the products shipped in October 2026. The 40mm successor, the GR IVx, is planned for winter 2026 or later with no price announced yet.