Why This $1,500 Pocket Camera Still Tempts Photographers

The Ricoh GR series has a strange pull on people who care about having a real camera in their pocket instead of a phone, and the new GR IV pushes that idea further while charging a premium that competes with serious interchangeable-lens bodies. If you care about spontaneous street shots, low-key family moments, or just always having a compact on you, the tradeoffs in this body matter more than the usual spec sheet bragging rights to photographers.

Coming to you from Tony and Chelsea Northrup, this candid video puts the Ricoh GR IV digital camera under real everyday pressure rather than just reading off features. Northrup walks through how a 25.7 MP APS-C sensor, a 28mm-equivalent f/2.8 lens, and only 1080p video at up to 60 fps feel in the real world when you are paying around $1,500 for a fixed-lens compact. There is no 4K, no viewfinder, no flip screen, and the tiny external flash costs extra, which would look absurd on paper if you judged it against a Canon R8 or similar bodies in the same price bracket. You see quickly that the pitch here is not specs but a specific style of shooting where size, feel, and speed of access matter more than raw resolution charts. The video leans into that tension instead of pretending the GR IV is a spec monster.

Once Northrup gets past the sheet of numbers, the interesting part starts: how the GR IV actually changes the way you shoot. The body is small enough to disappear in a front pocket and light enough to live on a wrist strap all day without becoming a burden, which makes it far more likely you will actually have it on you than a Fujifilm X100VI or a Sony RX1R III. The 5-axis sensor-shift stabilization, built-in 2-stop ND filter, and adjustable aperture make it easy to drag the shutter, shoot multi-second handheld exposures, and play with movement in a way you simply cannot with a phone. Northrup also talks about the generous 53 GB of internal storage that lets you leave the microSD slot empty and still get a surprising amount of shooting done. At the same time, he does not gloss over the autofocus problems, the distracting green AF-assist lamp, and the quirky snap focus system that forces you to think in distances rather than just letting the camera grab a face.

Key Specs

• 25.74 MP APS-C (23.3 x 15.5 mm) CMOS sensor

• Fixed 18.3mm lens (28mm full frame equivalent)

• Maximum aperture f/2.8, minimum aperture f/16

• 5-axis sensor-shift image stabilization

• Native ISO range 100 to 204,800

• Internal recording up to 1,920 x 1,080 at 23.98/29.97/59.94 fps (H.264/MPEG-4 AVC)

• Single microSD/microSDHC/microSDXC (UHS-I) card slot plus 53 GB internal memory

• Fixed 3" touchscreen LCD with 1,037,000 dots

• No built-in flash; hot shoe for external flash

• Approx. 250 shots per charge from the DB-120 battery

• Dimensions 4.3 x 2.4 x 1.3" and weight 8.0 oz body only

You get a clear sense that the GR IV does not “win” on pure image quality against any of those, and it absolutely does not beat modern smartphone computational photography in a clean side-by-side. What it offers instead is a distraction-free experience, a simple fixed 28mm view, and just enough manual control to feel intentional without pulling you into menus every few seconds. Northrup also spends time on the app, the Wi-Fi transfer speeds, and GPS tagging, which are good enough to be usable but flaky enough that you will not want to rely on them for every session. That balance of charm and annoyance is part of what makes the video worth watching rather than just skimming a spec list. Check out the video above for the full rundown from Northrup.