PLeeeaaase post some photos and stop teasing us!
Nope! You're not ready, yet.
How much is it by the way?
I'm in Japan -- the camera cost me the equiv of $700USD.
The IQ is very good and ISO 1600 is perfectly usable, especially the RAW files.
I would have to disagree, based on my experience using the GRD3 day to day. I have NOT been "testing" the camera, I only have a few thousand shutter actuation now on my GRD3, do not consider the ISO 1600 stuff usable for my needs, mostly avoid using the camera at that setting. Yeah, it really can be that bad.
Ricoh has fixed the AF issues from the GRD II, no more screen freeze, faster AF overall and the new customizable Snap mode and full-press Snap AF are great and make it prefectly usable for street photography.
The snap af is NOT to be under-estimated. It is a fugging marvel!!! On the street, in actual use, the snap AF is F_A_S_T!!! You can bring the camera up, get off a shot, and look the other way before anyone knows what just happened -- and it's in focus. But you need to be mindful of the snap af distance setting.
As Oxide Blu stated the III is a little bit bigger than it's predecessors, but does this mean the very cool new GC-4 case (The ever-ready-esque one) is also a tiny bit too big for the GRD/GRDII?
The GRD3 is only a tad bigger than the GRD2, not enough to matter in most situations. If you have a molded case for the GRD2, then the GRD3 will not fit.
I found an excellent case for my GRD2, use it everyday, snug fit, and the GRD3 fits in it without any problems.
One diff I do notice is the weight. The GRD3 is noticeable heavier. It is comfortable to hold, feels more robust than the GRD2, but I wouldn't want it any heavier. The size diff, I don't notice -- the weight diff I do.
Estimated at $700 in the US. Good as the GRD3 may be it will be hard to justify another small sensor camera for that much money today.
My GRD2 and GX200 are collecting dust. I have no need for them since the arrival of the GRD3. I only wish there was a 40mm lens for the GRD3 as there was (past tense) for the GRD2.
I would say the GRD have the way superior controls and better build. They are alsmo more suited for street photography due to the Snap mode and possibility to save settings and use the Fn buttons for quick access to the main functions.
Maybe it is just me, or maybe just the cameras I have, but the GRD3 seems a tad bit better built than the GRD2. Maybe it's the additional weight of the GRD3 ?!? Most of the camera (and controls) are the same, but the build, the way it is assembled, just seems better on the GRD3.
The snap af is a godsend ... as is the mixed light auto WB. WOW!!! Also, whatever changes have been made with metering when using the camera's built-in flash have been a vast improvement, too.
yehh... I had a GRD's...the build quality was terribLe and the warranty service in the USofA was worse...it took 6 months for warranty work...which was in the end unsuccessful...the Camera was ultimately replaced by Ricoh, Japan.
I killed by GRD2, sent it to Ricoh (in Japan) -- was perhaps the best service experience I have ever received for anything, photography related or not. I dread the idea of having to go through US companies for service repair.
Other note: overall slower start up time with the GRD3 compared to the GRD2, but faster RAW write time. The GRD3 has a bigger buffer that allows you to keep shooting RAW (6 images?) but where the write speed makes the diff is when you want to see the image immediately after taking it.
Other other note: I haven't gotten the hang of the auto tracking whatever thingy. Supposedly the GRD3 will track the subject and keep them/him/her/it in focus, even without depressing/holding the shutter release. My experience has been the camera loses the subject and stop tracking.
Other other other note: the HD combining of two JPEG images is kind of cool, kind of not. There is just enough diff that you can see the diff, but not enough to get excited about it. After looking at a few comparison pix (straight JPEG vs HD JPEG) the regular old JPEGs look flat, exposed wrong. Now if only we could get the same feature to work with RAW files.