My take on Ricoh GR III HDF

GRIIIx HDF — the flaws no reviews warned me about: the LCD is awful with polarized sunglasses, and the autofocus is borderline unusable 👎

But this camera produce images that look so good that I keep forgetting how much of a pain it can be to use. When the focus hits, the photos have this really special look to them: soft skin tones, slightly muted colors, just enough depth, and that dreamy glow in the highlights from the highlight diffusion filter. It has a vibe that keeps pulling me back in and makes me want to keep shooting. It is also so pocketable and easy to carry that bringing it along never feels like a hassle.

So yeah, it has plenty of flaws, especially compared with many modern systems and even some smartphone cameras, but I still cannot bring myself to complain too much. Because what it captures never feels like just a photo — it feels like a memory you want to come back to again and again.

P.S. Rumor has it the GRIV is coming soon.

Edit: GRIV was released 9 days after this post.