- Likes
- 172
- Comments
- 21
- Posted
- Mar 7, 2026, 1:15 PM
- Location
- 中山道(Nakasendo Trail)
- Caption
- #japan
circa 2026
when ricoh announced the monochrome camera last year, i knew its going to be added to my inventory. and I was fortunate to snag one of the first units on this island.
ive always have a complicated relationship with ricoh gr series - the autofocus is unusable in low light, it hangs, the screen is highly reflective and is practically a mirror under sunlight, and so on.
yet, I use the gr series all the time because it’s so pocketable and simple to use. and when I land a shot, it is beautiful.
while I have only done less than 100 images on the monochrome, i know for sure it is going to be one of the workhorse for my documentary. the noise on high iso is so film like, i look forward to the camera shooting is low light conditions. and the out of camera images are already close to what I want, I foresee me shooting jpgs only, which makes this suitable for a long haul travel documentary camera.
I love leica’s monochrom too but i cannot be bringing that everywhere and this cost one fifth the price.
I’m so satisfied with the monochrom i might be getting a hdf version soon than my planned gr iii end of life.
this set are causal snaps on a recent trip. no composition, straight out from jacket pocket, shoot (mostly on snap mode) and back
to pocket.
the ibis is helpful enough to do a waterfall photo but I’m not fuss even if the ibis is missing.
if you do not shoot monochrome much, skip this camera as it’s 2200 usd, several hundreds above the base model. just get the gr iv and use the recipes there. monochrome cameras are an acquired taste - just like natto and lady fingers.
#ricohgrivmonochrome
