Me And The GR3

Sometimes you just want a change from the “big” camera. The one that takes great images but weighs as much as a brick and, realistically, has to go in a backpack along with a couple of equally heavy lenses, filters and other bits and bobs.

Of course, the backpack is always on standby, filled with said items and ready to go into the car or simply be hoisted onto one’s back at a moment’s notice. We have to assume here that the camera battery is in a state of full charge and the that the foregoing lenses are going to be up to the task in hand - whatever that might be.

To be honest last year (well, and maybe the one before) wasn’t one in which my creative photographic juices were flowing in abundance. My enthusiasm was at a low ebb and even the thoughts of checking the battery in the long neglected Pentax K1 before pronouncing the backpack fit to go was a job too far. Add to that the vision of dragging half my weight in camera gear to some beauty spot or even just the local park was the stuff of nightmares.

What I needed was a camera I could just take anywhere, without any effort. Perhaps slip it in a (non-specialist) bag or coat pocket and go off on an aimless ramble. Did such a thing exist? What sort of camera would this be classed as?

The answers came from the internet of course. I can’t remember exactly where or how but I suddenly became aware of the much changed world of compact cameras. Cameras I hadn’t looked at or even considered for years and years. As I studied the adverts and reviews it became clear that this world had come on by leaps and bounds.

I discovered the Ricoh GR Mark 3

Suddenly there were new possibilities here. This little wonder would not only fit in a bag or a coat pocket but actually in my trouser pocket.

OK, specs - briefly, because you can look it up if you want.

• APS-C 24 MP (6000x4000) Sensor

• 28mm (full frame equivalent) fixed lens

• RAW and JPEG file formats with option to capture both

• Built-in selectable 2 stop ND filter