The Ricoh GR Digital III is one of the very best compact digital cameras. The GR series has a reputation for excellent handling and the GRD3 is no exception.

Mini Review

• Comfortable to hold despite small size. The rubberised grip and the thumb rest helps improve the hand hold-ability.
• Great handling - frequently used menu options can be easily accessed by configuring various controls. 
• Expensive for a fixed focal length compact small sensor camera; for a little more money, one can get the Panasonic GF-1 and a 14mm f2.5 (28mm equivalent) lens.
• Fixed focal length of 28mm.
• Lens is of very high quality but is let down by the small sensor. The lens does not exhibit coma aberration even at f1.9.
• Images are good up to 200 ISO, noise increases at higher ISOs.
  
• Usability is amongst the best. 
• There appears to be some noise reduction even in the RAW images; this is unexpected and disappointing in a serious camera.
• Shutter lag and AF speed are quite good.
• Offers snap focus mode where shutter lag can be further reduced by setting focus to a fixed distance. This is helpful in street shooting.
• Because of the fixed focal length, it is easier to use an add-on optical viewfinder. The camera focus confirmation can be seen from the corner of the eye when using an optical finder.
• Ricoh only supply raw conversion software for Windows platform.

Sample Images