Ricoh Is Making Its First GR Digicam Constructed for Black and White Pictures

Ricoh Imaging has introduced the event of the Ricoh GR IV Monochrome. This would be the first high-end GR compact digital digicam sequence mannequin explicitly designed for black and white pictures.

The Ricoh GR IV Monochrome, as its identify suggests, is constructed on the present GR IV platform, which launched with the usual mannequin final month. The commonplace GR IV is promoting very effectively and is bought out at many photograph retailers. Ricoh Imaging additionally introduced at the moment that the promised GR IV HDF digicam will arrive in “winter 2025.”

However, whereas the core options are the identical between the GR IV and the upcoming GR IV Monochrome, there’s one essential distinction: the picture sensor. The GR IV Monochrome is supplied with a brand new, devoted monochrome picture sensor. It continues to be a 25.7-megapixel ASPC chip, which means that like most different monochrome cameras, the GR IV Monochrome will make the most of the identical primary sensor however ditch the Bayer sample colour filter array on high. Standard digital cameras solely seize colour information because of the first colour filter, as CMOS picture sensors are monochromatic by nature.

Alongside the monochrome picture sensor, Ricoh says the GR IV Monochrome will function particular Image Control choices specialised for black and white pictures “to deliver the expressiveness and depth unique to monochromatic images.”

The specs, that are topic to vary, record Standard, Soft, Hi-Contrast, Grainy, HDR Tone, and three customized Image Control settings. Photographers will be capable to modify every Image Control throughout many parameters, together with excessive and low key, distinction, distinction (spotlight), distinction (shadow), sharpness, shading, readability, firming, grain impact, and HDR Tone Level.

From a design and options standpoint, the GR IV Monochrome guarantees most of the identical enhancements as the usual GR IV, together with the improved 18.3mm f/2.8 (28mm equal) built-in prime lens, higher Shake Reduction (SR) picture stabilization system, revised design, and swifter autofocus. There is one notable design change, although, and that’s that Ricoh has stripped all the colour from the GR IV Monochrome’s physique, together with the inexperienced energy indicator mild on high, which is now white. The GR brand on the entrance can also be now black, though it’s usually simply grey anyhow. In product photographs equipped by Ricoh, the digicam’s precise end additionally seems smoother.

The Ricoh GR IV Monochrome is predicted to launch in Spring 2026 for an undisclosed value. The commonplace GR IV is $1,500.

Image credit: Ricoh Imaging