If you’re looking for a simple daily shooter and deciding between the Fuji X100 series or the Ricoh GRIII, it really comes down to a few key factors.
Image Quality and Editing
First, are you editing on your phone or a desktop/laptop? Fujis are incredible cameras with their built-in presets, allowing you to send images to your phone super quickly. The images straight out of the camera are almost ready to post—you just need a few small tweaks in apps like VSCO or Tezza, and you’re good to go.
However, here’s what I didn’t like about my Fuji X-Pro 3: while the images are nearly perfect straight out of the camera, tweaking them to match my personal style on a computer was almost impossible. The images often had a noticeable magenta or green tint, which required extra effort to correct. Lastly, focusing at night was a major challenge.
That said, I’ve had much better experiences with the Fuji X100 series when it comes to focusing. If you’re the type of person who wants to shoot and edit on your phone, the Fuji X100 series is the best camera out there. It even comes with a built-in flash, which is a big plus.
The Ricoh GRIII Experience
I’ve had the Ricoh GRIII for about two weeks now and have used it a few times, mainly photographing my dog play in the mornings. Having previously owned Fujis and not being thrilled with their color profiles, I wasn’t in a rush to get another crop sensor point-and-shoot. Instead, I often opted to lug around my Canon.
Then I tried the Ricoh GRIII, and I was blown away by the sharpness and color quality of the image files. In good lighting, I can take a RAW photo, apply one of my custom presets, and the result is nearly indistinguishable from my Canon R5 photos. I was genuinely shocked, as I’d never seen this level of color range from a crop sensor point-and-shoot.
Aside from the colors, I love how tiny and user-friendly this camera is. As a desktop editor, I feel this camera is perfect for professional photographers who want to carry a camera everywhere for memory’s sake while still having the option to edit the photos to look like their professional work.
Fuji vs. Ricoh
The Fuji X100 series, on the other hand, feels more tailored to iPhone photographers who want to step up their photo game but prefer to keep their editing and sharing workflows primarily on their phones.
Final Thoughts
Overall, I’d give the Ricoh GRIII a 7.8 out of 10. If it had a built-in flash and an articulating screen, it would easily score a 9 out of 10.
Below are photos I took of my dog on a walk with the Ricoh GrIII X HDF.
Lastly I have absolutely no ties to Ricoh or Fuji this is just my opinion.
