Ricoh GDR Digital IV – No Problems With Availability

Ricoh GR Digital IV
Ricoh GR Digital IV - A very expensive 10-megapixels

It’s an understatement to suggest the Ricoh GR IVs are not exactly flying off the store shelves. Announced last month, the GR Digital IV seems a bit over-priced considering the feature set.

The GR Digital IV starts off with an anemic 10-megapixel, 1/1.7-inch CCD chip behind a 28mm F/1.9 GR lens. Not only a small chip with weak resolution but a dog in low-light as well. Video is limited to VGA.

Some of the redeeming features include the GR Engine IV image processor, the 190-point AF system that includes an external AF sensor, and image sensor shift image stabilization. Ricoh claims the hybrid AF system can focus in as little as 0.2 seconds.

The GDR Digital IV has a built-in electronic level, a feature usually only found in more expensive cameras and a handy addition for a point and shoot.

On the back the GR IV sports Sony’s WhiteMagic LCD screen which delivers greater luminance while drawing less power.

On the software side the GR Digital IV has some interesting tricks that include in-camera dynamic range compensation and it’s one of the few digital cameras to offer multiple exposures, which is accomplishes by layering up to five images together inside the camera. There is also a new Interval Composite mode for taking long, night-time exposures

While the features are interesting and the build quality is impressive, the bottom line is you’re still paying over $740 for a 10-megapixel camera. I’m not entirely certain what Ricoh was thinking here, but the GR Digital IV does not compare well to other cameras in the same price range.

I don’t think availability for this camera is going to be any problem at all this holiday season.

Compared to:

Ricoh GR IV vs Fujifilm X10
Ricoh GR IV vs Olympus XZ-1
Ricoh GR IV vs Ricoh GR Digital III