The GR III was released six years ago and over the course of its many different iterations, photographers have been asking with increasing urgency as the years pass when the next one will come. Ricoh assures photographers that there while will be a GR III successor, it might just not come quickly.
Speaking to PetaPixel at the CP+ show in Yokohama, Japan in February, Kazunobu Saiki, General Manager, Camera Business Division, at Ricoh says that a good company is always looking at how to make the next version of a product.
“We want to always provide nice products to users. So as a manufacturer, it is our pride to study the possible improvements for every product. So, I believe if we wanted to continue our company, we always need to put our resources for new innovations,” he says.
The Ricoh GR III has been a huge success for the company and is almost perpetually out of stock across the globe given its widespread popularity. Ricoh has made multiple versions of the GR III, both those designed to simply look different and those that provide slightly different features but hasn’t shown any indication that it is close to releasing a successor. That might be because the camera is already well-received. Even if that were the case, Saiki says Ricoh is always looking at how to improve.
“We have really strong core principles in mind whenever we create a GR camera: compactness, quick response, high image quality, and then also evolution. So we always consider how we can improve these three points with some evolution. Regardless of whether it is a GR or a new DSLR or a new film camera or new lenses, whatever it is, we make some principles for that specific model with points we will never deviate from.”
The GR sereies is not a line that is known for updating particularly swiftly.
“After we launched the GR Film in 1996, it has already been almost 30 years. And there have been three GR digital cameras since then. Each product we make has a different life cycle but it is important to remember that in every case we were always looking to provide a new product at some point. That is, and should be, the mission of the company,” Saiki says, signaling that it is just not a good business idea to never make the GR IV.
The GR III successor will come, Saiki assures, it’s just a matter of when.
“I don’t know if the new GR will come before or after I die, but it will come someday,” Saiki says.
Image credits: Ricoh
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