Ricoh GR III and GR IIIx get new bonus features as free firmware arrives

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Favorites of street photographers, these APS-C compacts get additional white balance and autofocus options

Ricoh GR III being held in a man's hands
(Image credit: Digital Camera World)

The Ricoh GR III and GR IIIx compact cameras are to get a couple of useful new features with a new firmware update that has just been released.

The Ricoh GR III is one of the best compact cameras for street photographers with its big APS-C sensor - and the latest firmware update will be the 13th update to the camera since it first went on sale just over five years ago.

The newer Ricoh GR IIIx, launched in September 2021, which is similar to the GR III but with a less wide-angle lens, will also the feature-enhancing refresh through the firmware.

The updates will also work with the customized GR III Street Edition and GR III Diary Edition models.

Arguably the most useful update is to the autofocus system, which gets the "Zone Select AF" as an option in the focus selection menu. 

By selecting Zone Select AF and pressing the OK button on the live view screen, the user can freely move the 3x3 area using the up/down/left/right keys to automatically focus on the appropriate position within the area. The area can also be moved by touching the screen.

The new Zone Select AF gives the user the option of a large, movable focus target (Image credit: Ricoh)

Additionally, the two cameras now get three custom white balance settings. 

By selecting one of Custom 1-3 and going to the detailed setting, you can set a combination of the base white balance of your choice and then fine tune the color temperature to a more precise value.

(Image credit: Ricoh)

The three new custom options are added to the white balance menu (Image credit: Ricoh)

The v1.91 firmware for the Ricoh GR III is now available to download here.

The new v1.41 firmware for the Ricoh GR IIIx is available to download here

Chris George
Chris George

Chris George has worked on Digital Camera World since its launch in 2017. He has been writing about photography, mobile phones, video making and technology for over 30 years – and has edited numerous magazines including PhotoPlus, N-Photo, Digital Camera, Video Camera, and Professional Photography. 

His first serious camera was the iconic Olympus OM10, with which he won the title of Young Photographer of the Year - long before the advent of autofocus and memory cards. Today he uses a Nikon D800, a Fujifilm X-T1, a Sony A7, and his iPhone 15 Pro Max.

He has written about technology for countless publications and websites including The Sunday Times Magazine, The Daily Telegraph, Dorling Kindersley, What Cellphone, T3 and Techradar.