Ricoh, the brand behind well-loved compact cameras for street photography like the Ricoh GR IV and GR III, is working on a smartphone camera with the China-based brand Realme. Realme and Ricoh are teaming up to launch a new smartphone, which will be announced later this month, Realme announced.
On October 14, Realme will launch a new smartphone in the GT 8 Pro series that has a camera powered by the Ricoh GR series. While the teaser was scarce on details, the company’s comments offer a few hints as to what a smartphone camera powered by the same company behind the Ricoh GR IV and GR III may look like.
One comment from the announcement in particular has me eager to see what, exactly is coming: “This device seamlessly blends nearly 30 years of Ricoh GR heritage, including its iconic film-like aesthetic and five classic image tones, with Realme’s strengths in mobile imaging and profound insights into the preferences of current generations, creating a unique synergy that advances street photography culture through joint development and co-engineering.”
The color profiles on the Ricoh GR III HDF were one of my favorite features on the camera. And the announcement makes the upcoming camera phone sound like it will take a more film-inspired approach rather than the focus on computational photography of many flagship smartphones.
“People are getting tired of the same ‘perfect style’ photos. More and more, everyone wants to show their own style, instead of copying the same look,” Realme’s Vice President and CMO Chase Xu said.
Color profiles aren’t the only tease in the partnership announcement. Realme says that the GT 8 Pro will include “groundbreaking innovations in optical capabilities, color algorithms, imaging tones, and a tailor-made UI design that mimics the feel of a Ricoh GR camera.”
One of the reasons the GR series is so popular is that it’s an APS-C sensor with a bright prime lens, yet it's wrapped in an unassuming body that not only fits in a pocket but also doesn’t scream “I’m a pro photographer.” That’s a feature street photographers love in that it makes it easier to snap more candid photographs when you’re not carrying a larger camera.
Realme hasn’t explicitly said what the upcoming smartphone’s sensor size or lens (or perhaps lenses?) will be. But the announcement’s focus on color profiles and imperfect but authentic images has certainly piqued my interest. Sadly, Realme doesn’t appear to currently sell smartphones from US or UK carriers.
I don’t think it's a coincidence that dedicated compact cameras are returning at the same time that smartphone cameras are becoming increasingly “perfect” and increasingly based on computational photography. The Ricoh GR series is an unassuming compact camera that’s far from perfect (it does, after all, still have just a 4 fps burst in 2025) but is well-loved for its ability to capture authentic snapshots from a portable, unassuming camera.
While Ricoh’s GR series name is now used for its compact digital cameras, the GR series dates back to compact film cameras beginning in 1996, before moving to digital in 2005.
Realme says that the collaboration with Ricoh is four years in the making. The announcement is slated for October 14.
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