Ricoh Imaging, the parent company behind Pentax cameras is capitalizing on the reputation of their GR series compact cameras with street photographers by releasing a street themed, limited edition GR III. Yesterday, the company unveiled the “Street Edition” of the Ricoh GR III, that has a bright yellow ring around the lens and a couple of exclusive accessories.
Whilst it’s called ‘limited edition’ with the company planning to only make 3,500 pieces, the main differences between the Street Edition and the regular GR III by its metallic gray finish that’s meant to represent “the asphalt pavement in the city,” and the bright yellow/orange ring around the lens that’s “reminiscent of traffic lines painted on streets.” Accessory wise, the “Street Edition” sets itself apart with the inclusion of two accessories; a detachable viewfinder and a genuine-leather hand strap.
Hardware-wise, whilst the design on the Street Edition GR III is great (with its grained texture gray metallic finish), most would simply say it’s a regular GR III with a finer paint job. Nothing really sets apart both cameras and with a $300 price difference, it’s hard not to agree with them.
On the software end, the Street edition is coming with a “full-press snap” feature that allows you to focus on a specified distance and shoot with one tap, but the feature will be added to the regular GR III via firmware update
The Street Edition GR III is currently available for Preorder on the Ricoh Site (click here) for $1,200 while the regular version goes for $900. To learn more about the Street Edition GR III or order yours, head over to the Ricoh website.
