Is Ricoh losing the plot? Behold the pug-ugly Silver Edition of the Ricoh GR II APS-C compact

We’ve been huge fans of Ricoh for many years, with their GR compact remaining one of our ‘must have’ cameras when we’re out and about.

The GR II update introduced last year bitterly disappointed some users, with the new version offering very little in the way of new functionality after such a long wait.

We’ve also had good reason to be very disappointed with the company after suffering a truly wretched time at the hands of their service department, who seem to care little for customers.

And if that wasn’t providing enough warning signs that the company may be losing focus on what’s important, just look at this piece of tacky nonsense that they’re parading around. Just look at it! It’s hideous!

The horrible looking ‘Silver Edition’ GRII has been churned out to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the founding of the company – and as celebrations go, it’s like a party without any beer. Or cake. Or music.

While their rivals are busy producing interesting cameras with attractive metal finishes – like the Fujifilm X70 – Ricoh appear to have just got out a pot of Humbrol, slapped on some silver paint over the camera and declared it a special edition.

There’s very little to get excited about here but if you want to be one of just 3,200 people to own this camera, here’s what you’ll get:

Stylish silver camera body: The camera body has a high-grade, silver-colour leather- tone finish, featuring an elegant, grained

• Distinctive features compared to the standard GR II: The Silver Edition’s shutter release button and the ring cap have been finished in silver identical to that of the camera Additionally, the lens descriptions are engraved on the front ring using a diamond- cutting process and the GR logo’s color on the camera’s front panel has been changed to white. Even the product box has been specially designed for this package.
• Termination screen: When the camera’s power is turned off, the camera displays an original termination screen, which has a solid, high-grade design expressing the GR II’s product
• Genuine leather camera case: The package includes a black, genuine-leather camera case exclusively designed for the GR II camera. It provides features useful for quick- action snapshot photography, including a belt loop on the back, and a top cover that opens fully for easy removal of the camera body.

And here’s the most important bit from their press release, “The camera’s specifications are identical to those of the standard GR II model.”

We know they’re not going to listen to us, but we’ll say it anyway. Ricoh: can you stop fannying about with all this pointless tinkering and get to work producing a GR III with some real innovation please?

Thanks.

PS There’s some ideas for you here.