The GR IV, Your Tool

The camera you are holding is not an accident of taste. The Ricoh GR line has been the quiet choice of serious street photographers for two decades, and the GR IV is the most refined version yet. Before we talk about light or composition, spend a little time understanding the machine, because the whole point of the GR is that it disappears. A camera you have to think about is a camera that gets in the way of seeing.

Why this camera, and why for the street

Ricoh announced the GR IV on 20 August 2025 and began shipping it in September 2025, at around $1,499.95 as of writing. That number buys you something unusual: a true large-sensor camera that lives in a jacket pocket. The 25.74 MP APS-C sensor is the same size class you find in cameras three times the volume. The lens is a fixed 18.3mm f/2.8, which gives you the 28mm equivalent field of view that has been the street photographer's default focal length since Cartier-Bresson. It is wide enough to hold context, the street, the architecture, the weather, but not so wide that faces distort. You cannot zoom. That is a feature. It forces you to move your feet, and moving your feet is how you learn to see.

The new GR ENGINE 7 processor drives an ISO range up to a frankly absurd 204,800, which you will almost never use, but the point is that the usable high-ISO range is generous, and grain on this sensor reads as character rather than mud, especially in black and white.

What is new in the GR IV

Three changes matter for you.

First, hybrid phase-detect autofocus. Earlier GR cameras leaned on contrast-detect AF that could hunt in low light. The GR IV adds phase detection, so when you do use autofocus, at night, for a portrait, it locks faster and more confidently.

Second, 5-axis in-body image stabilization, rated at roughly 6 stops. This is the difference between a sharp handheld frame at 1/8 of a second and a smeared one. It does not freeze a moving subject, only your own shake, but it opens up slow-shutter work that used to require a tripod.

Third, the practical conveniences: a built-in 2-stop neutral density filter you can switch on for bright light or motion blur, 53 GB of internal storage so a forgotten SD card never ends your day, USB-C charging, and a startup time of about 0.6 seconds. That last number sounds trivial. It is not. The GR turns on in the time it takes to raise it to your eye, which means the camera is ready when the moment is, not three seconds later when the moment is gone.

Snap focus, in one sentence

The GR's signature trick is snap focus: you preset a fixed distance and the camera focuses there instantly, no autofocus delay. The selectable distances are 1m, 1.5m, 2m, 2.5m, 3.5m, 5m, and infinity. We will spend a whole lesson on this, because it is the single most important thing the GR does for street work. For now, just know it exists, and know that the legendary setting is f/8 at 2m.

Your patron saint already shoots this

Daido Moriyama, the Japanese master whose grainy, high-contrast, restless black-and-white work defined a whole strand of street photography, has shot the GR line for years. He treats it exactly as you should: a notebook you always have, not a precious object. When you feel silly carrying a camera everywhere, remember that one of the most important photographers alive made his late career on the camera in your pocket.

Why it is the ideal Bologna camera

Bologna is a city of porticoes, narrow streets, sudden light, and weather. You will be walking everywhere, often in the rain, often deciding to shoot on impulse. A camera that is always with you, turns on instantly, focuses by zone, and renders beautiful black and white is exactly the tool for that city. The GR IV is small enough that nobody clocks it as "a photographer," which is precisely the invisibility street work rewards. Learn it cold, then forget it.