Ricoh GR III AF Setup Guide -Get Great Results With These Tips!

[@AndrewSweigart]

Matti... Ricoh/Pentax should make you a GR Ambassador! Your videos are concise but packed with information. There's no ego and your presentation accomplish the most important thing... encouraging users to go out and experiment. Keep up the great work!

[@mattisulanto]

Thanks so much for your kind words.

[@philthehuman]

Yes, I don't understand people who complain on the GR's AF. I use AF exclusively on my GR 3X, and it's almost always correct. In some tricky situations I just tap the screen to select a focus point.

[@mattisulanto]

Thanks. I guess people don't bother to learn their cameras.

[@alex_fuji]

I’m going to buy this camera. I love street photography and think it will be great Much love from Russia, love your content❤

[@welshskies]

I love my GRiii, my goto travel camera. Matti and Peter Forsgárd are my favourite photography channels! Thank you Matti from Wales.

[@mattisulanto]

Thanks so much for your kind words.

[@geogu3images]

Thanks again Matti, a very helpful discussion. Ricoh nailed it with this little beast and given that a GR3x has become my trusted EDC, IMHO its versatility can’t be discussed enough.

[@mattisulanto]

Thanks. You nailed it. These two little cameras are fantastic.

[@a.cheese]

Matti, just want to thank you for taking time to make these very helpful videos. I just got the GR III and your videos helped me so much. Seeing photos of Malaysia being featured in your videos got me even more excited to start shooting now 🤣 (I’m from Malaysia). Looking forward to more awesome contents from you!

[@mattisulanto]

Thanks so much!

[@ColRhodes-rz2uq]

Excellent video as always. Just as an aside and being based in the UK, I tend to think of ADJ as an abbreviation for the word adjust. Thanks for posting all the photos and video you do.

[@mattisulanto]

Thanks.

[@GeekyNerdyTechy]

Great stuff, Matti. This will be a useful resource for years to come!

[@mattisulanto]

Thanks. I hope it'll be useful for someone😀

[@SunisaIntorn]

I’m a new GR user. Your videos make me more understand of each function. Thank you so much.😊

[@mattisulanto]

Thanks! I try my best😀

[@seaeagles6025]

Hi Matti, nice to see another one of your videos. Choosing the right Focus modes are important to get the best results for different situations. I like the AUTO AREA AF MODE which will be good for photographing a group of people, if there is nothing between the camera and the subject, THE PEOPLE then the camera will focus straight at the subject. Great presentation, thanks Matti 😊

[@mattisulanto]

Thanks! Yeah, you can get impressive results on these two cameras.

[@seaeagles6025]

@@mattisulanto You sure can, thanks Matti ☺️

[@MrTeebaum]

the GR3 is an example of how you can turn an average AF into a great one with the right operating concept - ricoh has done a fantastic job of it

[@ioScala]

This is a great video, I found all of your tips incredibly useful. Thanks for making it 👍🏻🙃

[@Poorgeniu5]

As an Olympus user who is stuck on Contrast Detect, this is an very essential video!

[@mattisulanto]

Thank you.

[@sdhute]

Thanks Matti I recently repurchased the Ricoh GRIii. I never gave it a chance the first time. However I really like it now

[@mattisulanto]

Thanks. It's a superb little camera.

[@findphotography]

Useful go-through Matti. I haven't tried all the modes yet, so I'm learning.

[@mattisulanto]

Thanks!

[@rb8921]

Thanks!

[@mattisulanto]

Thank You!

[@Bewar3them00n]

I loved the GR, updated with the GRiii and struggled to get focused images, slowly getting to grips with it again after getting frustrated. Hopefully this will help me get back to where I was

[@Milan-cf1xe]

What do you think about the GR now?

[@robinbhairam7508]

ADJ (Adjust or Adjustment) Lever … I’ve just had a go at zone/snap focus for candid images, some were very slightly blurred, I now think I know why! - Very useful video - thanks 😊

[@mattisulanto]

Thanks. Good to hear my video was helpful.

[@Yves-xe5jw]

Very interesting and constructive explanation as always.

[@mattisulanto]

Thanks so much!

[@jpmccormac]

Another valuable video. Would love to hear or see your experience with the GR III/IIIx in low light situations. 👍👍

[@mattisulanto]

Here is one low light GR3x photo walk but I may make another one in the future.

[@philmtx3fr]

Very nice and educative video Matt and thx for this. This little camera is really interesting. The only issue which makes it impossible for me to buy it is the absence of view finder. So I have a list of requests for gr4 for Ricoh which can make them build a best seller. 1/ put a viewfinder if not it s not a camera it s a smartphone which can t pass calls :). 2/ put a 40mpix but don t do the error of Fuji : keep a 18mm focal and just add a cropping button for 18-23-35mm (28-35-50mm ff equivalent) and then no need to deliver a gr and a grx . 3/ put a more capacitive battery. We can bear having 2 batteries but not 3 for covering a day of shooting. 4/ keep an f2.8 aperture. If you target faster aperture you will loose the small size and this is 50% of the success of this camera. 5/ try to have a more vintage look. The (stupid) hype for the x100vi is 50% linked to this :). With all these specs M. Ricoh and if you succeed in staying under the 1750$ limit… you will sell a lot of them.

[@mattisulanto]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. If and when the GR IV comes out we'll see if they listened to your suggestions😀

[@heinundpiet]

@philmtx3fr You can already crop the GR III to 35mm and 50mm, but the resolution drops from 24MP to 15.3MP (35mm) / 7.5MP (50mm). And you can add the crop option as a preset e.g. as one of the 5 ADJ dropdown menus or the Fn button.

[@virginiarussell8383]

I too thought the lack of a viewfinder would be difficult, but I have got used to it. Brilliant for street photos because you don’t have time for a careful framing anyway; with the wide angle lens and the super resolution of the sensor I take more than I need and finesse the crop later. I’ve even found myself using my Nikon Z6 without the viewfinder, and it has a great one.

[@hanshomesteading1276]

Great video. I agree with you the AF isn't bad, but you should use the options that are available! These options you explain can help avoiding problems, such as focusing hunting at night. I found that the face & eye detection sometimes results in a blurred face despite detecting the face. not a big issue for me though.

[@mattisulanto]

Thanks!

[@Tom-Tenerife]

I use toutch + shoot + a little area and it's very ok. I only have a lot of problems in macro function. I never use shutter button because camera is too small to do that :) And i only can use screen not having other way to see my photo area. I hope for a tilting screen for the next mode. This camera is really outstanding

[@-grey]

I love my Ricoh GRIII, and I think it is the perfect camera for me, but I'm quite tired of defending it from exaggerated, outdated, or snap judgement criticism online. 😂 I think most of the issue is that it's a very specialised tool, which once you get to know it really flourishes into this high performance extension of yourself. However, it is an intermediate+ level piece of equipment. So if you can't adapt to use the best intelligent UX features, it isn't beginner friendly at all. Making it fail for most popular reviewers who use it for a week or even one day. And also for beginners who think it must he a simple camera due to its point and shoot look. The learning curve just isn't easy for the non-committed. This is why I think it's best to stay quiet about it unless it's a place where people can understand the value of it. And it still has better AF than my Fujifilm camera. ✌️

[@mattisulanto]

Thanks for your insights.

[@Raist3db]

The GRIII (or at least GRIIIx) AF I found great in that when it tells it it locked, it really did. The Face Detect and Eye tracking in live preview before you go S-AF is great. What is not great is when you go into moderate- lower to lower light at night. The camera refused to lock AF in many situations and I lost shots. I understand the GRIII with its 28mm equiv will most likely focus faster but I still think AF speed is one of the things they should update for what will be a GRIV line. I guess we won't agree much, the AF is the reason I gave the GRIIIx as a gift to a friend. Great Camera though, with great UI.

[@mattisulanto]

Thanks for sharing your experience with the GR3.

[@ajblitzstein7628]

Great video as always. I have a GRIIIX and I am pleased with AF system. I’ve changed it a few times but find myself now mostly used the center AF. Question on the AutoISO settings do you mind sharing your parameters. ISO limit, low, high and min shutter speed for standard everyday walking around. Thanks

[@WojciechPietrzok]

To recenter the focus point you can also just double tap the screen

[@mattisulanto]

That's true, I just forgot to mention that. Thanks so much!

[@benluk3935]

Hi Matti, really appreciated with your sharings on the channel. Ricoh had recent firmware update for GR3 (1.91)/GR3x (1.41) with zone select AF and custom WB settings. Don't know if you tried that and wait for your comments/tips too.

[@mattisulanto]

Thanks. I haven't updated my camera yet.

[@Termidryna]

Very very useful, thank you so much.

[@mattisulanto]

Glad it was helpful!

[@johnehman8685]

While I don’t use a Ricoh, I really like the insight into your shooting decisions. That makes me think more about my own decisions for camera selections. Very helpful.

[@mattisulanto]

Thanks!

[@nourhanbalian3294]

Ricoh is a gem, in the next version, if they integrate more Ai features that would be great, I wanted the x100vi, cant get my hands on one

[@Klingard]

I believe adj means adjust?

[@mortenstone]

Thank you! So useful content 💕

[@mattisulanto]

You're so welcome!

[@antonioleo5491]

for street photography which kind of autofocus is better to use? tks

[@mattisulanto]

It depends on your shooting style. Please, experiment and try different settings and see what works for you.

[@7743dustin]

Question I can get the eye af to lock onto the eye, but it doesn’t track or follow the the eye. If the subject moves the box doesn’t follow the eye. Am I doing something wrong? My Sony and canon track the eye no problem.

[@mattisulanto]

I don't use the face/eye AF that much but it seems to track the face until you half press the shutter. It's not as sophisticated as Sony for sure.

[@borremoonkey]

I've been using Nikon Z system, and while i enjoy its color science and image quality especially for macro photography, I wanted a much more compact system for family/travel. I did like my Z6 with a 28mm "pancake" lens and very compact after using all the other massive Z glass 😅 but i wanted something pocketable. After finding out about the gr iii small form factor I was excited but all reviewers gave it horrible critiques about its autofocus, which was important to me as this didnt have a viewfinder or any physical tactile system for focusing. Now ive had the gr iii for a month and i can say that the autofocusing is more than enough for me and im capturing photos of my children who are all under 6, so you can imagine their sporadic movements 😂. Ive come to also enjoy using the snap focus and is quite handy on nicely lit days with my children and stop down to f8 and snap away. So im curious why all these other youtube reviewers exaggerated about gr iii autofocus system as "unusuable" and perhaps they were comparing it to Sony. I will also add that im pleasantly surprised by ricoh's image quality and colors. I know you can easily fix colors in post but this is my "dad cam" so i wanted as little post work as possible. While i shoot RAW+, 90% of the time, I'll share or print the jpegs using the "positive film emulation." Theres a lot to learn about this system and im enjoying it. I will add that i did give x100v and xpro3 a try for a couple years, and i much prefer the griii to those fujifilm cameras, they werent that bad but not as compact as i wanted and i wasnt a fan of their colors.

[@mattisulanto]

Thanks for sharing.

[@gergelykatz]

Hi! Great video! Can I ask about the shutter? Do you have any information about how gr3 shutter works? I mean I know it has a leaf shutter, but I not see it closes when I press the shutter button. But it closes when exposer is fininhed. So it seems it is an EFCS solution but I not found any details about it. And if it is an EFCS with leaf shutter why I not see differens between image areas? I mean the EFC rolling down, so upper pixels should get more lights then downer pixels if we use leaf shutter. Thanks your answer!!

[@mattisulanto]

Thanks. I have no technical details and to me it's enough that it works😀

[@ForsgardPeter]

I agree, Ricoh GR3x has a very good autofocus. As you said, it is all about knowing how it works.

[@mattisulanto]

Thanks bro. Can't wait to photo walk with you and your GR3x😀

[@heinundpiet]

ADJ = Adjust 😊 = 5 individually preset options menus (e.g. AF, AE, White Balance, FixFocus, Crop...whatever you choose from the main options menu, you'll want to have a shortcut to ADJust)

[@mattisulanto]

Thanks for sharing!

[@jnapp1215]

great vid !!

[@mattisulanto]

Thanks.

[@Stickybutton]

How do I lock the focus just on the centre and forget about it? I don't need it to be shifted, I will always reframe my shot anyway.

[@mattisulanto]

The only way I'm aware of is to center the focus point and disable the touch function. After that it would take some effort to move the focus point.

[@jonbarnard7186]

I've owned several GR cameras, including the GRIII, and I've never had any issues with the AF. It's not an action camera, I'm not trying to shoot birds with it, it's not a tracking camera. I just use single point af, like I do with all my cameras, and it always works fine for me. Maybe it doesn't focus in the dark or something; I wouldn't know (or care).

[@kurt120032002]

That's a long way to say useless camera. It has far less versatility then a phone since it does only pictures, it needs so much babysitting then a phone, it costs just as much as a phone, but the image quality is ONLY just as good as a phone, when it should be 4 times better... 4 times larger sensor, 4 time the space for glass, and unfortunately 4 time the laziness of the engineers who are now 10 years behind in photo engineer, compared to people who make phones.

[@jonbarnard7186]

@@kurt120032002 Well if all you're doing is posting on social media or whatever on-line thing you're into, a phone is probably enough. Actually, if you know what you're doing, you can take a good picture with anything. Some people, however, still print, and they need a camera. Most of the "computational features" on modern phones are nice toys, gimmicks, the thrill of which soon wears off. You'll use them a few times, then forget about them. Mostly they're for selfies, to share with your besties.

[@vladimirkarphotography]

Only just as good as a phone… 😅😂🤣 Really cannot understand why photographers are still using cameras and not phones ! They are just as good… 😁

[@kadromania-ua]

Nice video! Thank you!

[@mattisulanto]

Thanks!

[@kiyoshi1769]

Appreciate ❤

[@cloudnine7578]

Nice!

[@willsenecal2741]

Sold two of mine because of AF. 9/10 times it misses the shot. Looking at getting Sony RX100Vii

[@mattisulanto]

My GR3x almost never misses the shot. I wonder if there are sample variations😀

[@TSTB]

u have been to Malaysia?

[@mattisulanto]

I have been to Malaysia so many times I lost the count long time ago😀

[@MrPedalpaddle]

Now, if there was just a way of re-assigning or disabling that darn Macro button that I keep hitting by mistake - it causes instant blur by shifting to Macro focus. It’s very poorly placed!

[@mattisulanto]

There is one way to disable it. Go to the C menu > 4-way Controller and select AF point change Priority. Now, when you press the back wheel edges (D pad) it moves the AF point and all the other functions are disabled, including the darn macro😀

[@TungstenOvergaard]

Everytime I see a video with “Ricoh GR” on it… my heart beats x10. But no, no GR IV yet 😔

[@mattisulanto]

Not yet, but I'm sure we'll se the IV soon😀

[@TungstenOvergaard]

@@mattisulanto😍

[@Ed-lz4jv]

its focus is slow period, all those settings are common with other cameras. if i wanted blazing fast i will use my Fuji T5. this is good enough for walk around and Snap focus too. yeah continuous focus must be a joke

[@stefansender2634]

By the way ADJ is just short for ADJUST

[@KnuckleDragger42069]

Translation = the AF is demonstrably terrible , but ricoh included a focusing gimmick that only works if you can predict the future and zone focus

[@brianstorm1172]

While the GR3 AF is not the best in low light, having snap focus has spoiled me for any other camera that have far better lowlight AF. Why wait for focus at all when you don't have to? 😂

[@mattisulanto]

Yeah, once you learn to trust the snap focus it's amazing.

[@danielfulop]

ADJ, I think might mean ADJust

[@bastian.michel]

I bought the GR3 two times. Sold it two times because of the AF. Its not compatable with my 4 yo son. Funfact: Panasonic cameras (GX800), which are only using contrast af, have way better AF.

[@Rsv4rr-r]

Good for you!

[@mattisulanto]

Good to hear that you finally after two attempts realized the GR3 is not for you and you found something better.

[@bastian.michel]

@@Geert890 Its a camera, so I shoot photos with it. An A74 does not fit into my jacket. I cant take it everyday with me.

[@Geert890]

@@bastian.michel obviously

[@bastian.michel]

@@Geert890 My comment was not to talk the GR3 down, but to inform others in which use case it might not be optimal.

[@chefineer]

I think ADJ, means ADJust

[@user-qk4nt7em1q]

(ADJUST)

[@viewlesswind]

Not impressed.

[@ColRhodes-rz2uq]

Excellent video as always. Just as an aside and being based in the UK, I tend to think of ADJ as an abbreviation for the word adjust. Thanks for posting all the photos and video you do.

[@mattisulanto]

Thanks. Every control is an adjuster to some extent and that's why the ADJ is not a very good name for a control lever. In my opinion, that is.

[@joshuajenkins7091]

Thanks!

[@mattisulanto]

Thank you so much!