Ricoh GR IV Review: Is the GR4 Worth It in 2026?

DPReview puts the stabilization jump at 4 stops to 6 stops and reports a startup time 0.2 seconds faster than the GR III's, a 25% improvement.

Our pick: if you are buying your first GR and the budget allows it, get the GR IV. Stabilization and battery life alone change how the camera feels at night and on long travel days.

What actually changed from the GR III

The lens matters more than the sensor. Going from 24.24MP to 25.74MP is invisible in most prints. The redesigned lens is the real gain: DPReview found no big lead in the center, but calls its edge performance "some of the strongest" in this class, with edges "almost as good at F2.8 as it is at F5.6." Corners are still soft wide open, and vignetting is heavy, so turn on peripheral illumination correction if dark corners bother you.

Stabilization for night work. Five axes instead of three means slower handheld shutter speeds at lower ISO. That is the upgrade night street shooters will feel most.

Battery and storage. DPReview actually got about 250 shots per charge in testing, matching the CIPA figure. The 53GB internal memory holds a full day of shooting, but the card slot moved to microSD, so your old SD cards will not fit.

Better default JPEGs. DPReview lists "standard JPEG colors are much improved" among the pros, while noting that JPEGs "aren't as sharp as they could be." For recipe shooters, that means a cleaner starting point and a reason to keep sharpness around zero rather than pushing it.

Firmware updates since launch

The GR IV you buy today does more than the one reviewed at launch. According to Ricoh's firmware page:

Version	Date	What it adds
1.11	Feb 13, 2026	Electronic shutter up to 1/16000s (it was already on the HDF)
1.20	Oct 21, 2026	AF point memory across power cycles, "Restore User Mode Settings", wake from GR WORLD while powered off
1.21	Nov 9, 2026	Stability improvements (Ricoh US announcement)

The electronic shutter is the big one. Ricoh's US post shows it takes over above 1/2500s at f/2.8 to f/4, so you can finally shoot f/2.8 in bright sun on the HDF, which has no ND filter. Ricoh also warns about rolling shutter: fast trains, cars or athletes can lean.

Version 1.20 fixes two long-running GR complaints. Your AF point can now stay where you left it after power-off, and the "Do Not Restore on Off" option keeps any changes you made in a User mode instead of resetting them. Our best Ricoh GR IV settings show how to set both up. Firmware updates can't be undone, but none of these change image quality.

GR IV vs GR IV HDF vs GR IV Monochrome

Model	What's different	US price (Nov 2026)
GR IV	2-stop built-in ND filter	$1,599.95
GR IV HDF	Highlight Diffusion Filter instead of the ND filter	$1,699.95
GR IV Monochrome	Monochrome sensor, ISO up to 409600, built-in red filter, no ND	EUR 1,999 at launch (Europe)

The HDF swaps the ND filter for a switchable diffusion filter that blooms highlights for a softer, more filmic look. Our HDF vs standard guide explains who should pick it; the logic is the same on the GR IV.

The Monochrome, announced on January 15, 2026 and shipping from February 2026, uses a sensor that records luminance at every pixel, adds a red filter you toggle with the Fn button, and gets two new Image Controls, Solid and Grainy. It shoots nothing but black and white.

Our pick: the standard GR IV for most people. The ND filter is more useful day to day than diffusion, and our black-and-white recipes get you most of the way to the Monochrome look on a color sensor. Choose the HDF only if you want soft highlights on every frame. Choose the Monochrome only if you already shoot 90% black and white.

Image Control and film recipes on the GR IV

This is the good news for recipe shooters. Ricoh's spec page lists every Image Control the GR III has (Standard, Vivid, the Monotone family, Negative Film, Positive Film, Bleach Bypass, Retro, Cross Processing, HDR Tone) plus Cinema (Yellow), Cinema (Green) and a third custom slot. The adjustable parameters are the ones our recipes use: saturation, hue, key, contrast, highlight and shadow contrast, sharpness, shading, clarity, toning, filter effect and grain.

So a GR III recipe carries over setting for setting. The caveat is the new sensor, which can render white balance slightly differently. We have not measured that on a GR IV, so check your first daylight frames and adjust white balance compensation one step at a time. Our Ricoh GR IV recipes guide covers saving looks with GR WORLD.

Our pick: load a warm color negative in Custom 1, a tungsten night look in Custom 2 and a gritty monochrome in Custom 3. Our Kodak Gold 200, Indigo Film 800 and Ilford HP5 B&W recipes cover exactly those three jobs.

What the GR IV is good for (and what it isn't)

Use	Verdict	Why
Street photography	Excellent	Pocketable, Snap Distance Priority mode
Travel	Excellent	53GB internal memory, better battery, 262g
Night city	Very good	5-axis stabilization
Environmental portraits	Good	28mm view, face detection on people
Video	Weak	Full HD only, DPReview video score 5.0/10
Sports, birds, wildlife	Poor	Fixed wide lens, weak continuous AF

DPReview's main complaint is autofocus: continuous AF "would show focus as acquired" and then hunt, and tracking is "well off the pace for modern cameras." For street work with zone focusing that barely matters. For kids, sports or anything running at you, it does.

There is no "best lens for the GR IV" to buy: the lens is fixed. Ricoh's accessory page lists the GW-4 wide converter (21mm equivalent, needs the GA-3 adapter), and the camera crops to 35mm or 50mm in-camera. If you want a 40mm view natively, read our GR IIIx vs GR IV comparison.

Who should upgrade (and who shouldn't)

From a GR II or older: yes. You gain far more in sensor, autofocus, stabilization and battery than GR III owners do, plus the full modern Image Control set.

From a GR III: only for specific reasons. Upgrade if you shoot handheld at night, if you are tired of carrying three batteries, or if corner sharpness bothers you. If your complaints are about color, a new recipe will do more for your photos than a new body. Our GR IV vs GR III comparison breaks the decision down further.

First GR: GR IV if the budget fits. Prices have gone up since launch, so a used GR III remains the value option.

Skip it if you need a viewfinder, 4K video or tracking autofocus. Those are not GR strengths, and the GR IV doesn't change that.

Mistakes we see all the time

• Upgrading for megapixels. 1.5MP more is invisible. Upgrade for stabilization, battery and the lens.
• Skipping firmware 1.20. AF point memory and User mode restore options fix real annoyances. Update through GR WORLD.
• Using the electronic shutter on moving subjects. Rolling shutter skews fast cars and trains. Keep it for static scenes in bright light.
• Forgetting the card change. The GR IV takes microSD, not SD.
• Buying the HDF for "better" photos. It is a different look, not an upgrade, and you lose the ND filter.
• Ignoring the third custom slot. It is the most useful new feature for recipe shooters, and it costs nothing.

In short

The Ricoh GR IV is the best pocketable APS-C camera for street photographers who shoot JPEGs, and its firmware has made it better since launch. Buy the standard model unless you specifically want diffusion or black-and-white only, upgrade from a GR II without hesitation, and from a GR III only for night work, battery or corner sharpness. Once it's in your hands, our Ricoh GR IV accessories guide shows which spares and add-ons are worth carrying.

Ready to fill those three custom slots? Start with the Kodak Gold 200 recipe ($1.99) for everyday warm color, add Classic Chrome ($3.99) for muted documentary street work, or get the Street Essentials bundle and set up your GR IV in one sitting.