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Sony A7R III vs Ricoh GR Comparison

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Sony A7R III

42 MP | Full frame (35.9 x 24 mm) BSI-CMOS Sensor

Sony A7R III
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Ricoh GR

16 MP | APS-C (23.7 x 15.7 mm) CMOS Sensor

Ricoh GR
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Sony A7R III vs Ricoh GR Comparison Overview

Here we are comparing two cameras with different body types: Sony A7R III, which was introduced in October 2017 is a Pro Mirrorless camera with a 42.0MP Full frame sensor whereas Ricoh GR, which was introduced in April 2013 is a Large Sensor Compact camera with a 16.0MP APS-C sensor. As you can see, GR is 4 years older than A7R III. Let's see if this age difference between two cameras makes a big difference.

Comparing an interchangeble lens camera to a fixed lens camera is a bit tricky but we will do our best to make this a fair comparison.

Here is a brief look at the main features of Sony A7R III and Ricoh GR before getting into our more detailed comparison.

Sony A7R III Key Specs

  • Announcement Date: 2017-10-25
  • 42MP - Full frame BSI-CMOS Sensor
  • No Anti-aliasing (AA) filter
  • ISO 100 - 32000 ( expands to 50-102400)
  • Sony E Mount
  • Sensor-shift Image Stabilization
  • 3 Tilting Screen
  • 3686k dot Electronic viewfinder
  • 10.0 fps continuous shooting
  • 4K (UHD) - 3840 x 2160 video resolution
  • Built-in Wireless
  • 657g. 127 x 96 x 74 mm
  • Weather Sealed Body
  • Replaced Sony Alpha 7R II Compare

Ricoh GR Key Specs

  • Announcement Date: 2013-04-17
  • 16MP - APS-C CMOS Sensor
  • ISO 100 - 25600
  • 28 mm f2.80 Prime Lens
  • 3" Fixed Type Screen
  • 4 fps continuous shooting
  • Full HD - 1920 x 1080 video resolution
  • 245g. 117 x 61 x 35 mm

Sony A7R III was replaced by Sony Alpha A7R IV. You may also be interested in these comparisons:
Sony Alpha A7R IV vs Sony Alpha A7R III
Sony Alpha A7R IV vs Ricoh GR

Ricoh GR was replaced by Ricoh GR II. You may also be interested in these comparisons:
Ricoh GR II vs Ricoh GR
Ricoh GR II vs Sony Alpha A7R III

Let's read on the following sections in order to better understand in detail how Sony A7R III and Ricoh GR compares and hopefully end up with enough arguments to decide which one is better for you.

Reasons to choose Sony Alpha A7R III over Ricoh GR
Wireless Connection
Built-In vs Eye-Fi Connected Better connectivity
Image Stabilization
Sensor-shift vs None Sharper images at longer focal lengths and long exposures
LCD Screen
Tilting vs Fixed Type Flexible shooting positions
Touch Screen
Yes vs No Easy control of camera functions
Viewfinder
Electronic vs Optical (Optional) Better framing and control
Face Detection Focus
Yes vs No very handy for portraits
Max Sensor Resolution
42 MP vs 16 MP 162% more pixels
Max ISO
32.000 vs 25.600 25% higher Max ISO
LCD Screen Resolution
1.440k dots vs 1.230k dots 17% higher resolution screen
Max Mech. Shutter
1/8000s vs 1/4000s faster mechanical shutter
Continuous Shooting
10.0fps vs 4.0fps 6 fps faster
Battery Life
650 shots vs 290 shots 360 more frames with a single charge
Microphone Port
Yes vs No High quality audio recording option
Headphone Port
Yes vs No better video control
Environmental Sealing
Yes vs No shoot at tough conditions
Color Depth
26.0 vs 23.6 higher color depth
Dynamic Range
14.7 vs 13.5 higher dynamic range
Low Light ISO
3523 vs 972 better High ISO performance
Max Video Resolution
3840 x 2160 vs 1920 x 1080 Higher Resolution Video
AE Bracketing Range
±5 EV vs ±2 EV Wide Bracketing range is useful for HDR
Flash Sync Port
Yes vs No Connect off-camera flash
NFC Connection
Yes vs No Easy wireless connectivity with compatible devices
Bluetooth
Yes vs No Connect your camera to other devices via Blueetooth
Storage Slot
2 vs 1 Extra storage slot
Smartphone Remote
Yes vs No Remote control your camera with a smartphone
Autofocus at f/8 aperture
425 points vs none Autofocus with teleconverters
UHS Card Support
UHS-II vs none Read/Write in Ultra High Speeds
Animal Eye AF Tracking
Yes vs No Easily lock and track focus on animals
Anti Flicker
Yes vs No Reduced uneven color and exposure under flickering light
Eye Tracking Focus
Yes vs No Autofocus system locks on the eye and tracks the subject


Reasons to choose Ricoh GR over Sony Alpha A7R III
Built-in Flash
Yes vs No Useful in low-light
Weight
245 g vs 657 g 412 g lighter
Sensor Pixel Area
23.14µm2 vs 20.43µm2 13% larger pixel area
Built-in ND Filter
Yes vs No Use larger aperture under strong light

Common Strengths of Sony Alpha A7R III and Ricoh GR
External Flash Shoe
Yes vs Yes Better for flash photography
RAW Support
Yes vs Yes Better image quality
Timelapse Recording
Yes vs Yes creative shooting
AE Bracketing
Yes vs Yes Useful for tough lighting conditions and HDR
Common Weaknesses of Sony Alpha A7R III and Ricoh GR
Sony A7R III vs Ricoh GR: Physical Specs and Body features Comparison

Size and weight is a big decision factor when you are trying to find the ideal camera for your needs. In this section, We are going to illustrate Sony A7R III and Ricoh GR side-by-side from the front, back and top in their relative dimensions. Sony A7R III has external dimensions of 127 x 96 x 74 mm (5 x 3.78 x 2.91″) and weighs 657 g (1.45 lb / 23.17 oz) (including batteries). Ricoh GR has external dimensions of 117 x 61 x 35 mm (4.61 x 2.4 x 1.38″) and weighs 245 g (0.54 lb / 8.64 oz) (including batteries).

Below you can see the front view size comparison of Sony A7R III and Ricoh GR. Ricoh GR is clearly the smaller of the two cameras. Its body is 10mm narrower, 35mm shorter and 39mm thinner than Sony A7R III. As you can tell, actually this is not a fair size comparison since Ricoh GR has a built-in lens but Sony A7R III doesn't. Once you put a lens on A7R III, its thickness will increase significantly.

Sony A7R III vs Ricoh GR Camera Size Comparison - Front View
Comparison image of Sony A7R III and Ricoh GR Size, Weight and External Dimensions - Front View

Here is the back view size comparison of Sony A7R III and Ricoh GR.

Sony A7R III vs Ricoh GR Camera Size Comparison - Back View
Comparison image of Sony A7R III and Ricoh GR Size and Weight - Back View

Now lets look at the top view comparison of Sony A7R III and Ricoh GR.
Sony A7R III vs Ricoh GR Camera Size Comparison - Top View
Top View Comparison image of Sony A7R III and Ricoh GR Size

Weight is another important factor especially when deciding on a camera that you want to carry with you all day. Ricoh GR is significantly lighter (412g ) than the Sony A7R III which may become a big advantage especially on long walking trips.

Again, this comparison may not be very useful in real life as we are comparing the weight of a camera with a built-in lens to the body-only weight of an interchangeable lens camera. Once you put a lens on A7R III, the total kit will weigh much higher.

Weather Sealing

With its weather sealed body, we believe that A7R III has a big advantage over GR which doesn't provide any kind of environmental sealing.

LCD Screen Size and Features

Sony A7R III and Ricoh GR's LCD screens has the same diagonal size of 3.

On the other hand, Sony A7R III features a Tilting screen where you can change the angle of the screen to make it easier to shoot from waist or over the head levels whereas the Ricoh GR has a fixed type screen which provides less flexibility in shooting positions compared to A7R III.
Sony A7R III vs Ricoh GR: Sensor Comparison

Sony A7R III has a 42.0MP Full frame (35.9 x 24 mm ) sized BSI-CMOS sensor and features Bionz X processor. On the other hand, Ricoh GR has a 16.0MP APS-C (23.7 x 15.7 mm ) sized CMOS sensor .

Sony A7R III's sensor provides 26MP more than Ricoh GR's sensor, which gives a significant advantage in real life. You can print your images larger or crop more freely. On the other hand, please keep in mind that Max sensor resolution is not the only determinant of resolving power. Factors such as the optical elements, low pass filter, pixel size and sensor technology also affects the final resolution of the captured image.

Another difference between these two cameras is that Sony A7R III's sensor lacks anti-alias (Low-Pass) filter. Removing anti-alias filter increases the sharpness and level of detail but at the same time, it increases the chance of moire occurring in certain scenes.

Below you can see the A7R III and GR sensor size comparison.

Sony A7R III vs Ricoh GR Sensor Size Comparison
Sensor Size and Resolution Comparison image of Sony A7R III and Ricoh GR Cameras


As seen above, Sony A7R III has a 2.3x Larger sensor area than Ricoh GR. Larger sensors give photographer more control on the depth of field and blurry background compared to smaller sensor when shot in same focal length and aperture.

DxOMark Sensor Scores

Both Sony A7R III and Ricoh GR sensors have been tested by DxoMark. DxoMark scores camera sensors for color depth (DXO Portrait), dynamic range (DXO Landscape) and low-light sensitivity (DXO Sports), and also gives them an overall score. Of the two cameras that we are comparing, A7R III has scored 100, 22 points higher than GR.

Model Overall Color Depth Dynamic Range Low-light ISO
Sony A7R III 100 26.0 bits 14.7 Evs 3523 ISO
Ricoh GR 78 23.6 bits 13.5 Evs 972 ISO
What types of Photography are Sony A7R III and Ricoh GR Good for?
In this section, we rank and compare Sony A7R III and Ricoh GR for five different photography types in order to make your decision process easier in case you are specifically interested in one or more of these areas.

Sony A7R III for Portrait Photography

EXCELLENT

Ricoh GR for Portrait Photography

AVERAGE
Large Full frame (35.9 x 24 mm) sensor
Very High Resolution Sensor: 42.0MP
Image Stabilization
Electronic Built-in Viewfinder
Good Ergonomics&Handling
Read the details
Large APS-C (23.7 x 15.7 mm) sensor
External Flash Shoe
Average Resolution Sensor: 16.0MP
Optional External Viewfinder
No Image Stabilization
Not so good Ergonomics&Handling
Read the details

Sony A7R III for Street Photography

EXCELLENT

Ricoh GR for Street Photography

AVERAGE
Large Full frame (35.9 x 24 mm) sensor
Image Stabilization
Electronic Built-in Viewfinder
Live-view
Face-Detection Focusing
Tilting LCD Screen
Medium sized Body
Read the details
Large APS-C (23.7 x 15.7 mm) sensor
Small Body
Live-view
Fast Lens at Wide: f2.80
28 mm - Good Wide Angle Coverage
Optional External Viewfinder
No Image Stabilization
Read the details

Sony A7R III for Sports Photography

GOOD

Ricoh GR for Sports Photography

AVERAGE
Image Stabilization
Electronic Built-in Viewfinder
Good Ergonomics&Handling
Fast Continuous Shooting: 10.0fps
Anti Flicker feature
Environmental Sealings
Fast Max shutter speed: 1/8000s
425 Focus Points
Good Battery Life: 650 shots
Good Low Light ISO
Wireless Connection
Read the details
External Flash Shoe
Fast Max shutter speed: 1/4000s
Optional External Viewfinder
Average Continuous Shooting: 4.0fps
No Image Stabilization
Not so good Ergonomics&Handling
Environmental Sealings
Unknown Focus Points
Poor Battery Life: 290 shots
28 mm Tele Lens
Read the details

Sony A7R III for Daily Photography

EXCELLENT

Ricoh GR for Daily Photography

GOOD
Large Full frame (35.9 x 24 mm) sensor
Anti Flicker feature
Environmental Sealings
Medium size Body
657g
Body Thickness 74mm
Read the details
Large APS-C (23.7 x 15.7 mm) sensor
Compact Body
245g
Read the details

Sony A7R III for Landscape Photography

GOOD

Ricoh GR for Landscape Photography

AVERAGE
Large Full frame (35.9 x 24 mm) sensor
Very High Resolution Sensor: 42.0MP
Environmental Sealings
Live-view
Read the details
Large APS-C (23.7 x 15.7 mm) sensor
28 mm - Good Wide Angle Coverage
Average Resolution Sensor: 16.0MP
No Environmental Sealings
Read the details

Sony A7R III vs Ricoh GR: OUR DECISION

You may have already made your decision about which camera suits better for your needs and your budget so far but in case you wonder how we rated Sony A7R III and Ricoh GR, below you can find their scores in five different aspects. Our Decision Algorithm dynamically scores cameras using 63 different specs, current price and DxO Mark scores (where possible) in order to make a more objective and consistent comparison.

Here is a summary of how Sony A7R III and Ricoh GR scores compare:

Sony A7R III
Imaging
Features
Value
Portability
Overall
Ranked #4 out of 86 in SLR-style mirrorless cameras
Ranked #4 out of 1220 in all Cameras
Ricoh GR
Imaging
Features
Value
Portability
Overall
Ranked #36 out of 61 in Large sensor compact cameras
Ranked #343 out of 1220 in all Cameras

Sony A7R III is the overall winner of this comparison. It has a higher Overall Score and beats Ricoh GR in all criteria except one: Portability. Ricoh GR is significantly smaller than Sony A7R III. If small size and light body is a big priority for you, choose Ricoh GR. Otherwise, Sony A7R III is the better camera overall.

Sony A7R III
Sony A7R III
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Ricoh GR
Ricoh GR
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Ricoh GR vs Sony A7R III Specs Table
Detailed comparison of specifications
General Sony Alpha A7R III Ricoh GR
Brand Sony Ricoh
Announced 2017-10-25 2013-04-17
Body Type SLR-style mirrorless Large sensor compact
Sensor
Type BSI-CMOS CMOS
Size Full frame APS-C
Dimensions 35.9 x 24 mm 23.7 x 15.7 mm
Area 861.60mm2 372.09mm2
Megapixels 42 megapixels 16 megapixels
Max Resolution 7952 x 5304 4928 x 3264
Max Native Light sensitivity 32,000 ISO 25,600 ISO
Max Boosted Light Sensitivity 102400 ISO -
Min Native Light sensitivity 100 ISO 100 ISO
Min Boosted Light Sensitivity 50 ISO -
RAW Support
Autofocus
AF Touch
AF Continuous
AF Single
AF Tracking
AF Selective
AF Center
AF Multi Area
AF Live View
AF Face Detection
AF Contrast Detection
AF Phase Detection
Number of Focus Points 425 n/a
Lens
Manual Focus
Lens Mount Sony E fixed lens
Lens Focal Range no lens 28 mm (1x)
Max Aperture no lens F2.8
Screen
Type Tilting Fixed type
Size 3 3"
Resolution 1,440k dots 1,230k dots
Touch Screen
Viewfinder
Viewfinder Electronic Optical (optional)
Viewfinder Resolution 3,686k dots no electronic viewfinder
Viewfinder Coverage 100% n/a
Viewfinder Magnification 0.78x n/a
Photography Features
Max Mechanical Shutter 1/8000s 1/4000s
Shutter Priority
Aperture Priority
Manual Exposure Mode
Custom White Balance
Image Stabilization Sensor-shift No
Built-in Flash
Flash Range no built-in flash 5.40 m (at ISO 100)
Max Flash Sync n/a 1/4000s
External Flash
Continuous Shooting 10.0 fps 4.0 fps
Multi-Segment
Average
Spot
Partial
AF-Area
Center Weighted
AE Bracketing
WB Bracketing
Video Features
Max Video Resolution 3840 x 2160 1920 x 1080
Video Formats MPEG-4, AVCHD, XAVC S MPEG-4
Microphone Port
Headphone Port
Connectivity
Wireless Connectivity Built-In Eye-Fi Connected
HDMI
Physical
Environmental Sealing
Weight 657g 245g
Dimensions 127 x 96 x 74mm 117 x 61 x 35mm
Battery Life 650 shots 290 shots
Other Features
Timelapse Recording
GPS None None
DxO Sensor Scores
DxO Overall Score 100 78
DxO Color Depth 26.0 23.6
DxO Dynamic Range 14.7 13.5
DxO Low Light ISO 3523 972
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