I enjoy using the iPhone 16 because I always have it with me. I usually do not print the images but recently have started to do that. In prints, I am noticing some issues prob due to my technique but the colors sometimes are not smooth. Does the Ricoh GR4 offer a noticeable improvement in image quality?
long answer is "it depends." by sensor and lens combination alone, GR4 is better.. but GR4 doesn't have a lot of built-in computational photography...it does have noise reduction, and some built-in features to enable some kind of HDR...the camera is geared towards more serious photography...they require more time investment because to really get the most out of them, you need to shoot RAW.
the iPhone and a lot of modern phones are very very good nowadays even with their small sensor because of improvements on optics and computational photography features that we usually take for granted (HDR, shake reduction, noise reduction and simulated depth of field and dead-simple panoramas) but for certain scenarios (like low light) the sensor is just too small that no amount of computational photography can make it better.
The question is.. are you willing to take an extra gadget with you to take better photos? only you can answer that.
What i would recommend, though.. is to first try out apps that allow you to shoot RAW, like Halide.
Personally I much prefer a dedicated camera. The ergonomic and overall shooting experience is non existent with phones for me. I also don't like the overcooked images, however you can shoot raw with phone, but I don't think who shoots with phone using raw at all.
I usually get a mid range phone, I had several Google pixel A, now a Xperia 10VI. Using a phone 2-3 years before replace it. I prefer cheaper phones because of this replacement cycle and I accidentality drop them several times. A good camera like Ricoh GR in other hand lasts a decade (or even more), even if you want to replace, it loses significant less value over time compared a flagship phone.
As someone who likes shooting with their iPhone 17 Pro and recently got a GR monochrome, I would say in the daylight using only the main sensor on the iPhone it’s fairly close in terms of pure image quality. The GR definitely has more detail if you pixel peep, but without zooming way in they are closer than I was expecting. At night it’s a totally different story though, the GR is WAY better in low light scenarios. And that’s not even counting the massive ISO bump I get with the monochrome version of the GR.
I should also note that I always shoot ProRAW with the stock iPhone camera app, or the Leica app (for HC B&W mostly).
If you’re having issues with printing, I would first look to see what it is about your iPhone photos that’s causing this before buying a new camera. I print my iPhone photos all the time and never noticed any color banding, so something might be up with your printer or prep process.
Lukacs wrote:
Personally I much prefer a dedicated camera. The ergonomic and overall shooting experience is non existent with phones for me. I also don't like the overcooked images, however you can shoot raw with phone, but I don't think who shoots with phone using raw at all.
I usually get a mid range phone, I had several Google pixel A, now a Xperia 10VI. Using a phone 2-3 years before replace it. I prefer cheaper phones because of this replacement cycle and I accidentality drop them several times. A good camera like Ricoh GR in other hand lasts a decade (or even more), even if you want to replace, it loses significant less value over time compared a flagship phone....Show more →
Exactly my feeling. Shooting with a phone is torture.
I had GRIII and X100VI at some point. They have similar image quality, but GRIII is what I would get because it's truly pocketable. If you are shooting JPG and looking at it on a phone screen, you may not see a significant difference. But with raw, you can get way more dynamic range. The GRIII will look way more natural than any smartphone pictures. The one phone camera, I'm impressed with is the Xiaomi Leica collaborate camera. I would get the HDF version of the III or IV. It will give you more creative options.
I've gone through this exact quandary. At the end of the day, I use a 17 Pro and the Leica Lux app. Fact of the matter is, the photos look amazing on small screens. They get worse as you start making enlargements. For a 4x6 print though, they stand up amazingly well. And you get 3 lenses with various crops. Plus the Leica app does a decent job with its bokeh simulation. Hard to argue that I should add another level of clunkiness for better quality that would need to be viewed very large to actually enjoy.
If Fuji made a monochrome X100 camera, I'd maybe consider that.
There's not a straightforward answer to the question, partly it depends on your skills and desired output. Yes in general terms you can produce higher quality images with the GR, but phones have software that compensates for technique issues, and in practice can often produce better images. And at typical viewing sizes these days, it's going to be hard to tell the difference.
Setting image quality aside, I do prefer to use a GR over my phone because I prefer the ergonomics of using a camera.
