Nikon D800 vs Ricoh GR III

In this comparison, we will evaluate the Nikon D800 and the Ricoh GR III, highlighting the advantages of each over the other, discussing their pros and cons, shared strengths and weaknesses, and providing a rating based on their available features and specifications to assist you in choosing the one that best suits your needs.

Nikon D800 was introduced in June 2012 and Ricoh GR III was introduced in September 2018. Let us first list highlights of the models.

Now that we've looked at the most essential specifications and gained a basic understanding of these cameras, we can delve into more details and see the differences between them.

This section shows those features and specifications which are the reason to choose Nikon D800 over Ricoh GR III.

This section shows those features and specifications which are the reason to choose Ricoh GR III over Nikon D800.

We already listed pros and cons of each model. However, you may also find useful to look at their common strengths and weaknesses shown side-by-side.

Screen

Nikon D800 has a 3.2" screen with 921k dot resolution and Ricoh GR III has a 3.0" screen with 1,037k dot resolution. Both have Fixed screens. Ricoh GR III also features touchscreen which has advantages such as easy menu navigation, intuitive controls, quick setting adjustment and most importantly a Touch-to-Focus functionality (available only on Ricoh GR III) allowing users to select a specific point on the screen where they want the camera to focus. This feature can be helpful for achieving precise focus in both photo and video recording.

Viewfinder

Nikon D800 has a built-in Optical (pentaprism) viewfinder. It has a 100% coverage and 0.70x magnification.Ricoh GR III does not have a built-in viewfinder but an optional optical viewfinder can be attached.

Nikon D800 features a 36.3 megapixel Full Frame CMOS sensor with dimensions of 35.9 x 24 mm and a total area of 861.6 mm². Its native ISO range is 100 - 6,400 and expands to 100 - 25,600 in boosted mode. Ricoh GR III features a 24.24 megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor with dimensions of 23.5 x 15.6 mm and a total area of 243.4 mm². Its native ISO range is 100 - 102,400.

Nikon D800 is equipped with EXPEED 3 processor and can take pictures up to 7360 x 4912 resolution. It can also take pictures with lower resolution like 6144 x 4912, 6144 x 4080, 5520 x 3680, 4800 x 3200, 4608 x 3680, 4608 x 3056, 3680 x 2456, 3600 x 2400, 3072 x 2456, 3072 x 2040, 2400 x 1600 with 5:4, 3:2 aspect ratios. Ricoh GR III can take pictures up to 6000 x 4000 resolution.

No Low-Pass Filter on Ricoh GR III

There is no optical low-pass filter (OLPF), also known as an anti-aliasing filter, in front of the sensor on Ricoh GR III. This results in a slightly sharper image but may also introduce moiré patterns and aliasing artifacts when photographing subjects with fine, repetitive patterns or details.

Ricoh GR III has an image stabilization with 4 stops of compensation.

Built-in Wi-Fi on Ricoh GR III

Ricoh GR III has a built-in Wi-Fi which allows to easily transfer photos and videos from the camera to other Wi-Fi-enabled devices, such as smartphones, tablets, printers, or computers. This eliminates the need for cables and allows for quick and convenient media sharing and social media integration. It gives you the ability to control your camera remotely using a smartphone or tablet. This is particularly useful for taking self-portraits, group shots, or capturing images in challenging conditions without having to touch the camera. Firmware updates can also be downloaded and installed wirelessly.
  Check out the cameras in our database that have built-in WiFi.

USB Inputs and HDMI Outputs

Both models have USB inputs for data transfer. connector for video signal output.

Battery

Nikon D800 comes with EN-EL15 battery pack with battery life of 900 shots and Ricoh GR III comes with DB-110 battery pack.

External Storage Slots

Nikon D800 has two card slots - one for SD/SDHC/SDXC (UHS-I) and one for CompactFlash (Type I, compliant with UDMA). Ricoh GR III has a single SD/SDHC/SDXC (UHS-I supported) card slot.

Shutter

Nikon D800 has Electronically controlled vertical-travel focal-plane shutter. Shutter speed can go up to 1/8000 sec on Nikon D800, and up to 1/4000 sec on Ricoh GR III. Cameras can shoot continuously up to 4.0 fps.

Focusing

Nikon D800 has 51 (15 cross-type) focusing points and Ricoh GR III has . Nikon D800 has detection range from -2 to +19 EV.

Exposure

Exposure meterings of Nikon D800 ranges from 0 to +20 EV and you can set the exposure compensation within the ±5 EV range on Nikon D800 and ±3 range on Ricoh GR III. You can also do exposure lock, exposure bracketing and manual exposure adjustment on Nikon D800 and exposure bracketing and manual exposure adjustment on Ricoh GR III.

Flash

Nikon D800 has a built-in flash with maximum range of 12.00 m at ISO 100 and also accepts external flash which can be connected via Hot Shoe or PC Terminal. Ricoh GR III has no built-in flash but an external flash may be connected via Shoe Mount. The fastest flash synchronization speed is 1/250 sec on Nikon D800.

Nikon D800 body has dimensions of 146 x 123 x 82 mm (5.75 x 4.84 x 3.23") and Ricoh GR III body has dimensions of 109 x 62 x 33 mm (4.29 x 2.44 x 1.3"). Nikon D800 weighs 1000 g (2.20 lb / 35.27 oz) and Ricoh GR III weighs 257 g (0.57 lb / 9.07 oz).

Nikon D800

Ricoh GR III

146 mm

123 mm

109 mm

62 mm

123 mm

62 mm

82 mm

33 mm