Ricoh GR IV Firmware Update Adds an Electronic Shutter

Ricoh Imaging has released a new firmware update for the Ricoh GR IV and Ricoh GR IV HDF compact cameras that adds an electronic shutter function to standard GR IV camera, adding the new feature that is already available in the Ricoh GR IV HDF and Ricoh GR IV Monochrome.

When Ricoh fully unveiled the GR IV HDF in December, it said that it would add the electronic shutter function to the standard GR IV following the GR IV HDF’s launch. That time has come thanks to firmware version 1.11 for the Ricoh GR IV and Ricoh GR IV HDF.

The Ricoh GR IV HDF’s claim to fame is its Highlight Diffusion Filter (HDF). This sophisticated built-in filter gives photos a “mellow, diffused expression,” as Ricoh puts it, with the effect especially strong on highlights.

However, this built-in filter replaces the neutral density (ND) filter that is in the standard Ricoh GR IV compact camera. The ND filter is helpful when shooting in bright conditions at fast apertures, as the camera’s mechanical shutter tops out at 1/4000s. However, when using fast apertures, the mechanical shutter speed is capped at 1/2500 at f/2.8 through f/4 and 1/3200 at f/4.5 through f/5. The 1/4000s mechanical shutter speed is available at f/5.6 and slower apertures. To overcome this potential limitation, Ricoh added an electronic shutter function to the GR IV HDF, enabling shutter speeds as fast as 1/16,000s.

At shutter speeds faster than the limits above, the GR IV HDF and GR IV Monochrome, and now the GR IV, will use the electronic shutter. As Ricoh notes, when using the electronic shutter, there is a risk of rolling shutter, especially when photographing fast-moving subjects “such as trains, cars, or sports scenes.” Rolling shutter can make objects appear slanted or appear like they were captured “with circular distortion.”

The Ricoh GR IV Monochrome, available to preorder now, also has this same electronic shutter function straight out of the box because it also lacks a built-in ND filter. However, instead of an HDF filter, it has a specialized physical red filter that cuts about two stops of light and makes blue and green look darker, like the red filters many black-and-white analog photographers use to make their landscape and nature shots look more dramatic.

Alongside the electronic shutter function for the Ricoh GR IV, both the GR IV and GR IV HDF promise “improved stability for general performance” thanks to the new firmware.

The Ricoh GR IV is available to order now for just under $1,500, although it is currently backordered at many retailers. The Ricoh GR IV HDF and GR IV Monochrome are both available to preorder for around $1,600 and $2,200.



 Image credits: Ricoh Imaging