Ricoh GR II

DSLR image quality in a truly pocketable body

Despite being the lightest compact in our roundup at 251g, the GR II packs an impressive 16.2MP APS-C sensor, the second largest in the group. The follow up to 2013’s GR, a camera that received the ‘Highly Rated’ award in our recent premium compact test, the GR II maintains much of its forebear’s specifications, but with a series of improvements including the addition of Wi-Fi and NFC. Its 18.3mm f/2.8 lens provides a relatively wide 28mm full-frame equivalent focal length. While this fixed lens makes it a less versatile camera then some of its rivals, it’s a perfect length for street photography and in-situ portraits. Producing sharp results, this optic combined with the large sensor captures image quality that would be on par with many entry-level DSLRs. The ISO range stretches from 100 to 25,600, and thanks to that APS-C sensor captures far less noise than all but the Leica in this group. Its burst shooting speed of 4fps may not set the world on fire, but with an expanded buffer of ten shots, there are far worse cameras for continuous shooting than this. There are options for HDR images, interval shooting and 17 effect modes that can be applied to images as you shoot.

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