Ricoh GR IV Monochrome officially announced – but at what cost?
Outside of the expensive Leica monochrome cameras, if you wanted a compact digital camera that shoots only black and white, you were previously out of luck, until now that is, as Ricoh has officially released the Ricoh GR IV Monochrome. Based on the Ricoh GR IV, the camera has a monochrome 25.7MP APS-C CMOS sensor, which means purist black and white photographers don’t need to worry about colour noise in images, and the lack of a colour filter means that every pixel should capture pixel-level detail in all its crispness. Instead of the switchable ND filter in the stock GR IV, the Monochrome has a red filter. This allows photographers to darken blue skies for more dramatic landscapes.
The Ricoh GR IV Monochrome is priced at $2199 if you’re in the US, €1799 in Europe, and £1599 in the UK, and due to be available from February.
Monochrome sensors have an inherint ability to capture detail at every pixel, as it captures light, without having to work out what colour it should be (to put it simply). Here, courtesy of Leica, we can see how the Bayer filter can reduce the level of detail captured, when compared to a monochrome sensor:
The Ricoh GR IV Monochrome uses the same 28mm equivalent f/2.8 lens as the standard Ricoh GR IV, but will have an ISO range from ISO160 all the way up to ISO 409,600. Other features on the camera remain the same with 4fps continuous shooting, a 3in, 1.04m-dot fixed touchscreen LCD, Full HD 60p video recording, and in-body-image-stabilisation (IBIS) thanks to a 5-axis sensor-shift shake reduction (SR) unit.
It’s available for pre-order now. This camera is currently the cheapest pure monochrome digital camera ever released (by a main brand), and therefore, demand will be extremely high. This follows on from the announcement of the Ricoh GR IV HDF.
Key features from Ricoh:
- Monochrome-dedicated design
- Built-in red filter in the lens unit
- Support for diverse monochrome expressions
- Carefully crafted exterior design
- Electronic shutter enabling high-speed shooting up to 1/16000s
From Ricoh: TOKYO, January 15, 2026 – RICOH IMAGING COMPANY, LTD, is pleased to announce the launch of the RICOH GR IV Monochrome, a camera specialized for monochrome photography, based on the high-end compact digital camera RICOH GR IV and newly equipped with a dedicated image sensor.
The RICOH GR IV Monochrome is based on the RICOH GR IV, which fully and legitimately evolves the GR series’ fundamental concept–the essential values of a camera, including high image quality, quick response and portability–while newly incorporating a monochrome-dedicated image sensor. By eliminating the color filter used to acquire color information, as well as the interpolation process required to generate color images, the camera is able to fully draw out the capabilities of the high-performance GR lens, delivering refined rendering and rich tonal gradation. In addition, the built-in red filter enables more distinctive monochrome photography, while newly developed Image Control options dedicated to monochrome imaging provide deep and diverse monochrome expressions.
The GR series marks its 30th anniversary this year, tracing back to the film camera RICOH GR1, launched in 1996. Over this long history, the series has consistently remained committed to the essential values of a camera–high image quality, quick response and portability–earning support from professionals and advanced amateurs, while continuing to evolve with the times. Following the recent announcement of the RICOH GR IV HDF (scheduled for release on January 16, 2026), the addition of the RICOH GR IV Monochrome to the lineup reflects our hope that even more customers will enjoy the depth of photography through a broader range of expressions.
The RICOH GR IV Monochrome is scheduled to be showcased at GR SPACE in Tokyo, Shanghai, Beijing and Brisbane beginning on Thursday, January 15, 2026; in all these locations, visitors can try out this new model firsthand.
Follow AP on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok.
Joshua Waller
