The first thing that comes to mind for me, and for quite a few other people too, is the price! Let’s take the simple example of a Ricoh GR IV and its equivalent from Leica, the Q3. €1,350 for the Ricoh versus €6,000 for the Leica. More than four times the price!

I can already hear people protesting, asking me how I dare compare these two cameras! Well, yes, in my little street photographer’s mind, they are both cameras equipped with a fixed 28 mm lens. If I had to shoot with a Leica, this is the one I would choose, even if it cost me a kidney.

On my left is the Leica Q3, released in 2023 with its full-frame sensor, 60 MPx (!!!), weather-sealed body and weight of 743g. On my right is the challenger, released in 2025 with its APS-C sensor (I can already hear the jeers in the back…), its 25.74 MPx (let’s be precise…), its non-weather-sealed dust-attracting body and its featherweight 262g! I’m not going to mention the other specifications of these cameras because they’re irrelevant to me. It’s just an arms race with stabilisers, 8K videos (for the Q3), burst mode… Some people may be really into that and love Gear Porn, but I’m not one of them.

We’re talking about two cameras that take very good photos. Let me remind you that if you’re a rubbish photographer, you’ll take rubbish photos with a Leica Q3, and if you’re a good photographer, you’ll take beautiful photos with the Ricoh GR IV. The opposite is also true! The camera is just a tool, and it’s only there to capture what you’ve decided to photograph. Even if manufacturers take us for fools by dangling the carrot that you’ll unleash your creativity and fulfil your potential in exchange for a few thousand quid for their latest camera… Bullshit!

John Harper, whom you must know by now if you are one of the happy few who read my blogs, takes his photos with a Leica M (type 240) that must be 10 years old and only has 24 MPx. In other words, it’s a dinosaur… I’m talking about the camera, not John, who is more like a Greek god! A few months ago, LFI (Leica Fotografie International) wrote to him to ask if they could use one of his photos for a year on their website, social media and in Leica stores. Quite a big deal! All this in exchange for €250 for the rights. From my point of view, this is tremendous recognition and well deserved, because John is, as I have been saying for a long time, a very (very) talented photographer. In fact, the photo that was chosen is just a little gem. I’ve included it below.

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Last month, Réponses Photo Magazine, which I had heavily criticised in a blog post about their Street Photography competition last year, contacted me about a collaboration. When I tell you that nobody reads my blog! They weren’t even aware that I had been very critical of their competition. Don’t get as worked up as I did, it’s nothing serious… They just want to use one of my photos in a feature on Street Photography. They don’t want anything else but the photo. Don’t you want to know my opinion on the practice, tips, anecdotes? You know I’m, well, I think I’m a reference in my neighbourhood when it comes to Street Photography! NO, nothing, they just want the photo. I’ll put it below for you too.

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This photo is old. It dates back to another era. 2018, when I was shooting with the Ricoh GRD IV (not to be confused with the Ricoh GR IV released in 2025!) and working in Aix-en-Provence. I really like this photo, not because I’m in it, but because it’s clever with the play on reflections. In short, Julien Bolle from Réponses Photo is offering me €50 in royalties to use this photo in the November 2025 issue of the magazine. In the end, I’ll get €42 net, because part of it goes to some fund I_don’t_know_anything_about for authors…

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It made me laugh because, being a little disingenuous, I can quantify the difference between a Leica and a Ricoh! One Leica is worth six Ricohs! Okay, I admit that’s a bit of a stretch on my part. I would have preferred to have my photo used on Ricoh stands or on their website rather than having this rather anonymous publication in Réponses Photo. For the record, I think the article on street photography in the magazine is poor and the photos that accompany it aren’t great either…

I think I had some opportunities with Pentax/Ricoh a few years ago. They even contacted me because they were looking for a photographer in the South of France who used a Ricoh GR, but as I had moved, it didn’t work out… They did, however, offer to publish my photos on their website. But with my stubborn nature, I wanted more and turned them down. Do I regret it? Yes and no. Yes, because opportunities like that don’t come along often and you have to seize them, and no, because it wouldn’t have changed the way I experience street photography. Street photography is part of my everyday life. I take photos as naturally as I breathe: street, life, landscape… I use the GR3, not because I’m a Ricoh fanboy, but simply because it’s the camera I feel most comfortable with.

The conclusion of all this is that, ultimately, yes, the Leica Q3 and the Ricoh GR III or IV are different cameras, but they both serve the same purpose: to capture moments. Don’t forget that they are just tools! Sorry to those who were expecting a proper comparison. I’m sure you’ll have no trouble finding plenty of sites like GearPorn that compare these two cameras. One last thing: the opening image of the blog shows a Leica Q2 and a Ricoh GRIII. I don’t know how to edit this kind of image…