Similarly designed as its "GR Digital" predecessors, the GR will be the lightest and more-or-less smallest APS-C compact available when it ships next month.
Lori Grunin
I've been reviewing hardware and software, devising testing methodology and handed out buying advice for what seems like forever; I'm currently absorbed by computers and gaming hardware, but previously spent many years concentrating on cameras. I've also volunteered with a cat rescue for over 15 years doing adoptions, designing marketing materials, managing volunteers and, of course, photographing cats.
The GR is wider than the Coolpix A, but smaller in the other two dimensions. It's designed almost exactly like its predecessors in the now-renamed GR Digital line.
Ricoh offers a nice level of programmability in its cameras. In addition to the two function buttons, the camera will retain the company's tendency to add new features via firmware updates. The rocker switch on the side operates the manual focus. There's a jog dial, and a hardware switch for toggling the button function between autoexposure lock and continuous autofocus.
