[snegron1]

I was excited when I ordered a Ricoh GRIII Street Edition from Amazon this past weekend.

It finally arrived and I eagerly opened the box. My eagerness turned a bit sour when I opened the product box itself.

I was expecting the actual "Street Edition", especially because I paid extra for it. I think someone either substituted the camera during a return, or they replaced the accessories with the regular GRIII (non-street edition).

To begin with, the camera is black. It has a slight metallic/muted sparkle finish but nothing like the lighter grey shown in every picture I have seen. Also, the hand strap it came with is the flimsy black nylon one, not the leather strap with the orange accent.

It did come with the two batteries, the ornge ring and a spare black ring though. When I shut the camera off, the screen shows "Street Edition", so I'm a bit confused.

Is this an authentic Ricoh GRIII Street Edition? Did Ricoh stop including the leather strap? Are the newer Street Edition versions black? Did someone return this camera to Amazon after swapping out the leather strap? Is this a fake GRIII?

[MarkJerling]

It it's not what you see here, then I suspect you may need to chat with the seller: Street Edition / RICOH GR III | RICOH IMAGING
It does seem like the leather strap is no longer available.

The regular GRIII has a different texture, but I suspect the colour of the limited edition one is not as grey as you think it is.
https://www.ricoh-imaging.co.jp/english/products/gr-3/

These, below, are the limited edition "Street Edition":



This is the regular GR3:

[snegron1]

So, is there a "Street Edition" and a "Limited Street Edition"?

My "Street Edition" didn't come with the external optical finder either.

[MarkJerling]

No, I think there's just the "Street Edition" which is also described by Ricoh as "A limited-edition model".
On top of that, there was the "Special Limited Kit" which included the Genuine Leather Hand Strap GS-2(SE) and External Mini Viewfinder GV-2(SE).
The "Special Limited Kit" is showing as sold out and no longer available.

[snegron1]

Thanks. I looked at the box of the "Limited" on the Ricoh website and compared it to the box of my "Street Edition"; turns out that the Limited model says "Limited" under "Street Edition".

So, I thought I was getting the limited but purchased the regular Street Edition instead.

Now I'm searching for a decent, sturdy wrist strap because I don't trust the one it came with.

[MarkJerling]

You're welcome. Enjoy your new camera.

[snegron1]

You're welcome. Enjoy your new camera.

Thanks! I tried it out yesterday, and I'm impressed with the IQ captured under daylight conditions.

[Arjay Bee]

For a leather strap, try Gordys - reviewed here:

I have had one for years on various bodies - well worth it.

[Vendee]

Also, the hand strap it came with is the flimsy black nylon one, not the leather strap with the orange accent.

I can understand that you might want a better looking strap but be assured that the "flimsy nylon one" is certainly strong enough for the lightweight GRIII. I've actually got a couple of nice leather hand straps that I used to use with my film cameras but I prefer the flimsy nylon strap on my GRIII because of it doesn't add any bulk to what is a very pocketable camera.

[snegron1]

I can understand that you might want a better looking strap but be assured that the "flimsy nylon one" is certainly strong enough for the lightweight GRIII. I've actually got a couple of nice leather hand straps that I used to use with my film cameras but I prefer the flimsy nylon strap on my GRIII because of it doesn't add any bulk to what is a very pocketable camera.

My fear is not knowing how well the cord is connected to the nylon strap. While the GRIII is a lightweight camera, how much stress will the strap hold with continued use? I'm a big fan of over-engineered products because they tend to last longer and won't fail as quickly as products made to fulfill adequate/usable standards.