Ricoh GR Celebrates 30 Years: 'Forever a Snapshooter'

Ricoh has revealed a new logo and slogan to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the GR series of cameras. The new visual and the messaging “Forever a Snapshooter” will be used throughout the rest of 2026.

The key visual and tagline are not being accompanied by any new product but instead are meant to show Ricoh’s continued commitment to its GR system and fans of the compact camera series.

In addition, Ricoh says it is currently preparing to launch special items commemorating the 30th anniversary and will hold fan events worldwide in the fall.

From Ricoh:

Since the launch of the film camera “RICOH GR1” (equipped with a 28mm F2.8 GR lens) in October 1996, the GR series has earned the support of a great many users, particularly professionals and advanced amateur photographers.

In 2005, as digital imaging became the mainstream, we launched the “RICOH GR DIGITAL,” the first digital camera in the GR series, featuring a 1/1.8-inch CCD image sensor with approximately 8.13 effective megapixels.

In 2025, we launched the “RICOH GR IV,” the latest model in the GR series, and this February we launched the “RICOH GR IV Monochrome,” based on the “RICOH GR IV” and equipped with a monochrome-dedicated CMOS image sensor equivalent in size to APS-C, with approximately 25.74 effective megapixels. In this way, the GR series has continued to evolve in many ways over the years.

At the same time, GR’s essential values—its unwavering commitment to high image quality, quick response, and portability, and its determination to keep pursuing the ultimate snapshooter—have been passed down unchanged, regardless of advances in technology or the changing times.

Ricoh says that it is commemorating the 30th anniversary of it system (1996 to 2026) with the message “Forever a Snapshooter,” which is meant to express the GR’s vision for its products.

Vision is particularly important to Ricoh. Last year, PetaPixel spoke to Ricoh Imaging President Yasutomo Mori and Kazunobu Saiki, General Manager of Ricoh Imaging’s Camera Business Division and both stated how important it was for the camera system to never stray from certain philosophies.

“Our principles for GR are the golden rules,” Saiki explained. “One, GR should always be with you. That is compactness: pocketability. Two, Quick response. GR should always capture what you want. Three, GR should have high image quality. And the fourth principle is ‘evolving.’ So, as long as the first three principles are kept, we always want to add something new.”

That last aspect is echoed in its 30th anniversary announcement, as the company says it wants to continue to evolve and deepen its identity as the ultimate snap shooting camera.