https://grlife.app/blog/ Firmware updates, new films and notes on shooting with the Ricoh GR III and GR IIIx. en Sun, 15 Nov 2026 14:11:49 GMT https://grlife.app/blog/new-film-ferry-mixed-indoor-light/ https://grlife.app/blog/new-film-ferry-mixed-indoor-light/ Sun, 15 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMT Ferry is a colour negative look of our own design, made for scenes where indoor light mixes with daylight from a window: ferry cabins, train cars, cafés, waiting rooms. It does not simulate any real film stock. New films https://grlife.app/blog/grlife-pro-2-4-live-photos/ https://grlife.app/blog/grlife-pro-2-4-live-photos/ Sun, 15 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMT GRLife Pro 2.4 is out. It adds Live photos: once switched on, the camera saves a short silent clip with every photo, about 1.5 seconds before and 1.5 seconds after the shutter. Afterwards the site’s Live Photo Export page turns photo and clip into a picture that moves in your phone’s gallery. It works on the GR III, GR IIIx and GR IV (Beta). The film library has not changed. Firmware updates https://grlife.app/blog/grlife-pro-2-3-anamorphic-lens/ https://grlife.app/blog/grlife-pro-2-3-anamorphic-lens/ Sat, 14 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMT GRLife Pro 2.3 is out today. It adds a switch for anamorphic widescreen lenses: with a 1.25× or 1.20× anamorphic lens mounted, what you see in live view and what the camera saves are both the desqueezed wide picture, with no need to process it on a computer or phone afterwards. It works on the GR III and GR IIIx now; the GR IV is being adapted. The film library is unchanged. Firmware updates https://grlife.app/blog/gr-iv-faster-start-up-film-change/ https://grlife.app/blog/gr-iv-faster-start-up-film-change/ Thu, 12 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMT This update is for the GR IV only and fixes the two things we heard about most. Firmware updates https://grlife.app/blog/ricoh-firmware-1-71-2-21-1-21-supported/ https://grlife.app/blog/ricoh-firmware-1-71-2-21-1-21-supported/ Wed, 11 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMT On November 10 Ricoh released GR IIIx 1.71, GR III 2.21 and GR IV / GR IV HDF 1.21. Starting today, all three can build custom firmware on the GRLife Pro 2.x page, with the same features as on the earlier versions. Firmware updates https://grlife.app/blog/grlife-pro-2-2-snap-distance-feet/ https://grlife.app/blog/grlife-pro-2-2-snap-distance-feet/ Tue, 10 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMT GRLife Pro 2.2 is out today for the GR III, GR IIIx and GR IV (Beta). It adds one switch: the snap focus distance can be shown in feet instead of metres. The GR IV gets two improvements of its own. The film library is unchanged. Firmware updates https://grlife.app/blog/film-library-92-films-app-2-1-1/ https://grlife.app/blog/film-library-92-films-app-2-1-1/ Mon, 09 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMT Three updates at once: 28 new films in the film library, the GRLife Pro App at 2.1.1, and a fix to the film list in movie mode on the GR IV (Beta). On a GR III / IIIx there is nothing to flash; you replace one file. New films https://grlife.app/blog/grlife-pro-2-gr-iv-beta/ https://grlife.app/blog/grlife-pro-2-gr-iv-beta/ Mon, 09 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMT The GR IV Standard and HDF (stock firmware 1.20) can now get GRLife Pro 2.x from the firmware page. As on the GR III / IIIx, press OK while shooting to open the in-camera interface: picking films, setting texture and switching features all happen on the camera. The GR IV version is a Beta; below is what it has and what it doesn’t yet. Firmware updates https://grlife.app/blog/grlife-pro-2-1-live-view-freeze-fix/ https://grlife.app/blog/grlife-pro-2-1-live-view-freeze-fix/ Sun, 08 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMT This time we found the real cause: pressing OK for GRLife Pro right after turning the camera on (before any menu or the ADJ strip had been opened), then changing a film or a setting, froze the live view on the way back to shooting. No focusing, no shooting, and only turning the camera off brought it back. The new build has been tested over and over on the camera without it happening again. Firmware updates https://grlife.app/blog/duotone-poster-look-on-gr/ https://grlife.app/blog/duotone-poster-look-on-gr/ Sat, 07 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMT The best thing about keychain toy cameras is their two-colour filters: the picture keeps only black and one colour, and any street looks like a printed poster. The four Duotone films in the GRLife film library do exactly that: shadows go pure black, the brighter tones print in red, yellow, blue or a warm off-white. You see it on the screen while you shoot, with no editing afterwards. New films https://grlife.app/blog/grlife-pro-2-0-faster-film-change/ https://grlife.app/blog/grlife-pro-2-0-faster-film-change/ Fri, 06 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMT Some of you told us the 2.0 film page still felt slow. This update speeds up every step of changing films, and renames a MENU row that was easy to misread. Firmware updates https://grlife.app/blog/grlife-pro-2-0-in-camera-ui/ https://grlife.app/blog/grlife-pro-2-0-in-camera-ui/ Fri, 06 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMT GRLife Pro 2.0 is a major release. For the first time your Ricoh GR III / GR IIIx has GRLife’s own in-camera UI: press OK while shooting to pick a film, set the texture and the imprint, and switch features on or off. The store no longer asks you to pick features either: one firmware has them all, and you switch them in the camera. Firmware updates https://grlife.app/blog/grlife-pro-1-43-classic-film-grain/ https://grlife.app/blog/grlife-pro-1-43-classic-film-grain/ Wed, 04 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMT The last update, v1.42, switched the grain to the X half’s manner. Some users told us they preferred the grain we had before, so it is back as “Classic”: little grain in the highlights and more in the shadows and mid tones, coarser on high-speed films, with faint colour specks on colour films, as in v1.41 and earlier. The X half-style fine and coarse grain stays too: three kinds to pick from. Firmware updates https://grlife.app/blog/grlife-pro-1-42-film-grain-fine-coarse/ https://grlife.app/blog/grlife-pro-1-42-film-grain-fine-coarse/ Wed, 04 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMT We redid the film grain the way Fujifilm’s X half does it: the same amount in highlights, mid tones and shadows, so you see it on a bright sky or a white wall too; on the luminance only, with no colour specks; and the same for every film. Its strength and size are fitted to the X half’s grain; none of Fujifilm’s data is used. New this time: a choice of grain size. Firmware updates https://grlife.app/blog/film-library-hp-400-ac-100/ https://grlife.app/blog/film-library-hp-400-ac-100/ Tue, 03 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMT Two films join the black-and-white group. Like the TX films, they are not fitted to a LUT: we computed the film and the print from the spectral sensitivity and development curves the makers publish. No firmware update needed. New films https://grlife.app/blog/grlife-pro-1-41-light-leak-glow/ https://grlife.app/blog/grlife-pro-1-41-light-leak-glow/ Tue, 03 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMT We redesigned the light leak. Edge is now Glow: 20 light patterns – bands, diagonal streaks, spots, a glowing corner, stripes and more – one picked at random for each photo and turned a random way. The light is added as brightening, so highlights never burn out to plain white and shadows are not lifted into flat patches. Firmware updates https://grlife.app/blog/my-films-own-lut-colour-chart/ https://grlife.app/blog/my-films-own-lut-colour-chart/ Mon, 02 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMT The film library now has My films: upload a .cube LUT, or run the GRLife colour chart through any photo app (SpektraLab, Lightroom, phone filter apps…), and in about 5–15 seconds your browser turns it into a film your Ricoh GR III / GR IIIx can shoot with. Preview it, adjust it, name it, save it to your GRLife account and load it with the film library. New films https://grlife.app/blog/film-library-ghost-halloween/ https://grlife.app/blog/film-library-ghost-halloween/ Sun, 01 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMT Film No. 62, Ghost, joins the Duotone group. Lifted blacks, teal shadows, cool highlights and muted colour wrap the picture in a cold haze, while hue sectors keep orange alone, so jack-o’-lanterns and orange lights stay warm in a cold teal frame. No firmware update needed. New films https://grlife.app/blog/half-frame-multi-exposure/ https://grlife.app/blog/half-frame-multi-exposure/ Sat, 31 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT A user asked whether the GR could shoot half frame. We nearly answered: turn the camera 90 degrees, take two portrait shots and join them later. Then more hands went up, so here it is. Half frame adds a composite mode to the stock multi-exposure: take two shots in the portrait frame in the middle, and the camera joins them into one 3:2 photo with a black line between. Firmware updates https://grlife.app/blog/grlife-pro-1-39-light-leak-first-roll/ https://grlife.app/blog/grlife-pro-1-39-light-leak-first-roll/ Sat, 31 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT The first frame of a roll, fogged while loading the film: the left of the picture burnt out behind a narrow orange-red fringe. Your GR can now do it straight out of the camera: MENU → GRLife Pro → Film texture has a fifth row, Light leak, with off, edge and first roll. Every photo gets its own leak. Firmware updates https://grlife.app/blog/film-library-duotone/ https://grlife.app/blog/film-library-duotone/ Sat, 31 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT The film library has a new Duotone group. The picture turns black and white, then the shadows go pure black and the brighter tones print in a single colour: red, yellow, blue or a warm off-white. Inspired by the two-colour looks of keychain toy cameras, they shine with backlit silhouettes, hard shadows and big skies; exposure compensation sets how much of the frame goes black. No firmware update needed. New films https://grlife.app/blog/film-library-tx-400/ https://grlife.app/blog/film-library-tx-400/ Sat, 31 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT The film library’s black-and-white group already had TX 1600 and TX 3200, the hard look of pushed Tri-X. Now it has the classic one too: TX 400, shot at the ISO 400 printed on the box, developed normally and printed on normal paper. Moderate contrast and a full tonal range suit everyday street shots and portraits; add grain with the camera’s grain setting if you like. No firmware update needed. New films https://grlife.app/blog/film-library-solar-mid-twin-dark/ https://grlife.app/blog/film-library-solar-mid-twin-dark/ Fri, 30 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT Ricoh’s new GR IV Monochrome firmware added a solarization look. Now the film library’s black-and-white group has three solarization films: the tone curve turns back over part of the range, so those tones come out reversed and edges pick up light or dark outlines. Each film flips a different range, the live view shows the effect as you frame, and exposure compensation moves where the tones flip. No firmware update needed. New films https://grlife.app/blog/grlife-pro-1-38-cinestill-halation-raw-textures/ https://grlife.app/blog/grlife-pro-1-38-cinestill-halation-raw-textures/ Fri, 30 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT The red halation of the CS films is new. The JPEG the camera works on is already clipped where lights blow out, so a small lamp carried almost no light into the effect and its glow was faint. v1.38 gives a blown-out light back the energy the JPEG lost: a clear red inner ring and an orange outer glow around it, the light itself still white, more in the dark and less on bright areas. Firmware updates https://grlife.app/blog/grlife-pro-1-37-imprint-caption-luna/ https://grlife.app/blog/grlife-pro-1-37-imprint-caption-luna/ Thu, 29 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT Remember the 90s film cameras that printed “♥ I LOVE YOU ♥” on your photos? GRLife Pro v1.37 turns the date stamp into Imprint, after the Canon Autoboy Luna: a caption can go to the left of the date, the type can be seven-segment or a 5×7 dot matrix, and the imprint has a soft glow that lights up in the dark and turns white on bright areas. Firmware updates https://grlife.app/blog/rear-dial-iso-1-1-snap-distance-priority/ https://grlife.app/blog/rear-dial-iso-1-1-snap-distance-priority/ Thu, 29 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT After Rear dial sets ISO came out, a user wrote in: in Snap Distance Priority the stock rear dial sets the depth of field, and with the feature installed that no longer worked. We had missed that case. We fixed it the same day the feedback arrived and confirmed it on a GR IIIx with 1.70. Thank you for the report. Firmware updates https://grlife.app/blog/film-library-polaroid-instax/ https://grlife.app/blog/film-library-polaroid-instax/ Thu, 29 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT The film library has a new Instant film group with two films, Polaroid and Instax: one has the bright, faded, soft look of an old Polaroid print, the other the harder contrast and paler colour of a Fujifilm Instax print. Both use hue sectors, so they look their best on GRLife Pro 1.36 firmware. New films https://grlife.app/blog/rear-dial-iso/ https://grlife.app/blog/rear-dial-iso/ Thu, 29 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT On a stock GR you press the ISO key before a dial changes ISO. A user who was used to other cameras asked for ISO on a dial, right away. The new Rear dial sets ISO feature does that: in shooting standby, turn the rear dial (the ring around the four-way controller) and ISO changes at once. Firmware updates https://grlife.app/blog/grlife-pro-1-36-hue-sectors-kodachrome/ https://grlife.app/blog/grlife-pro-1-36-hue-sectors-kodachrome/ Thu, 29 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT Users told us the five built-in films looked too much alike. This update retunes Ektar 100, Gold 200, Pro 400H and Portra 400, and lets films adjust colours by hue sector, so the five now clearly differ. Firmware updates https://grlife.app/blog/grlife-pro-1-34-change-films-in-adj/ https://grlife.app/blog/grlife-pro-1-34-change-films-in-adj/ Wed, 28 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT After user feedback, each film now keeps its own film grain, HDF diffusion and film softness levels, and changing films moved into ADJ: while shooting, turn ADJ to the Film tile and press up or down. Nine ADJ settings adds five functions to assign as well: film, film grain, HDF diffusion, film softness and HDR. Firmware updates https://grlife.app/blog/gr-hdr-photos-1-1-highlights/ https://grlife.app/blog/gr-hdr-photos-1-1-highlights/ Wed, 28 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT After HDR photo came out, some of you told us that with HDR on, highlights came out badly blown and with jagged edges. We tracked down the cause with photos from a camera, and HDR photo 1.1 fixes it. Firmware updates https://grlife.app/blog/grlife-pro-1-33-cleaner-grain/ https://grlife.app/blog/grlife-pro-1-33-cleaner-grain/ Tue, 27 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT Many of you told us the large grain clumps added last time made skies and white walls look blotchy and dirty, and that film softness was not as soft as before. GRLife Pro v1.33 fixes both. Firmware updates https://grlife.app/blog/gr-hdr-photos/ https://grlife.app/blog/gr-hdr-photos/ Tue, 27 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT HDR photo is a new feature you can add on the custom firmware page (GRLife Pro is needed as well): photos taken on the film bay’s film slots get an HDR gain map with every JPEG (Ultra HDR / ISO 21496-1). On HDR screens such as iPhone, Mac, Android 14 or later and Chrome, highlights like lights, sky and screens look brighter and more detailed; ordinary screens and apps without HDR support show the photo as before. Firmware updates https://grlife.app/blog/nine-adj-settings/ https://grlife.app/blog/nine-adj-settings/ Mon, 26 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT Out of the box, a GR’s ADJ Mode Setting holds five functions. The new Nine ADJ settings feature makes it nine: press ADJ while shooting and every function you assigned is lined up at once. Grid Style becomes an ADJ function too, so you can change the grid lines without opening the menu. You add it together with GRLife Pro on the custom firmware page. Firmware updates https://grlife.app/blog/grlife-pro-1-32-med-large-date-stamp/ https://grlife.app/blog/grlife-pro-1-32-med-large-date-stamp/ Mon, 26 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT A user told us the Large date stamp was too big and Medium a little small. GRLife Pro v1.32 adds Med-large in between, and fixes the stamp turning the wrong way when you turn the camera right after a shot. Firmware updates https://grlife.app/blog/golden-ratio-grid-lines/ https://grlife.app/blog/golden-ratio-grid-lines/ Mon, 26 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT Out of the box, a GR offers 3×3 and 4×4 grid lines. The new Golden ratio guides feature adds five more to the camera’s own Grid Style menu: a golden ratio grid, and a golden spiral with its centre lower right, lower left, upper right or upper left. You can add it on its own on the custom firmware page. Firmware updates https://grlife.app/blog/grlife-pro-1-31-films-in-video-mode/ https://grlife.app/blog/grlife-pro-1-31-films-in-video-mode/ Mon, 26 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT Until now the film bay’s films worked for photos only; switching to video brought back the factory colours. GRLife Pro v1.31 adds your 5 film bay positions to the Image Control list in video mode, so videos can have a film’s colours too. Firmware updates https://grlife.app/blog/grlife-pro-1-30-custom-shutdown-screen/ https://grlife.app/blog/grlife-pro-1-30-custom-shutdown-screen/ Sun, 25 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT Every time a GR switches off, it shows the same factory screen. GRLife Pro v1.30 adds a Shutdown screen page to the menu: make up to 9 photos into shutdown screens at grlife.app, put them on the SD card, pick one in the camera, and it shows when you switch off. Firmware updates https://grlife.app/blog/grlife-pro-1-29-grain-and-faster-playback/ https://grlife.app/blog/grlife-pro-1-29-grain-and-faster-playback/ Sun, 25 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT Until now the film grain matched a negative scan at 100 %, but on a phone, looking at the whole photo, it was too fine to see. GRLife Pro v1.29 adds the larger, uneven grain clumps of a negative scan, so a whole photo looks like film even on a phone. Film softness and grain are also more than twice as fast, so the wait for playback right after a shot drops from over 4 s to about 2 s. Firmware updates https://grlife.app/blog/grlife-pro-1-28-films-in-raw-development/ https://grlife.app/blog/grlife-pro-1-28-films-in-raw-development/ Sat, 24 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT Until now, in-camera RAW development on the GR only offered the stock looks, and the films in your film bay were left out. GRLife Pro v1.28 adds them: try another film after the shot, and develop the RAW again with it right in playback. Firmware updates https://grlife.app/blog/grlife-pro-1-27-upright-date-stamp/ https://grlife.app/blog/grlife-pro-1-27-upright-date-stamp/ Sat, 24 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT Until now, a vertical shot on the GR had its date stamp printed along the landscape frame: open it on a computer and the stamp sits sideways in the bottom left corner. GRLife Pro v1.27 turns the stamp with the photo, so bottom right means bottom right on vertical shots too. Firmware updates https://grlife.app/blog/grlife-pro-1-26-film-softness/ https://grlife.app/blog/grlife-pro-1-26-film-softness/ Sat, 24 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT Digital photos are sharp to the pixel, with the hard edges sharpening leaves behind; on a film scan, detail fades gently instead. GRLife Pro v1.26 adds Film softness to bring that back. Firmware updates https://grlife.app/blog/grlife-pro-1-23-grain-from-real-film/ https://grlife.app/blog/grlife-pro-1-23-grain-from-real-film/ Thu, 22 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT GRLife Pro is now v1.23. Grain used to come from the camera’s own grain stage and looked more like digital noise. This time it is rebuilt from scratch: modelled on scans of real colour negative and black and white film, measured point by point and tuned into the camera. Firmware updates https://grlife.app/blog/grlife-pro-1-20-films-in-image-control/ https://grlife.app/blog/grlife-pro-1-20-films-in-image-control/ Wed, 21 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT GRLife Pro is now v1.20, and this one is a bigger change: films used to take over five factory effects such as Vivid and Retro. Now they have five slots of their own in Image Control, right after Custom2, and the factory effects work as Ricoh made them again. Firmware updates https://grlife.app/blog/film-library-tx-1600-tx-3200/ https://grlife.app/blog/film-library-tx-1600-tx-3200/ Wed, 21 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT The film library has a new Black & white group with two films, TX 1600 and TX 3200. We simulated them ourselves from Kodak’s TRI-X 400 data sheet: the film is push-processed and printed on hard paper, giving the inky, burnt-out, raw black and white of street photography. Both are pure black and white; for coarser grain, turn up that film’s grain in the camera’s film vault. New films https://grlife.app/blog/film-library-11-new-films/ https://grlife.app/blog/film-library-11-new-films/ Tue, 20 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT The film library has eleven new films today, with four new groups (Leica style, Fujifilm style, Kodak Portra and Agfa Vista) and Superia 1600 joining the Fujifilm Superia group. Each film below comes with one photo; tap a picture to see that film’s full preview. New films https://grlife.app/blog/film-library-cs-800t-city-day/ https://grlife.app/blog/film-library-cs-800t-city-day/ Mon, 19 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT The film library has two new films today: CS 800T City and CS 800T Day. They are not fitted to a LUT from the internet; we simulated them ourselves from Kodak’s data sheet for VISION3 500T (5219), the stock behind CineStill 800T, shot at EI 800. City is the film under fluorescent and LED city light at night: cyan shadows and greys with warm skin, made for night streets. Day is the film shot in daylight without a filter: clearly blue throughout. New films https://grlife.app/blog/film-library-cs-800t/ https://grlife.app/blog/film-library-cs-800t/ Mon, 19 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT The film library has a new film today: CS 800T. Compared with the camera’s Standard mode it is much darker and much more muted, a heavy look for moody, low-saturation photos. New films https://grlife.app/blog/film-library-gr2-posi/ https://grlife.app/blog/film-library-gr2-posi/ Mon, 19 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT The film library has a new film today: GR2 Posi. It takes after the Positive Film look of the Ricoh GR II and sits next to GR2 Vivid in the GR II group. Compared with the camera’s Standard mode it is much darker, slightly muted and slightly magenta, for calm photos with a vintage slide-film feel. New films