And the year starts with a whole load of new toys – here’s a little about three of them…
First up the Ricoh GR lV Monchrome
This is essentially a Ricoh GRlV which came out at the end of 2025 but with a crucial difference, no Bayer filter – instead of recomposing 4 adjacent pixels into a single coloured one, this uses all the pixels INDIVIDUALLY – to give a black and white image. This gives a much sharper, more contrasty image – with the downside that there is very little latitude regarding exposures – better get it right in the camera as adjustments in post processing will not be like treating a coloured image.
Leica have done this many times, offering a colour and a B&W version of many of their camera bodies, even the Q2 and Q3 full frame compacts.
The Ricoh is slightly different in that it uses a 25MP APS-C sensor.
We’ve been waiting a few months since this beasty was announced, and it should hit the shelves before the end of this month (February 2026) – needless to say, mine is on pre-order in Toulouse.
Over to NIKON who have just announced two new lenses for the ‘Z’ series cameras. In fact neither of these two are ‘new’ – NIKON have made new versions of existing lenses – benefiting from new optical configurations, lighter glass etc.
NIKON 24-70 f/2.8 S Mk ll
This is both slightly smaller and lighter than the original S model, more more importantly, has internal focusing. This is particularly important for people using gimbals as any change of physical length throws out the balance of the gimbal. The price is slightly higher too – but as it’s only just been introduced, this will no doubt come down as time goes by.
NIKON 70-200 f/2.8 S Mk ll
This too is both slightly smaller and lighter than the original S model (365g), and also has internal focusing. This said, I still think the most amazing thing is that NIKON have FINALLY listed to it’s buyers, and produced an ARCA compatible tripod foot ! Jeez guys, we’ve waited so long for this!
Both lenses have forgone the (frankly useless) screens ontop – to be replaced by another function button – on the 70-200 they have introcued the possibility to turn on or off the ‘click’ of the rear function ring – I guess if you use this for apertures selection, this could be an advantage, but as I rarely use the function buttons or rear collar, I can’t get too excited about this.
I’m not really in the market for either of these – oh sure, they’re faster, lighter etc. etc. but the two I already own do a terrific job, so I don’t see myself replacing mine yet.
I think it’s very good that manufacturers don’t rest on their laurels and R&D does continue to upgrade existing lenses. Some people seem to think these recent anouncements indicate a revised Z9 ll is in the wings – it’s always poissible of course, but it could also be just a good way of showing that development hasn’t stopped. Wait and see…