Updating firmware on a Ricoh GR

The process is the same across the GR III, GR IIIx and GR IV, and it is unusually unforgiving about two things: how the card is formatted, and how much battery you have. Nearly every failure owners report traces back to one of those.

The steps

1. Check what you're on. Find the current firmware version in the camera's setup menu and write it down. You'll want it to compare afterwards.
2. Charge fully. Not "mostly". A low battery is a common cause of an update refusing to start, and an interrupted update is far worse than a delayed one.
3. Format the card in the camera. Not on a computer. This is the single most common fix for "the camera won't see the update file". Formatting erases the card, so copy your photos off first.
4. Copy the firmware file to the top level of the card. The root directory, not inside a folder.
5. Run the update from the camera menu and leave it completely alone until it finishes.
6. Confirm the version changed. Go back to the same menu screen. If the number is unchanged, the update did not apply — it did not silently half-work.

When it goes wrong

• The camera doesn't see the file. Almost always the card: reformat it in-camera and copy the file to the root.
• The update won't start. Charge the battery fully and retry.
• The camera won't power on afterwards. Stop. An interrupted update is a service job, not something to retry repeatedly. More →
• Something changed that you didn't want. Firmware occasionally alters behaviour beyond the release notes — owners have reported cosmetic changes surviving updates.

Firmware unlocks features, not just fixes

Worth knowing before you skip an update: on the GR III and GR IIIx, using the GF-2 external flash requires a firmware update first. It is not a compatibility accident — the support is added by firmware. Flash compatibility →

Get the file from Ricoh's own support pages for your exact model. Version numbers quoted anywhere else go stale.