Ricoh is shipping a 30th anniversary edition of the RICOH GR IV on October 21, 2026. The RICOH GR IV 30th Anniversary Edition Kit is limited to 6,000 units worldwide, priced at $1,799.95 in the US, and is built around the same body as the standard GR IV that landed in September 2025. What changes is everything around it.
This is the first GR anniversary edition since 2016, when Ricoh marked the 20th with a GR II Silver Edition. Three decades from the original 1996 GR1 film camera, the 30th Anniversary Kit is the collector piece, not the camera you buy for the spec bump.
The kit itself
The cosmetic change starts on the shutter release button and the rear buttons, which are finished in a color scheme themed on the plated finish of the first GR1. A special power-off graphic with the 30th anniversary design is exclusive to this model — it appears when you switch the body off.
The bundled accessories are the real draw. Ricoh includes a genuine leather finger strap engraved with "30th ANNIVERSARY" on the reverse (called the GS-4 30th), a steel gray metal hot shoe cover with the 30th anniversary logo engraved on the front and RICOH GR on the reverse (the GK-2 30th), a diamond-cut ring cap (GN-3 30th) inspired by the area around the GR1's lens, and a set of 16 pin badges representing the 14 previous GR models plus the kit-exclusive 30th anniversary logo and the GR logo. The diamond-cut ring cap is fitted on shipment and is designed so the cut surfaces catch the light only when the lens is retracted — they don't add reflections during shooting.
The press release makes one point I want to repeat because it's the most easily misread line in the announcement: all other camera specifications are identical to the standard GR IV.
The specs you might be missing
The GR IV itself launched in September 2025 with a 26.01MP APS-C CMOS sensor, an 18.3mm f/2.8 lens (28mm in 35mm terms), 3-axis Shake Reduction rated at 3.5 stops, and a redesigned body that's slimmer than the GR III. None of it gets a refresh here. You are paying $1,799.95 for the special-edition ring cap, the metal hot shoe cover, the leather strap, and the pin badges. Plus, in practice, the second-hand price premium that comes with owning one of 6,000 units.
The Gadgeteer, in their coverage, framed it correctly: choose the standard GR IV for the camera. Choose the 30th Anniversary Edition if the GR series history matters as much as the photographs it takes. That distinction is worth repeating.
Pre-orders are open now
Release date is October 21, 2026, per the Ricoh Imaging Japan press release dated September 16, 2026. US pricing of $1,799.95 is confirmed on the Ricoh Imaging US product page. B&H already has a listing for it with the same ship date and price. Pre-orders are open.
If 6,000 units sounds like a lot, it isn't. Previous special-edition GR kits have historically traded at a premium on the secondary market shortly after shipping. The honest advice is to decide in the first week whether you want one. By November, the question will mostly be what you can find on the secondary market, not whether the kit is in stock.
What I'd buy instead
I'm not going to dress this up as a hands-on preview. I haven't handled the 30th Anniversary Edition, and the metal hot shoe cover, ring cap, and leather strap are the kind of object that only matters when you hold it next to the standard GR IV. From the press photos and the spec list, the value proposition is unambiguous: this is a collector's edition of a camera that is, by every review I trust, an excellent tool. Whether the GR IV itself is the right camera for you is something I covered when it launched. The 30th Anniversary Edition asks a different question — whether the GR story is part of why you own one.