Comments on: Ricoh GXR official

By: Shelly

Shelly — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 20:55:04 +0000

I see this as a good start, but there will have to be more options in the future, for me to start investing in it.

i can see in the future that they could have the camera base, and then a sensor slide in and removable lenses 4/3 size and m4/3 size

By: tibor

tibor — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 18:17:04 +0000

I would love to see a wide angle, regular & tele in SQUARED format sensor !

By: Lorenzo

Lorenzo — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 14:23:09 +0000

I see it far too problematic.
If there were other 2-3 nice lenses (or lens/sensor combos), such as a pano one (20mm equivalent but pano ratio, e.g. 5:2, or 16:9, with 12-14 mp optimised for such format), or some other good idea (a square b&w sensor with a lens optimised for portrait, à la Hasselblad), the overall thing could make sense, and if the quality were excellent would worth the extra cash. But this way we are really buying what we already have (a normal lens with almost macro features, OR a compact camera à la GX200), investing into a very closed system that does not give any promise of near-future releases (bar the 10x zoom with a tiny sensor, for which I am not investing 1000 euros…)

By: Mel

Mel — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 13:51:55 +0000

The zoom module is what the GX3 should have been — same zoom range as the GX200, but with tweaks (less banding at high ISOs) and a better sensor (the one in the Canon G11 and S90). The problem is that the module+body sells in the US for $500 more than the GX200 sells for right now. Ricoh fans who don’t want anything else have to spend more than twice the price of the GX200 — that’s crazy.

Now look at the 33/2.5 macro module with the Sony sensor used in the D5000/D90/D300. You can get a D5000 plus a Tokina 35/2.8 macro for under $1000, or get the Ricoh equivalent for $1400. Yes, it’s much smaller. But its aufotofus is inferior. Quesabesde.com said it wasn’t as fast as the AF from the Panasonic GF1, and dpreview said, “We’re not going to talk about the performance of the contrast detect autofocus in this preview as this is a pre-production camera (and ours has some serious focus issues that we hope are not going to be seen in the final shipping product).” Even if the AF worked right, contrast-detect AF is inherently slower than good phase-detect AF in DLSRs.

So, do you really want to pay a $400-$500 penalty for your modules (and in some cases get slowish AF) just to get a small camera? Ultimately that is what Ricoh is offering. And I don’t think it’s a tradeoff that most people will go for.

If the price differential dropped by $200-$300 you could see a lot more sales, but the system would still have an uphill climb.

By: Chris_M

Chris_M — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 09:53:42 +0000

I meant “rich”, not “reach” …

By: Chris_M

Chris_M — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 09:43:13 +0000

I think this lens+sensor system is a “evolutionary dead end”. They definitely need to separate the sensor from the lens and make it somehow affordable. This should be a camera for the photo enthusiasts, not for pros, nor for reach, spoiled leica cult followers.

By: Lorenzo

Lorenzo — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 08:03:20 +0000

In fact a module containing lens + sensor is an interesting idea. But results in expensive products, that ultimately leave less freedom to the buyer than a traiditional camera. If they produce sensor only modules with traditional mounts that would not stop them from producing closed modules, but would allow the buyer much more freedom…

By: Enche Tjin

Enche Tjin — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 04:09:45 +0000

Ricoh makes profits through sensor+lens module. So i think they want to make some money first, before opening up the system.

There is also image quality concern especially in high iso setting:

here is the quote from ricoh global website

“In order to make the best use of the inherent power of the lens and the image sensor, the ideal solution is to combine both in a single unit. Consider, for example, the low-pass filter covering the surface of the image sensor. The dilemma faced is that while the filter helps prevent color noise and color moiré, increasing this benefit results in an ever greater sacrifice in lens resolution. Traditional interchangeable lens systems use a single low-pass filter for all lenses so they are unable to avoid situations where the filter effect is excessive or inadequate. With the GXR, on the other hand, we can design a filter optimized for the resolution of the specific lens. In this way, Ricoh has succeeded in effectively preventing color noise while suppressing filter influence on lens resolution.”

By: Erich

Erich — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:38:32 +0000

Wait a second. Why not make a truly modular camera and separate the lenses from the sensors. That way if people want to pair each lens with it’s own sensor to keep it sealed, they can decide for themselves. In the meantime people can have one module for their super compact zooms, and one for prime lenses.

By: Erich

Erich — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:07:36 +0000

I’m not sure what I think of this yet. The size is awesome, the metal construction is awesome, the concept seems to have potential. I think it’s going to come down to lens performance and image quality.

But one issue I can foresee, which makes me agree with Lorenzo, is that sensor technology is advancing at a far more rapid pace than lens technology. Which is a pretty darn good reason to keep the lenses separate from everything else on a camera. (And, Nikon, Canon, that includes IS features.)

Here’s an idea… what about a micro four-thirds lens-module as an option?

By: Lorenzo

Lorenzo — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 18:54:00 +0000

Well… it is an interesting idea, but… 1) far too expensive, 2) not enough interesting combinations, yet (a “normal” macro that costs almost as much as a D300 for being usable, or the equivalent of the GX100 for three time the price of the GX100…); 3) what if in the future there are cool sensors and cool lenses, and I want to use a sensor (e.g. b&W one) with a different lens than the one built with it? I can’t! It sounds wrong…

By: Josh

Josh — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 18:35:29 +0000

It will be unique…to the one person that buys it.

By: NikoDoby

NikoDoby — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 13:58:59 +0000

Image quality looks pretty good. A very interesting and unique camera !