Ricoh filed a patent application 2010-175627 (published August 12, 2010, filled January 27, 2009) in Japan for what appears to be a new 35mm f/1.8 Macro lens.
- focal length f=33.1mm
- aperture Fno=1.80
- image circle 28.4mm
- macro 1:2
- floating focus mechanism
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another “normal” for GXR? Is it an excuse to update the sensor of the first “normal” module? When are we going to see a decent wide-angle or tele lens? Or special sensor? Luckily those who projected the GXR did not have any envy to enter the “big” market, out there, preferring the soft warm micro-niche market of Ricoh cameras…
I guess its to adress the AF issue…too bad, I wish it was really a 35mm EQ….the wideangle 28mm is coming till the end of the year….
28mm is not here yet. We know nothing about its quality, and the AF capabilities of the new module(s). Let’s really hope the problem is not in the main body, otherwise the entire system will have to be redesigned. BTW: I did not notice anything about VR, did you? Which means: another module without Vibration Control (or whatever the name)?
One last thing: 28 mm is the wide-angle of yestarday (say: up to the 80s). I would really like smth like a 20mm equivalent, POSSIBLY with VR. AND a real macro lens, say a 105mm equivalent, POSSIBLY with VR, and wide aperture (2.0, or max. 2.8). And all this quite compact and portable. Otherwise, I really do not see the point of the whole concept, here (= all dslrs beat this system in all respects, but size; all other mirrorless systems beat this system for versatility, and are way too close in IQ)
No VR I guess…but I do believe will see better AF in the next modules. Its an expensive system and many have complained about the AF, so if Ricoh want to sell more….I agree that most dsrls beat gxr except for size…but I had a m4/3 camera and boy that sensor is far from APS-c performance…DR and noise were really bad with my camera…but the AF really shines….
I’d rather have myself killed than shooting a 20mm all-day.
It’s not about getting “wide”, it’s about the FoV and perspective of the specific focal length of 28mm. Otherwise we won’t be having any 35mms around now – anything wider than a 50mm is considered quite an achievement before the war, the “wide-angles of yestarday”.
Well, it’s not about your (or my) shooting style or preferences, but very much what the market may perceive as a selling point. Before WWII a 28-72 mm zoom simply did not exist. Now there are many, and Ricoh may try to create a collapsible zoom for an aps module of this system. If the result is too big, then you can sacrifica a couple of millimeters (32-70 /2.8-3.2 would still be ok for a basic kit, assuming the quality is there)
A 20mm equivalent would mimic the experience of a couple of glorious cameras, such as the Hassy swc, one of the best panoramic cameras ever. The Ricoh GXR system is still at its beginning, so they need to creat everything from scratch in order to build a polivalent system with excellent lenses. First step: few excellent primes, well defined for their cathegories. The 50mm is already there (and I can’t see why they are iterating it). Now they need a strong wide-angle, a moderate wide-angle (ok, the 28mm could be), a portrait lens, a long macro lens. Next step includes a couple of zoom, the iteration of some modules, and some genial idea (e.g. rotating panoramic module), etc.
OTOH, now we have: two crappy small-sensor modules, and one (I mean: 1) aps module, with a very non-competitive normal lens. And they patent a similar module, while we are all waiting for a “moderate” and non competitive either WA such as the 28mm.
Why aren’t they competitive in my opinion? Simple: ALL systems, both dslr AND mirrorless, already have or will soon have those options. In fact, any dslr system is redundant for 50mm primes, with wathever aperture or feature (including 1:1 macro, the one-and-only macro). Then mirrorless or fixed aps or 43 cams from Leica, Sigma, Pana, Oly, Samsung have a more-or-less 50mm equivalent.
At the moment, there is not single feature that makes the Ricoh proposal unique. APS: good sensor, but many cams have (and many mirrorless will soon have) similar ones. Lenses, or, better, lens (50mm): all systems in the world have it. And if the Ricoh is better, the Pana 20mm (e.g.) is not mediocre. It all becomes only a matter of pixel-peeping.
And of course Ricoh does not (and apparently will not) have VR, has a mediocre AF, and has other minor quirks.
I really see no reason to spend 1000 for a Ricoh at the moment, considering that at the moment it is to be considered a fixed-lens system, with a very normal banal 50mm equivalent lens (not even that luminous, btw)…
Not sure how to translate this. Could be the rumored 28mm (full frame equivalent) lens. If 35 is the true focal length of the lens, combined with APS-C sensor, it would be an effective 50.
I understand now I was giving for granted that we are talking about a 35mm effective lenght, equivalent to 51mm circa on FF. If the 35mm is an already converted lenght (= 23mm effective circa) then we should talk about a moderate WA. But given this is a patent application, I guess we are really into a new 50mm equivalent lens. Which means quite similar (if not for its improved max aperture, and God knows about AF etc.) to the ONLY APS module actually existing for the system. Gosh…
From the source, it will be likely to be equal to 50mm which is a replacement of the slow but excellent 50mm macro.
I like the f/1.8 aperture, and I hope the AF is a lot faster for street shooting!
Lets see… Patents dont always turn into products that fast. It wouldnt make sense to me to “update” the only APS-C module of the system with another one of roughly the same focal length now. Plus a lot of early adopters would be quite pi**ed…
Exactly my thought. We’ll see…
Geez… how many elements do you need in a 35mm lens.