Luckypenguin
Hall of Famer
- Location
- Brisbane, Australia
- Name
- Nic
There are a few members of the forum here who have used and in some cases still do use a Ricoh GXR camera. The GXR concept is a little odd, logical from a certain point of view, but perhaps also flawed. Odd because it was (and remains) a unique idea, logical because it allowed you to use the one camera body with a variety of different sized sensor and lens units, but flawed because the lenses were permanently attached to each lens and would become dated together. So far there has only been one Ricoh GXR body which is purposeful looking, nicely sized and with a good number of external controls even if it doesn't do everything that I had hoped it might.
I believe that we are three years from the camera's initial release, which these days seems like a long time. A criticism of the GXR was always that if you wanted to upgrade your sensor, you needed to buy another lens at the same time, and if you wanted to buy another lens you also had to pay for the sensor attached to it. This criticism has proven to be only half true since there have only been a limited number of modules anyway and no upgrades of existing modules, which brings me to the point of this post. Is there a future for the GXR? In asking that question I recognise that the current APS-C prime modules have optically great lenses and a nice 12MP Sony sensor inside them which have, do, and will continue to take great looking photos. Like just about any current camera you could continue to enjoy them as long as the keep working. The problem that I find with the 28 and 50 modules is that compared with their current peers they feel quite dated in their operation, most notably in that they have noisy motors in the tradition of Ricoh's compact camera lenses and their focus speed is lagging. Competition doesn't allow anyone to stand still for long. Note that I haven't tried any of the zoom modules or the M-mount so I can't make a comment on them.
It seems to me that the GXR has reached a point where to remain competitive enough to sell in the curret market it could do with a large scale upgrade of the existing modules, some new modules, and even a new body option or two. This would amount to a big enough change where you might consider changing tack and scrapping the module concept altogether. The rumours of the next GRD having a full APS-C sensor further bring into question the future of GXR. I'm curious to know what other people's views are on this subject. For instance would you see Ricoh:
- Continue the GXR concept as is
- Separate future modules into lens and sensor to create a three piece unit i.e separate body, sensor, and lens
- Offer modules to suit other open formats i.e. Micro Four Thirds
- Move to a conventional body & sensor + lens format, maybe even with a two branded approach including Pentax for better market penetration
- Move to Sigma DP style arrangement of individual camera/sensor/lens units utilising the one body design i.e multiple versions of a GRD camera with 28, 50, 80(ish), and even some zoom lenses as per the current GXR modules.
- Let the idea fade away
- There are already enough options available outside of Ricoh to worry too much about it anyway
I believe that we are three years from the camera's initial release, which these days seems like a long time. A criticism of the GXR was always that if you wanted to upgrade your sensor, you needed to buy another lens at the same time, and if you wanted to buy another lens you also had to pay for the sensor attached to it. This criticism has proven to be only half true since there have only been a limited number of modules anyway and no upgrades of existing modules, which brings me to the point of this post. Is there a future for the GXR? In asking that question I recognise that the current APS-C prime modules have optically great lenses and a nice 12MP Sony sensor inside them which have, do, and will continue to take great looking photos. Like just about any current camera you could continue to enjoy them as long as the keep working. The problem that I find with the 28 and 50 modules is that compared with their current peers they feel quite dated in their operation, most notably in that they have noisy motors in the tradition of Ricoh's compact camera lenses and their focus speed is lagging. Competition doesn't allow anyone to stand still for long. Note that I haven't tried any of the zoom modules or the M-mount so I can't make a comment on them.
It seems to me that the GXR has reached a point where to remain competitive enough to sell in the curret market it could do with a large scale upgrade of the existing modules, some new modules, and even a new body option or two. This would amount to a big enough change where you might consider changing tack and scrapping the module concept altogether. The rumours of the next GRD having a full APS-C sensor further bring into question the future of GXR. I'm curious to know what other people's views are on this subject. For instance would you see Ricoh:
- Continue the GXR concept as is
- Separate future modules into lens and sensor to create a three piece unit i.e separate body, sensor, and lens
- Offer modules to suit other open formats i.e. Micro Four Thirds
- Move to a conventional body & sensor + lens format, maybe even with a two branded approach including Pentax for better market penetration
- Move to Sigma DP style arrangement of individual camera/sensor/lens units utilising the one body design i.e multiple versions of a GRD camera with 28, 50, 80(ish), and even some zoom lenses as per the current GXR modules.
- Let the idea fade away
- There are already enough options available outside of Ricoh to worry too much about it anyway