Dave, I think the Nikon copy is decentered to give it's best performance at the top versus bottom and has field curvature, which explains the weak right and left edges with a flat, near target. Meanwhile the Ricoh copy seems to have reasonable evenness across the field with a mildly weak area in the top center. I don't know why exactly some lenses have such a weak spot, but I've seen it plenty of times with different lenses.
Ahhh.. yes.. I can understand that.
I can't imagine that DPR would use a curved target for one camera and a flat target for the other. Overall that test shows a big win for the Ricoh when it comes to near distance shooting of a flat target. How much that will apply with usual subjects remains to be seen, but from this test, the published MTFs, preliminary reports from Imaging Resource, and some other samples I saw in the Ricoh press kit, I'm convinced the Ricoh lens is superior to the Nikon.
You're absolutely right regarding how it will apply to "usual" subjects (I think it will really depend on subject matter - mine is 90% people so corner sharpness isn't a make/break issue for me). Regarding DP Review using curved targets - I wasn't implying that they intentionally did that but, while I don't know what their target looks like, it appears as though the target seems "not flat" or that it wasn't shot on a flat surface - again though, your explanation re lens curvature is likely correct.
Regardless of my queries the Ricoh does look like it will be a killer camera (again). I did/do miss mine and did have regret selling it but I needed other gear for my Leica and Nikon systems.
I wonder how my local camera store would feel about me having buyer's remorse after less than a week with the Coolpix A
Cheers,
Dave