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- Thread starter wok64
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t3hh
Member
Some nice possibilities for near future
I think you are right about that Pentax Ricoh wants to be taken serious. And I think that they have enough capacity to do that in future. If they could combine the technological innovation and huge experience from pentax side and strong conceptual thinking and branding from ricoh side and add some nice glass to that you could make something extraordinary good and successful in camera market. Nevertheless it's a booming market, one of few left these days.
Yes and no. As I understand Pentax is strong brand for those people who still happens to have some good old glass from the film era. In fact Pentax is still making exceptionally good lenses both for APSC and for FF cameras. FA 31/1.8Ltd and FA 77/1.8Ltd to name some examples but also many other Limited lenses. In fact Pentax owns a lens portfolio that consist almost everything from 110 design to 6x7. Pleas correct me if I'm wrong here but it seems to me that Pentax has more different patents for different format lenses then Nikon and Hasselblad combined. In this planet there is only one lens portfolio maybe more interesting than this and thats owned by Fuji. If I have to think of one reason for ricoh to buy pentax then that would be my best bet. With buying Pentax they have gained the access to the library of any lens design throughout the best part of 20th century, including shift lenses, waterproof lenses and outdoor optics. For me it makes sense but in fact I'm only guessing here.Wouter":39mthsdf said:
I have a feeling that Pentax is loosing its shine in the eyes of pro shooters. With some exceptions like 645D. Even with the good glass they are producing - you have to have a camera to use that glass and full frame body is pretty much a standard for pros these days. K5 is good, even very good camera for advanced enthusiasts and even some professionals but for strong product line you need to have more then just one strong product. You need to have the full ecosystem with entry level cameras, enthusiast cameras and pro cameras and the same goes for lenses. You have to have that perspective before you dedicate yourself to one system, buy your first body and start to collect the lenses. And 645D just doesn't replace it cuz you cant use your nice FF lenses on MF body, it's totally different piece of cake. But again - a very good cake.Wouter":39mthsdf said:
I think you are right about that Pentax Ricoh wants to be taken serious. And I think that they have enough capacity to do that in future. If they could combine the technological innovation and huge experience from pentax side and strong conceptual thinking and branding from ricoh side and add some nice glass to that you could make something extraordinary good and successful in camera market. Nevertheless it's a booming market, one of few left these days.
t3hh
Member
Reporting from Eastern Europe: It's easy to buy Pentax and most of its lenses (645D only trough orders though) but impossible to buy Ricoh GRD or GRX. Closest shop that I know has decent Ricoh outlet is in Berlin.Tom Caldwell":2mnixiis said:
Well for me the biggest challenge will be now to convince myself not to buy Sony RX1. Fullframe camera with Zeiss lens? Yes, pleas! Even with the (possible) retarded user interface from Sony. I could tape over the name sign to ricoh. Because thats what it should say. Ricoh instead of Sony.Tom Caldwell":2mnixiis said:
Tom Caldwell
New Member
This all is starting to sounds a bit like "Swan Lake" with Ricoh being the dying swan and part of a graceful dance.
I suggest that we don't know a few things: how many units Ricoh is selling, how many units Ricoh needs to sell to keep it's camera business viable, what Ricoh's commercial plans are for the future, how strong is Ricoh's resolve to succeed.
If Ricoh only sold cameras I would worry, if Ricoh had not bought Pentax assets, I might be nervous. If Ricoh did not have a booth at Photokina I might wonder why. We have had mentions that Ricoh is developing new product. Ricoh might not tell us much but what we do get told is inevitably truthful.
Much is made of lack of promotion of product. But we live in an age where it is getting increasingly hard to run a retail camera shop. In an electronics goods store there are rows and rows of "tinsel" consumer grade cameras ("little boxes" they all look the same and are probably made of ticky-tacky) and entry level dslrs punctuated by superzoom bridge cameras. Not the sort of place where the more unique of Pentax/Ricoh products might fare well, but some might get purchase.
Therefore the cameras might sell in the remaining specialist camera stores and by internet. This requires them to be sought out by those in the know. Disaster? Maybe, but those in the know rely on bloggers and "testing" sites. Not getting a good run on dpreview cannot be good. But I would hate to think just how much marketing costs and bulk sales discounts add to the cost of an average camera that is popular. Let's guess: 30%? So if Ricoh keeps a low marketing budget and sells fewer cameras then they might need only sell what they actually produce to make a profit. Given their great popularity on their home market this might be just enough to make their camera portfolio viable. The rest of the world wide market is just a bonus and a cheap one to access if marketing is kept at low profile. So if they continue to build better mousetraps and keep enough profile that new models are tested and are consequently "known enough" then there is probably no real reaason that Ricoh can keep making excellent cameras on a relatively low sales volume. Perceived volume = a success (think Leica).
We don't have to necessarily worry because Ricoh products are not in every shop. If Leica had to sell their product at the prices that people demand from every other manufacturer then they would not be in business very long (think Sony RX1 where it's proposed price is causing great angst). But in one breath everyone will leap to the defence of Leica' and its small-promotional sales model, not in every shop, example, and yet be ready to clasp the asp to the bosom over the much cheaper Ricoh product that is surely price subsidised to the rest of the world by their huge affection in Japan.
Therefore we must wait and see, buy a few GRDIV's and A12 mount modules as spares, and stock up the larder (grin) Obviously if we are thinking of buying a few "spares" there cannot be a lot wrong with what we have.
Tom
I suggest that we don't know a few things: how many units Ricoh is selling, how many units Ricoh needs to sell to keep it's camera business viable, what Ricoh's commercial plans are for the future, how strong is Ricoh's resolve to succeed.
If Ricoh only sold cameras I would worry, if Ricoh had not bought Pentax assets, I might be nervous. If Ricoh did not have a booth at Photokina I might wonder why. We have had mentions that Ricoh is developing new product. Ricoh might not tell us much but what we do get told is inevitably truthful.
Much is made of lack of promotion of product. But we live in an age where it is getting increasingly hard to run a retail camera shop. In an electronics goods store there are rows and rows of "tinsel" consumer grade cameras ("little boxes" they all look the same and are probably made of ticky-tacky) and entry level dslrs punctuated by superzoom bridge cameras. Not the sort of place where the more unique of Pentax/Ricoh products might fare well, but some might get purchase.
Therefore the cameras might sell in the remaining specialist camera stores and by internet. This requires them to be sought out by those in the know. Disaster? Maybe, but those in the know rely on bloggers and "testing" sites. Not getting a good run on dpreview cannot be good. But I would hate to think just how much marketing costs and bulk sales discounts add to the cost of an average camera that is popular. Let's guess: 30%? So if Ricoh keeps a low marketing budget and sells fewer cameras then they might need only sell what they actually produce to make a profit. Given their great popularity on their home market this might be just enough to make their camera portfolio viable. The rest of the world wide market is just a bonus and a cheap one to access if marketing is kept at low profile. So if they continue to build better mousetraps and keep enough profile that new models are tested and are consequently "known enough" then there is probably no real reaason that Ricoh can keep making excellent cameras on a relatively low sales volume. Perceived volume = a success (think Leica).
We don't have to necessarily worry because Ricoh products are not in every shop. If Leica had to sell their product at the prices that people demand from every other manufacturer then they would not be in business very long (think Sony RX1 where it's proposed price is causing great angst). But in one breath everyone will leap to the defence of Leica' and its small-promotional sales model, not in every shop, example, and yet be ready to clasp the asp to the bosom over the much cheaper Ricoh product that is surely price subsidised to the rest of the world by their huge affection in Japan.
Therefore we must wait and see, buy a few GRDIV's and A12 mount modules as spares, and stock up the larder (grin) Obviously if we are thinking of buying a few "spares" there cannot be a lot wrong with what we have.
Tom
thelps
Active Member
Tom Caldwell":3tsvlyol said:
Lets relook at some things we do know. An earlier posted said that those manning the Ricoh booth said there WAS going to be another GRD. Some new Pentax DSLRs just came out - these likely had been on the drawing board before the merger so were a no brainer. They still sell compact Pentaxes and Ricohs. Nothing was announced.
To me all this means that they have something exciting which is likely in early development, too early to hint at what it is. You don't buy Pentax just to close up shop. Sit tight, keep some faith, I bet we'll see something.
Ricoh camera is financially a tight ship I think. They would survive where others don't I bet.
PS: I still dabble in other brands. I can assure you there is a DP2M and a RX100 on my list. The RX1 is worth a examine, but probably a bit rich for me.
Tom Caldwell
New Member
thelps":28gf3nbi said:
Ricoh camera division is in a better position in being a pimple on the rock of Ricoh Inc than being a major source of Ricoh Inc's survival. It is more the way of US business thinking to cast off anything non-profitable. We can imagine that by buying Pentax Ricoh Inc was demonstrating that they had laid down the plans as for the digital camera business long haul.
The RX1 is a good example of how a great product might be produced and raved over but sales will be reduced to a crawl to get over the price hump. If Leica made their prices "everyday level" then could they cope with demand? Well maybe they could but it is easy to see that the extra sales generated would have to be huge to make it work and the company would surely fail due to huge (for Leica) demand that did not return enough profit.
In simpler terms: Sony might be able to produce a camera identical to a Leica at a fraction of the price but could not sell enough of them to make a profit, The Leica market just isn't that big. This is the watchword of any new product, be it from Leica, Ricoh or Sony. ie: marketing is a huge cost and Sony's margins after marketing must be tiny compared to Ricoh's and therefore Sony or any other mass seller) must need sell huge numbers of product to Ricoh's more modest sales targets combined to minimal marketing. Therefore Ricoh can still be a successful camera company without being "seen everywhere".
Tom
PS: sorry, but I made my living as a boring accountant (it might show), cameras are just a hobby. Don't worry me with the sums but I can prove it if you have the time ... :ugeek:
t3hh
Member
I'm not worried so much about the Ricoh but more about Pentax. In fact I'm not worried about Ricoh at all. I think that these guys have more eggs in their basket as we can even think of. But Pentax is in trouble. If they don't come out with some clear message to their users about possible FF development during this ongoing year they start to loose their positions that they have gained back with some exceptionally good previous products. Maybe both teams are intensively working right now to solve that problem and thats the reason behind the silence also from Ricoh side?Tom Caldwell":36o44wwb said:
What I would like to see is rather excellent online shop for Ricoh in Europe. Even Amazon doesn't sell them in Europe (but they still are offering it trough the market place). I can buy it also today from the web trough the resellers but dedicated shop would make my life a so much easier. But who said that it should be easy, right?Tom Caldwell":36o44wwb said:
Just to let you know - Leica has a constant 6 moths waiting period for their orders. For some years now the demand exceeds the production as much as I can tell.Tom Caldwell":36o44wwb said:
Tom Caldwell
New Member
I am sorry, English (sort of) is my native language for a born Scotsman, we do get a bit of fun poked at us on how we "mangle" the pronunciation, but I can read and write it fine (grin). When I was talking "Swan Lake" and the "Dying Swan" I was more making a mildly allegorical allusion to the performances of "us Ricoh fans" by putting us in the place of the corps de ballet sadly dancing around the lead dancer (Ricoh) who was "dying" but in reality was a very healthy and capable dancer to be able to dance her part. It was a bit obscure, sorry.
As far as Pentax was concerned the business was in more trouble than Ricoh ever has been otherwise Ricoh would never have had the chance to buy it's assets. It had already been sold to Hoya not so very long previously. It must have cost all film camera companies huge amounts of money to convert slr cameras to dslr cameras. Some didn't try (Ricoh) and some failed in the process (Minolta). Pentax must have struggled through to end up probably cash strapped. They have tried a number of innovative products but were probably locked in a sales volume bind despite having a good solid line of products, great ideas and a long heritage.
Ricoh not only has to firm up it's own position but also to revive Pentax on the market. As Pentax is supposed to be it's volume seller it is probably the one that is going to need the most boosting.
On the other hand the oem mount system has probably already locked in the dslr ownership percentages between Nikon, Canon, Pentax and Sony. It might be very hard for Pentax to increase it's dslr percentage market share, but at least it might stabilise. Common sense would have them looking to move the K mount lenses on to non-dslr digital camera users. The K-01 has been a brave try in that regard. I think that camera is probably an excellent one that is burning a bit on the market due to it's "way out" expensively-designed styling which seems to have more thrust at designer looks than in practical use by a photographer.
The on-line shop idea seems a great one. Make it regionally based including the USA and Australia, but it might be a while before they make significant inroads. The theory of on-line shopping is that those companies that are wiling to buy in quantity can still beat the on-line company price. But unfortunately those smaller retailers who might buy in ones and twos will be squeezed right out of carrying the product by on-line shops (if they in fact even try and sell the range right now). It would not be something done lightly as even now small retailers prefer to sell "easier" brands, but they might not talk-down the Pentax-Ricoh product. Electronic goods stores can buy in bulk but demand huge discounts to do this, their staff are not usually very knowledgeable on camera products.
Leica are in the happy position of being able to charge as much as they like and still have a waiting list. If they charged 50% less they would still have a waiting list and go bust. If Ricoh, with a huge capacity to produce product (compared to Leica) were able to sell all they could make and have a waiting list after a price hike of 100% then they would be very profitable indeed. Ricoh and other camera companies probably make product in batches to put into warehouse and sell ex-stock - this is a far more economical ay to make cameras than a running bespoke assembly business that is always running behind orders. If the giant camera companies said "sorry, you are on a waiting list for six months" then their consumers would most likely have bought something else well before they made the top of the waiting list.
So as long as Leica can get away with this hallowed position they will get away with it. But having to wait for your Leica is probably part of the glamour and image that the product is so good that they have people willing to wait up to six months for their camera. The only shops I have seen that stock Leica have always had cameras ready for sale "right now" in their showcases, so one might wonder who is actually waiting?
Sony produces the RX1 which to my mind is a most excellent innovative camera. It may well go down as one of the most innovative cameras in history. "Hey, it costs too much" is the chant because buyers "expect" other makes to be cheaper no matter how good they are. If the GXR with A12 mount was an original Leica product it would cost twice as much and there would be a waiting list of six months for supply and those that owned one would be so proud of their "Leica-XR A12 mount". People even pay a premium for re-badged Panasonics.
I have bought a few Meyer-Optik lenses recently, seem to be pretty good but if I was sporting the other lenses from their good neighbour Zeiss I would get a whole more "respect" when I waved my camera around. Of course CZJ is probably not quite as up-market as "the real Zeiss". The Russians on the other hand did a pretty good job of the Helios-44 clone biotar of course, but you would ahve to forge a front faceplate to get any respect for it no matter how good the images were.
Basically if people don't know what to buy then they buy the camera brand that they know that befits their station in life. If you buy no-name (unheard of) then you are distinctly odd, a maverick, an outcast who runs against the norms of society. Hence Ricoh and increasingly Pentax have an uphill battle on their perception. Ricoh have solved this by adopting a low-profile low-volume model. Pentax does not fit into that mould and Ricoh might have to throw a lot of marketing money and some innovative mass market products at Pentax to revive that hallowed name before it has been forgotten.
Yes and I drive a Volkswagen as well - you know: that cheap clone of an Audi (grin)
Tom
As far as Pentax was concerned the business was in more trouble than Ricoh ever has been otherwise Ricoh would never have had the chance to buy it's assets. It had already been sold to Hoya not so very long previously. It must have cost all film camera companies huge amounts of money to convert slr cameras to dslr cameras. Some didn't try (Ricoh) and some failed in the process (Minolta). Pentax must have struggled through to end up probably cash strapped. They have tried a number of innovative products but were probably locked in a sales volume bind despite having a good solid line of products, great ideas and a long heritage.
Ricoh not only has to firm up it's own position but also to revive Pentax on the market. As Pentax is supposed to be it's volume seller it is probably the one that is going to need the most boosting.
On the other hand the oem mount system has probably already locked in the dslr ownership percentages between Nikon, Canon, Pentax and Sony. It might be very hard for Pentax to increase it's dslr percentage market share, but at least it might stabilise. Common sense would have them looking to move the K mount lenses on to non-dslr digital camera users. The K-01 has been a brave try in that regard. I think that camera is probably an excellent one that is burning a bit on the market due to it's "way out" expensively-designed styling which seems to have more thrust at designer looks than in practical use by a photographer.
The on-line shop idea seems a great one. Make it regionally based including the USA and Australia, but it might be a while before they make significant inroads. The theory of on-line shopping is that those companies that are wiling to buy in quantity can still beat the on-line company price. But unfortunately those smaller retailers who might buy in ones and twos will be squeezed right out of carrying the product by on-line shops (if they in fact even try and sell the range right now). It would not be something done lightly as even now small retailers prefer to sell "easier" brands, but they might not talk-down the Pentax-Ricoh product. Electronic goods stores can buy in bulk but demand huge discounts to do this, their staff are not usually very knowledgeable on camera products.
Leica are in the happy position of being able to charge as much as they like and still have a waiting list. If they charged 50% less they would still have a waiting list and go bust. If Ricoh, with a huge capacity to produce product (compared to Leica) were able to sell all they could make and have a waiting list after a price hike of 100% then they would be very profitable indeed. Ricoh and other camera companies probably make product in batches to put into warehouse and sell ex-stock - this is a far more economical ay to make cameras than a running bespoke assembly business that is always running behind orders. If the giant camera companies said "sorry, you are on a waiting list for six months" then their consumers would most likely have bought something else well before they made the top of the waiting list.
So as long as Leica can get away with this hallowed position they will get away with it. But having to wait for your Leica is probably part of the glamour and image that the product is so good that they have people willing to wait up to six months for their camera. The only shops I have seen that stock Leica have always had cameras ready for sale "right now" in their showcases, so one might wonder who is actually waiting?
Sony produces the RX1 which to my mind is a most excellent innovative camera. It may well go down as one of the most innovative cameras in history. "Hey, it costs too much" is the chant because buyers "expect" other makes to be cheaper no matter how good they are. If the GXR with A12 mount was an original Leica product it would cost twice as much and there would be a waiting list of six months for supply and those that owned one would be so proud of their "Leica-XR A12 mount". People even pay a premium for re-badged Panasonics.
I have bought a few Meyer-Optik lenses recently, seem to be pretty good but if I was sporting the other lenses from their good neighbour Zeiss I would get a whole more "respect" when I waved my camera around. Of course CZJ is probably not quite as up-market as "the real Zeiss". The Russians on the other hand did a pretty good job of the Helios-44 clone biotar of course, but you would ahve to forge a front faceplate to get any respect for it no matter how good the images were.
Basically if people don't know what to buy then they buy the camera brand that they know that befits their station in life. If you buy no-name (unheard of) then you are distinctly odd, a maverick, an outcast who runs against the norms of society. Hence Ricoh and increasingly Pentax have an uphill battle on their perception. Ricoh have solved this by adopting a low-profile low-volume model. Pentax does not fit into that mould and Ricoh might have to throw a lot of marketing money and some innovative mass market products at Pentax to revive that hallowed name before it has been forgotten.
Yes and I drive a Volkswagen as well - you know: that cheap clone of an Audi (grin)
Tom
Tom Caldwell
New Member
In an effort to poke a stick into a dead-looking fire.
Cristian Sorega noted some while ago that a Japanese blogsite had hinted something new in the GRD line for today, annonced in Japan. Well "today" has arrived in Australia, the sun is up and we are not too far off the Japanese time zone. We have all day to speculate - bravo!
A rumour site said that the present GRD is now "out of production".
Just recently I heard that the "bash" in Japan is a "seventh anniversary" celebration of he digital GR. It would seem odd that they are celebrating something just discontinued. A reasonable guess that the GRD product cycle has been shortened and the the quite nice GRDIV is about to be superseded by something that might stop all GRDIV sales in their tracks, maybe this is why they stopped filling orders for new cameras?
So it seems that Ricoh execs are taking their ties off and running their fingers through their hair, bringing on the pretty little models and having a phantasmogoripha of reminisences by planting four pristine copies (one for each GRD model) and miscellaneous accessories on a special table in the middle of the room while everyone hangs around drinking sake and thinking of the good old days?
Something is afoot. I have had this weird feeling that it might just be this smaller replaceable lensed camera that Ricoh has supposedly been working on.
The CX7 did not appear on schedule, the GRDIV has been terminated early. News of new product from Ricoh has been non-existent. The worry-wart Ricoh enthusiasts have been expecting complete demise. Maybe today the brave new future of Ricoh as a camera company might be laid on that little table? Or might it simply be another fizz-pop false alarm?
So I have been guessing a tiny GRD body with GXR mount rails, but my guessing has never been successful yet.
Whatever we get it will be Ricoh standard, which is pretty good.
If they can throw in a new GXR body with evf in a "slr-hump" and a "slr-grip" and good shot-to-shot buffer and I will have one of them as well.
Tom
Cristian Sorega noted some while ago that a Japanese blogsite had hinted something new in the GRD line for today, annonced in Japan. Well "today" has arrived in Australia, the sun is up and we are not too far off the Japanese time zone. We have all day to speculate - bravo!
A rumour site said that the present GRD is now "out of production".
Just recently I heard that the "bash" in Japan is a "seventh anniversary" celebration of he digital GR. It would seem odd that they are celebrating something just discontinued. A reasonable guess that the GRD product cycle has been shortened and the the quite nice GRDIV is about to be superseded by something that might stop all GRDIV sales in their tracks, maybe this is why they stopped filling orders for new cameras?
So it seems that Ricoh execs are taking their ties off and running their fingers through their hair, bringing on the pretty little models and having a phantasmogoripha of reminisences by planting four pristine copies (one for each GRD model) and miscellaneous accessories on a special table in the middle of the room while everyone hangs around drinking sake and thinking of the good old days?
Something is afoot. I have had this weird feeling that it might just be this smaller replaceable lensed camera that Ricoh has supposedly been working on.
The CX7 did not appear on schedule, the GRDIV has been terminated early. News of new product from Ricoh has been non-existent. The worry-wart Ricoh enthusiasts have been expecting complete demise. Maybe today the brave new future of Ricoh as a camera company might be laid on that little table? Or might it simply be another fizz-pop false alarm?
So I have been guessing a tiny GRD body with GXR mount rails, but my guessing has never been successful yet.
Whatever we get it will be Ricoh standard, which is pretty good.
If they can throw in a new GXR body with evf in a "slr-hump" and a "slr-grip" and good shot-to-shot buffer and I will have one of them as well.
Tom
thelps
Active Member
On another forum, a poster has started a thread - http://forum.getdpi.com/forum/small-sensor-cameras/41369-grd-v.html
Quoted here:
"SGreenberg
I asked the Ricoh people at the Photo Show yesterday about a new GRD camera and they said one was planned for this spring."
I am betting another incremental upgrade. What is included in that is the :?:
Quoted here:
"SGreenberg
I asked the Ricoh people at the Photo Show yesterday about a new GRD camera and they said one was planned for this spring."
I am betting another incremental upgrade. What is included in that is the :?:
Tom Caldwell
New Member
thelps":2cnfy8br said:
Incremental upgrade = ok, when you have something good in your hand don't mess around with it.
Which spring? Northern hemisphere I guess - months away, we have to survive our summer yet.
Anyway the 27th event in Japan was a fizzle-pop.
Strange that Ricoh seem to have diced the CX series, the CX7 has not arrived on schedule.
So I am still hanging out for a GRD-size body with GXR mount rails but I am sure as shootin' have no idea how they might do this. But in one swoop they would have a CX7 and a GX300 in their hand, plus a range of aps-c "GRD" models already made. No real chance I guess but the speculative appeal might be good. Add a nice little 1" sensor zoom module and most would be happy. Add a larger "dslr-style" back and even more would be happy as well. All of a sudden Ricoh would have quite a range of camera alternatives and all based on their modular system that has taken a few bricks thrown randomly at it for some time. .... and I did not even once mention a FF mount module ...
mmmm .... 3xcamera backs x 6xexisting-modules = 18 variations if my maths are correct. Some combinations would make us laugh a bit though.
Tom
thelps
Active Member
Tom Caldwell":eau5tnme said:
Unfortunately the CX is being replaced by phone cameras. Although I think they are different beasts it seems the buying population don't.
I think that is the job of a GXR II not the GRD. The GRD could perhaps improve from the sensor in the RX100 no AA filter retaining much the same form factor.
I'd rather see a series of different focal length cameras 21mm /28mm and maybe a 50mm version rather than modules, this will keep it as small as possible.
Tom Caldwell
New Member
thelps":2sg16ox0 said:
Yes you are right Tim, they can make a compromised GXR-type body almost as small as the GRD (I think) with some compromises but the GXR module sizes would be unchanged. That makes many of the combinations not that small.
Pulling my trusty GX100 out of hibernation and comparing it size wise to a GXR with S10 module fitted shows that if you reduced the size of the lcd and made the top plate no more than a sliver then it might just be possible to make a smaller GRD body with GXR mount rails. Te GXR has a deeper body and some more protrusion than the GX100, but length is almost the same and if the height can be trimmed than the height could be much the same as well.
So I am not campaigning for such a new camera back, nor do I have any inkling that it might ever happen. I am pointing out that it might just be possible to get the GXR camera back down to a size where such a camera back + a regular GXR module might not be that much larger than a single-purpose GRD. Of course the current modules are in various stages of aging. But with multiple styles of GXR camera backs then whatever modules Ricoh might produce could have wider circulation. Users might accept no internal flash unit and no evf connection to get the smallest parcel and to seamlessly move up to the GXR or some even larger less compromised camera back with inbuilt evf, larger grip and high-capacity shot to shot buffer.
I suppose it a nonsense and we will know in due course what Ricoh will actually make and release.
Tom
Ricohfanboy
New Member
Well, just when you thought there was nothing in the pipeline: Photo Rumors reports that Ricoh filed a patent for a 5.3-22mm f/2-3.5 lens. Given that the equiv. focal length is 24-100mm, this lens is meant to cover a 1.7" sensor. The speculation on Photo rumours is it's either for a GXR module, or else the Pentax Q. But 24-100mm, couldn't this be the alternative to the Panasonic LX7 -- i.e., something like a GX300? Let's all keep our thumb's pressed it's GX* related! 
streetshooter
New Member
They wouldn't put that zoomie thing on the GRD would they
The HORROR!
The HORROR!
streetshooter
New Member
They wouldn't put that zoomie thing on the GRD would they
The HORROR!
The HORROR!
Rog Tallbloke
New Member
thelps":218u9cod said:
I have run out of patience and bought a Pentax Q. So here's hoping Ricoh and pentax are making the 24-100 bright zoom for the Q, plus a GXR Q mount module!
However, given that the Q telezoom 15-45mm (82-226mm equiv) constant f2.8 hasn't even hit the shops yet except in twin lens Q kits, I have my doubts. I think it will be a bigger GXR unit using a 1/1.7 or possibly (fingers crossed) one of the new 1" sensors being made available to more camera manufacturers beyond Nikon.
The 24-100 wide aperture zoom on a 1" sensor GXR module is pretty much a do-it-all walkaround package, and I think it would be highly successful in attracting bridge camera and LX7 upgraders wanting better low light capability across a reasonable zoom range.
Blow-in
Active Member
I hope that Ricoh don't change the GRD radically - the GRD4 is a superb small/small sensor camera that just, I think, needs a mild update rather than a big revision. Reading the comments it sounds like the majority hope for a new sensor - perhaps the Sony 1 inch - and possibly a choice of fixed focal lengths although I somehow doubt that will happen. For me if the GRD '5' is much bigger than the 4 I'd not buy it as the main point of this camera for me is that it is nearly always in my pocket.
So I hope Ricoh is thinking hard about the GXR...there are some gaps in the inventory - no fixed focal sensor above '50mm' and to my mind the small sensor modules are either too limited ('24 - 70 mm') or too ambitious ('28 - 300 mm' I think). Also the body would benefit from an update as long as everything remains backwards & forwards compatible.
Just my thoughts....
Richard
So I hope Ricoh is thinking hard about the GXR...there are some gaps in the inventory - no fixed focal sensor above '50mm' and to my mind the small sensor modules are either too limited ('24 - 70 mm') or too ambitious ('28 - 300 mm' I think). Also the body would benefit from an update as long as everything remains backwards & forwards compatible.
Just my thoughts....
Richard