New Ricoh PX announced - 16mp!

[nebus]

Intersting new product from Ricoh - the PX compact waterproof camera.

Sports a 16mp 2/3' sensor and does 720p video.
Although it may or may not be of interest to many users here it does hold some insite into Ricoh's roadmap for forthcoming cameras perhaps. !6MP seems to be the flavour this year for new cameras - and at least they have 720p video on board.
I'm very curious to to see what they do with the GRDIV when they release it now.

Small intro with samples found here :
http://www.dpreview.com/previews/ricohpx/

 

[Wiener]

Interesting! From what I can understand, there is no RAW possibility with this camera? And the high-ISO images seem rather grainy in their straight from camera JPEG form...
Always wanted a lime-green beach camera though!
Andy

 

[odklizec]

It's very surprising announcement to me! I would expect GXR, GRD or even CX announcement, but never the announcement of a completely new line of cameras?

I can see the marketing point for this new camera, especially now before summer. I can see many people would like to have such small, tough and waterproof camera. It even looks like an ideal camera for kids! I'm sure my daughters would love the green one and I would not be afraid to give them one to play with I also understand why there is no RAW and some other technical gimmicks, known from higher class cameras. There is simply no point to have RAW in camera like this. But I'm sorry, I really don't see and understand the point of 16MP! I thought Ricoh finally understood that anything over 10MP on such tiny sensor is pointless? But I was apparently wrong This is why the PX images (even at low ISO) look what they look like. The macro shots (from dpreview preview samples) look nice, which is a typical good sign of Ricoh cameras. On the other hand, the rest of images look like..., well, at least there is enough room for scaling them down I guess many people would immediatelly switch the camera to lower resolution. At least I would do it right after turning the camera ON and setting the language. I'm very sorry to be negative, but I really don't understand why Ricoh ONCE AGAIN jumped into this MP madness.

 

[ZDP-189]

I'd buy it, if it comes in black.

 

[silvio]

ha, the perfect camera for my wife - she's a seal, loves the beach and the ocean. Oh and a yellow cover especially for her is also in the pipe ... i think she had a call with Ricoh :lol:

 

[andrewteee]

Depending on price I might buy it. I was considering such a camera for our summer vacation around the beaches with the kids. I had such a camera a couple of years ago (an Olympus) and it pretty much sucked but was fun and convenient to have. I think they all probably suck so why not get one where I'm at least familiar with the UI.

 

[AbeOne]

16MP - I guess this was more a "marketing decision" and not an "image quality decision". Most consumers still think "more is better" and are not aware of its implications.

 

[nebus]

The camera is available in multiple colours - not just the green pictured (yes Black is an option)
It would seem appropriate timing for the northern summer - but yes I'm a little surprised it beat the GRD update. At this point I still believe the GRD will be on it's ow path but you never know.I would have expected them to ad this to their G series of all weather cameras - perhaps it's a slow phase in to phase out the G700. The $299 sticker price is a little high perhaps.

16pm cameras are the standard this year - a lot of P&S coming out with this sensor now (a Panasonic sensor I think?) I expect the CX line will share the PX sensor in their next update but the GRD and GX line will keep their own tack.
(unless the can bend physics and put an APS sensor in there :mrgreen

http://www.ricoh.com/r_dc/px/px/
Now officially on Ricoh's website.

 

[AbeOne]

The camera is available in multiple colours - not just the green pictured (yes Black is an option)

It will be available in BLACK, SILVER and GREEN... Additionally you can buy a colored "jacket" in yellow / pink / blue / brown / white...

 

[Scobra]

Pity it doesn't support interval shooting either...