Hi Mark,
R7 is fine low light performer. In my opinion, its NR algorithm is better than GX200 or GRDII, cleaning the color noise and leaving luminance noise (with details) almost intact. However, don;t expect much form its flash. There is no option to control the Flash power. So you will have to learn how to use it, do some test to find the best setting (exposure metering/EV compensation) and don't be surprised if it fails
R8 seems work significantly better with flash? But anyway, i prefer to don't use flash much. What I really miss on R series is RAW writing. I don't need manual mode in R camera, but RAW would be extremely helpful to fix a lot of problems, especially in low light shots.
As for Fuji, I don't know as others, but I don't like its output. In addition, its lens suffers from strong chromatic aberration and the camera controls are unimpressive as well (not to mention it uses slow and still overpriced XD card).
If you are not convinced about R cameras, I would suggest you to try an old canon ixus, for example Canon SD700 IS (IXUS 800). It provides a very good ISO400 performance and you can even expand its feature set and performance with unofficial
CHDK FW hack. You can get live histogram, RAW writing and many more useful things with this hack!
I really think Ricoh should consider to allow the possibility of RAW writing in R cameras. We know it's already there (in some kind of service menu)
In my opinion, they can't loose anything and only get some more customers! Many serious photographers are simply not interested in JPEG. And small pocketable (no matter if semi-automatic) camera with RAW, could be a good choice for people who want a really small camera with good lens in their pocket. GX is sometimes still too big and GRD does not have zoom. So R range is a logical addition. It only lacks of RAW writing.
