Ricoh to Join the Throng?
- Thread starter bmattock
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Harry Lime
Practitioner
Dead technology? Show me an LCD or EVF that truly runs in realtime, doesn't tear, strobe, stutter, dim or go noisy when you pan/tilt or the light levels drop and has resolution anywhere as high as a mirror / prism system. It doesn't exist, yet.
Avotius
Some guy
Please please please Ricoh bring us back the optical viewfinder like something from the GR1 film cameras....
charjohncarter
Veteran
They will get it if the big boys get out of the way.
bmattock
Veteran
I agree that EVF will get better. But it isn't quite there yet.
Last night, I was playing around with my old Sears T.L.S. film SLR. What a great viewfinder! Man, manual focus is a breeze with that. And then, next best, my Pentax *ist DS with the actual pentaprism (versus pentamirror) and a split-screen viewscreen I put in it. I can, with some effort, focus manually with my Sigma SD14 (no split-screen viewscreen), and sometimes I miss the mark when focusing close and wide-open on a fast lens.
With the EVF's I've looked at, MF just isn't there yet. I know, I know, people have reported they can do it. I believe them, but I cannot do what they report being able to do. At least not well enough to suit me.
So although I am fascinated by the technology, and I fully believe that at some point it won't make sense to use an optical viewfinder anymore, I don't think we're quite there yet. I wait patiently for 'the breakthrough' that will make MF a reasonable option for people like me.
gavinlg
Veteran
Epsons mass producing an EVF that they say will replace the optical VF... Pretty confident that ricoh will have one.
Should be interesting. I want an e-p1 really badly, but I may just wait and see what happens at the end of the year. I think ricoh will announce something in the next month. They know how to make very functional compacts.
Should be interesting. I want an e-p1 really badly, but I may just wait and see what happens at the end of the year. I think ricoh will announce something in the next month. They know how to make very functional compacts.
shadowfox
Darkroom printing lives
If they really pull this off without sacrificing the sleek profiles of the GR series, I may just run out of drool.
bmattock
Veteran
I read that story about Epson too, but I am not confident that this will be the MF solution. Remember, they're not aiming at people who want to do manual focus, but for those who are not impressed with the current EVFs when used as intended (for autofocus). The problems of EVF (mentioned earlier in this thread) could well be cured and still it might not be the real solution for manual focus. I understand that people who want to put a manual focus lens on a micro four-thirds camera are still a small subset - and m4/3 is a subset of people interested in digital cameras anyway! So I don't know that manual focus capability is really a major goal of the improved EVF. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.
BearCatCow
Established
The digital camera market seems to be a giant rumor mill at the moment. I can't help but thinking of these guys:
Haha good one. Count me in as one of the "I want to believe!" guys 🙂
Some more rumor floated out today:
http://43rumors.com/ft4-ricoh-is-the-first-microfourthirds-competitor/
Ricoh's GX series are the nicest compact camera I've ever used. (Haven't had a chance to try the GRD). I enjoyed the handling of the GX a bit more than the panasonic LX series (which are also great).
So if panasonic was able to turn their lessons with the LX into the fine GF1, hopefully Ricoh will produce a similarly amazing larger sensor camera!
charjohncarter
Veteran
Too bad they wasted all these years, aren't electronic supposed to make things small. Have you seen the FF DSLRs, hardly smaller?
bmattock
Veteran
I have not yet laid hands on a FF dSLR, basically because I have no need of one at the price they currently sell for. I have a Pentax *ist DS (very small) and a K200D (somewhat small) and a Sigma SD14 (average size). All compare well to my film SLRs, so I really don't have any problems there. I'm not worried about them being smaller, I'm not a tiny guy. Just make it so I can focus the danged things manually without popping out an eyeball straining to do so.
Ezzie
E. D. Russell Roberts
It is rather a paradox. Cameras built for the occasional user are small, whilst those built for professional users, who lug them around all the time, are big and heavy.
I commend Ricoh for their efforts so far. Panasonic too. Before ending up with an R-D1, I was on the lookout for a camera no 2 to the D2x. Ricoh GX/GR series cameras where definitely on the list, Panny LX-3/4´s too. The G1 (now GH1) being too big. Had the GF-1 been on the market at that time I might not have become an R-D1 owner. God forbid. Now the R-D1 is not no 2 to anything, its my main camera. I will however be following what Ricoh and Panasonic are getting up to, Olympus not so much, I think the EP-1 is an over nostalgic take on camera design. Rather like the Beatle 2, a misfit. Whereas the Fiat 500 is brilliant.
I commend Ricoh for their efforts so far. Panasonic too. Before ending up with an R-D1, I was on the lookout for a camera no 2 to the D2x. Ricoh GX/GR series cameras where definitely on the list, Panny LX-3/4´s too. The G1 (now GH1) being too big. Had the GF-1 been on the market at that time I might not have become an R-D1 owner. God forbid. Now the R-D1 is not no 2 to anything, its my main camera. I will however be following what Ricoh and Panasonic are getting up to, Olympus not so much, I think the EP-1 is an over nostalgic take on camera design. Rather like the Beatle 2, a misfit. Whereas the Fiat 500 is brilliant.
charjohncarter
Veteran
You haven't lifted a Canon MarkII with the battery pack and a nice huge zoom lens. It actually weighs more than my Pentax 6x7 with lens, and is the same dimensions (nominally).
Harry Lime
Practitioner
The big boys are the ones that are eventually make it happen, because they have all of the R&D money and manufacturing capacity to drive the price of the technology down to a consumer level.
3 -5 years is my guess.
Harry Lime
Practitioner
The big boys are the ones that are eventually make it happen, because they have all of the R&D money and manufacturing capacity to drive the price of the technology down to a consumer level.
3 - 6 years is my guess.
DougFord
on the good foot
[FONT="]The rumor states an announcement next month with availability in Dec? [/FONT]
[FONT="]This is crazy. But loads of fun. [/FONT]
[FONT="]A ricoh aps-c compact camera with interchangeable lenses sounds fantastic. [/FONT]
[FONT="]Ricoh knows compact camera ergonomics and design from an enthusiasts perspective.[/FONT]
[FONT="]A killer prime is a must. Detachable EVF for those who want one.[/FONT]
[FONT="]A small detachable 28/35mm OVF is fine for me. [/FONT]
[FONT="]It seems that we’re entering a niche camera sht storm. [/FONT]
[FONT="]A veritable [/FONT][FONT="]renaissance[/FONT][FONT="] of the small compact camera market. [/FONT]
[FONT="]The niche beckons 😀[/FONT]
[FONT="]This is crazy. But loads of fun. [/FONT]
[FONT="]A ricoh aps-c compact camera with interchangeable lenses sounds fantastic. [/FONT]
[FONT="]Ricoh knows compact camera ergonomics and design from an enthusiasts perspective.[/FONT]
[FONT="]A killer prime is a must. Detachable EVF for those who want one.[/FONT]
[FONT="]A small detachable 28/35mm OVF is fine for me. [/FONT]
[FONT="]It seems that we’re entering a niche camera sht storm. [/FONT]
[FONT="]A veritable [/FONT][FONT="]renaissance[/FONT][FONT="] of the small compact camera market. [/FONT]
[FONT="]The niche beckons 😀[/FONT]
jslash6
jeffrey lash
well said....
charjohncarter
Veteran
Probably right (3-6 years), but I bet they could do it faster, if they wanted.
John Camp
Well-known
Unfortunately for them, another one of the big boys -- Panasonic, which is considerably larger than Canon and Nikon put together -- is already there, and the cameras (I have both the G1 and the GF1) are surprisingly solid, as are the lenses. Panasonic has a tie-in with Leica for lens design, which doesn't hurt, and of course, they are the largest electronics company in the world. And, I would have to say, better at marketing than either Canon or Nikon.
I think one difficulty that some of these other camera makers will have is that they will go with an APS-C sensor, which IMHO is a bit too large -- which will make the lenses and the camera just a bit too large as well. The original Panasonic G1, which I have sitting here at my desk as I type,
is somewhat smaller and lots lighter than a Leica M8 (with lenses mounted), but really pushing the top limit for a "small" camera. Anything bigger, then you're really at Pentax K-7 size, which is a conventional, though small, DSLR. Pentax does offer those nice pancake lenses, but any really compact system will have to offer small zooms as well, and even the smaller Pentax zooms would not exactly qualify as compact.
I can put my G1 and GF1 and four lenses (three zooms and a prime), plus batteries and charger, in a bag I once used for the M8 (one body plus 5 lenses, no charger.) And it's lighter. I don't think the Big Boys will ever get that far with a system camera -- just not in their DNA.
kbg32
neo-romanticist
Ricoh has been around for years. They made screwmount SLRs, then Pentax K mount. They were definitely low end back in the day.
Ricoh's GR series is fantastic as are their rare M mount 21mm and 28mm lenses.
Ricoh's GR series is fantastic as are their rare M mount 21mm and 28mm lenses.
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