Could there be a next gen gxr after all?

[GaryLH]

http://photorumors.com/2013/07/07/rumors-about-a-new-ricoh-gxr-camera-surface-online/

Given that the a12 and a16 modules as well as the gxr body is being listed as discontinued.. If there really is a next gen gxr, looks like they most likely are redoing everything, new gxr body and lensor modules to bring the thruout up to what is needed today. Or do u think they have abandoned the lensor idea?

Anyway interesting rumor... My wish is that if they go after the Leica mount market full bore and release a camera w/ m mount support.. It only really became interested in their camera when the a12 m module was released.

Not putting much hope in this rumor, but on the other hand they did re-establish the Ricoh name as the main one lately, so there is hope. And the grd seems to e selling well. 😀

Gary

 

[TKH]

To good to be true...

Just saved 800 Euros and wanted to buy a used Leica M8 when 1200 Euros are in my hands.

Would be a dream to wait annother few month saving and than buy a FF GXR for perhaps 2.000 Euros?!!

 

[johannielscom]

If it would be a FF, I'd be all over it and use it next to my current GXR-M camera's.

 

[thegman]

To be perfectly honest, I don't really rate the lensor idea, but the GXR as an M camera looked good value and it's sensor seemed to be able to make excellent use of M lenses.

I would like to see another GXR though, as Ricoh always seem to be able to make something interesting.

 

[f16sunshine]

24x36 M mount with built in EVF would be pretty sweet!
They seem to have sensor micro-lens dialed in.
One can only wish at this point yeah? 😛

 

[Tom Diaz]

I'm not sure whether to believe the rumor, but it seems plausible. The GXR-M makes it obvious that Ricoh has all the technology and know-how to make an excellent M-mount digital camera. So, maybe we're dreaming, but I don't see why they would not at least consider such a thing.

Right now, discontinued GXR-M equipment is commanding really good prices. Ricoh could make good margins on a revived GXR-M kind of camera, judging from that fact. I personally prefer mine to the M8 I used to have, in some respects. The focus peaking is really excellent--a very good alternative since it was not likely they'd introduce an optical rangefinder!


Tom

 

[Keith]

Just imagine if someone did make a small full frame body for the M mount with a good electronic finder, focus peaking, clean files at 6400 and all the other niceties we've come to expect lately!

You could get trampled in the rush! 😀

 

[johannielscom]

Recently it occurred to me that apart from the 1.5x crop, missing RF focusing and film capabilities, the current Ricoh GXR-M is a 'piccolo M240'.

😀

Well, at least for shooting digital B&W this is true, the missing AA filter (like in the M9 and M240) makes it one sharp little beastie 😎


Now, if a new GXR-M would be FF and have decent film capabilities, it may be a serious M240 competitor.

Let's wait and see.

 

[yoniDar]

No more waitin', no anticipatin'

No more waitin', no anticipatin'

Reading these posts as well as those from the Ricoh Forum on DPReview
one appreciates the feelings of frustration for those waiting for a newer, even more capable GXR-M to emerge.

I like using mine with Voigtlander and Nikkor lenses (fine adapter from CameraQuest) but I'm not waiting for a new Ricoh. I think they're too late in the game by 2 years for sufficient market penetration at this point.

Should I ever need another camera of this type I'll give one of the Fuji X "RF's" a tryout. Meanwhile the 3 cameras I use (different mfg's) work just fine.

 

[jsrockit]

I get the feeling it'll be too little too late as well.

 

[rbelyell]

because it is specifically geared to M and m39 lenses, imo, it will never be 'too late' to come out with what would essentially be an updated digital M at 1/4 the price. no other 'competitor' is actually a competitor because they are not optimized for RF lenses, and, again imo, that shows in the results.
tony

 

[jsrockit]

I can see that Tony, but with a 1.5 crop... M lenses just aren't the same. Just my opinion though since people make wonderful images using legacy lenses on crop sensors.

 

[Tom Diaz]

Reading these posts as well as those from the Ricoh Forum on DPReview
one appreciates the feelings of frustration for those waiting for a newer, even more capable GXR-M to emerge.

I like using mine with Voigtlander and Nikkor lenses (fine adapter from CameraQuest) but I'm not waiting for a new Ricoh. I think they're too late in the game by 2 years for sufficient market penetration at this point.

Should I ever need another camera of this type I'll give one of the Fuji X "RF's" a tryout. Meanwhile the 3 cameras I use (different mfg's) work just fine.

Yeah... a reintroduced Ricoh would probably cost as much as a Fuji body, so that raises the question of whether the Ricoh's adaptation for Leica lenses are really enough better than the Fuji's to justify the idea.

Your comments, and your reference to the fascinating Fuji, makes me think of a problem Ricoh would have to solve in this process: what to do about other lenses.

If they simply started up the production line again and made more GXR bodies and more 12-Mp M-mount modules, they could make a good margin on those. (Maybe they would have to raise the price a bit to do so, but the prices for which the things are still selling suggest that might be OK with customers!) If they used the higher-resolution sensor from their A16 module, so much the better.

However, should they retain the whole lens-module design? It would make existing GXR owners happy if (unlike me) they bought any of the lens modules except the M-mount module, but there may not be so many of them.

To me, it's the M mount that made the Ricoh design interesting. I never considered a GXR before the M mount came out. Ricoh does very nice lenses, but some of the modules for the GXR were weird and not really suitable for the kind of advanced users who would want the M-mount module. Ricoh could make M-mount manual focus lenses that probably would be outstanding.

So, what should they do?

Tom

 

[kanzlr]

I had the GXR M for quite a while and really, live view focusing without auto-aperture is a chore.

Who whats to shoot wide open all the time? Yes, you can stop down and focus, but you never know where your plane of focus is EXACTLY.

 

[GaryLH]

I had the GXR M for quite a while and really, live view focusing without auto-aperture is a chore.

Who whats to shoot wide open all the time? Yes, you can stop down and focus, but you never know where your plane of focus is EXACTLY.

I used both mag and peeking, worked pretty well for me. Then there is always scale for faster moving situations. The only thing that ever bothered me was the sd card write time which I attribute to the commo interface between CPU in the lensor and the one in the body.

Gary

 

[rbelyell]

yeah, the write times are gosh awful, really among the worst ive personally experienced. everything else is gem-like.
tony

 

[truefriendship]

If you're in Ontario, Henry's has an M-mount module "open box" for in-store pick-up. 🙄

http://www.henrys.com/79351-OPEN-BOX-RICOH-GXR-M-MOUNT-A12.aspx

~Rif

 

[DougFord]

They've already done did the aps-c thing in m- mount so if they're fixing on doing another m-mount, a FF version sounds reasonable.
Using a variant of the Sony FF sensor with perhaps the latest and greatest PDAF pixel trick would give them an immediate leg up (image quality) on the m240. (PDAF pixels used for accurate manual focus confirmation)
Perhaps they design a pancake 40mm as a kit lens. But the understood existence of this device would be that it's a 'universal digital FF back' to mount any MF lens you want.
Competition would come from the m240, the FF nex and the various other digital m models. Presumably the micro lens array on the Ricoh would better the nex with respect to m- mount lenses.
Supposedly the profit margins are better in the high end enthusiast market. This device would be squarely aimed at this niche.
A manual focus FF digital back would seem improbable though and probably is.

 

[segedi]

Full frame and built in EVF and I'd be on the preorder list!

 

[Godfrey]

Still using my GXR often. I'm patient. 🙂

G