GXR P10 module

[Tom Diaz]

This is the one that has the equivalent of about a 28-300mm zoom and a fairly small sensor.

I got it, brand new, from a Hong Kong dealer, for about US$60, not including shipping. The shipping by DHL Express added another few dollars and took only from Thursday till today (Monday) to reach me in the Boston area.

Does anyone have experience with this module? The IQ looks OK at first blush. One of its little quirks is that the "auto ISO" mode does not go much above 100 or 200 (!), I suppose to minimize noise. So that on top of its fairly slow speed makes it pretty much an outdoor lens. Still, I could not resist for that small price. (I have a 50mm macro on the way, too, from a dealer in Thailand, which cost me only $125. I expect better things.)

Tom

 

[zuikologist]

I have the same module but do not use it much. the IQ is ok, certainly in good light. I do use the S10 24-72mm module as a poor man's Ricoh GR - the zoom click stops at around 28mm and 35mm and the max aperture is still around f2.8. The real plus with either S10 or P10 is the UI of the GXR body - a real pleasure to use. I hope your module arrives safely and works well.

 

[rhl-oregon]

It's a good compact hiking/travel lens, just not for tremendous print resolution. As you say, for the outdoors mostly. And once you get the 50 and see how good it is, the p10 will still be easy to keep in your pocket for zoom zoom.

My first GXR kit was the P10; then I added the 50/2.5 and the EVF, and later the M module. And by then I mostly used the latter options, because the 50 2.5 is such a terrific lens, and there was a variety of pleasures in using manual focus lenses. I recommend getting the EVF since you can always sell it to another GXR user. The only reason I got out of the GXR system (which does share a fine UI with the GRD) was adopting Fuji X. Well, also because Ricoh swallowed Pentax and let us say excreted the GXR....but I miss it, especially for the 50, and for mounting little lenses like the Skopar 35 and the Serenar 100. Enjoy yours!

 

[Tom Diaz]

Thanks to those who replied with some advice. I had been shooting for a while with a GXR-M mount module and then with an A16 24-85mm, both great.

I got the P10 for about $60 and then just today received an A12 50mm Macro (as advertised, brand new) from a dealer in Thailand. Wow, so fine. The equipment is coming down in price to really reasonable numbers. Ricoh would have had to go out of business with the stuff even sooner, I suppose, if they had offered such fine technology at such prices.

I never thought I'd accumulate a little set of GXR stuff, but such is gear acquisition syndrome. At prices like this it is rather hard to resist.

Tip: I wanted one of those self-collapsing lens caps for the P10, but the original Ricoh ones are scarce and absurdly expensive if you can find one. I got a Chinese accessory advertised as fitting the S10, but it also works great on the P10. You just un-bayonet a retaining ring on the front of the P10 lens and bayonet this cap on.

Now I can try a shooting kit consisting of the A12 as a standard lens and the very small P10 in my pocket, in case there's something way out of range. Or maybe the A16 as the standard lens, but I think I may like the A12 better.

If I get anything worthwhile with the A12 50 I will contribute it to that forum on RFF.

Tom

 

[rhl-oregon]

You will get something worthwhile; and you will enjoy that lens. It mixes the advantages of a Zuiko or Nikkor 50ish macro with the f2.5 reliability of other covetable film 50s. Now find the best deal on the EVF and you'll be set.

 

[Tom Diaz]

You will get something worthwhile; and you will enjoy that lens. It mixes the advantages of a Zuiko or Nikkor 50ish macro with the f2.5 reliability of other covetable film 50s. Now find the best deal on the EVF and you'll be set.

Yes, I have the EVF already. I really don't want to use the camera without it. For me, a barrier to the whole GXR system (and other compact mirrorless systems) back when it was introduced was the lack of a built-in EVF. I have two GXR bodies but only one EVF, which ends up getting switched back and forth quite a bit. Usually, though, I am not actually carrying and trying to use both bodies.

Tom