Yes... They produced a crop-sensor 'competitor' to an obsolescent Leica model. And they made it cheaper still by using an even smaller sensor (16x24mm instead of 18x27mm -- still less of a problem with the corners) and not fitting an optical rangefinder or viewfinder.
They are two different cameras to be sure. But from an image quality perspective I doubt anyone could argue the M8 produces results appreciably different than the GXR M mount other than the minor difference in crop factor.
That the M8 is "obsolete" is irrelevant.
The argument that no one would choose to compete with Leica for the digital high end the M9 represents can only be solid if some assumptions are made:
- That a rangefinder focus and compose system is the overwhelming preference of all rangefinder camera users, as opposed to the lens selection and camera size for a given image quality being the dominant factor in shaping their choices
- That there isn't a big enough high end compact market to support competition for the M9's current slice of the interchangeable lens camera pie
- That the technological demands on a maker are too high to compete with Leica.
My sense is there is a larger pool of rangefinder lens fans, and fans of small but high IQ cameras, than there are a pool of rangefinder-or-die fans. I could be wrong but anecdotal evidence seems to point in this direction. If this is so, there is opportunity to bring out cameras that offer some of the rangefinder attributes if not the focus and compose system.
Fujifilm's success with the X100 and apparent success with the X-Pro1 seem to back up the notion that there is a market for cameras that are rangefinder like but not rangefinders. Sony's success in attracting rangefinder lens users - virtually by accident - also supports the contention that there has been heretofore untapped demand for cameras that could access rangefinder lenses. The first stepping stones by both companies have led to higher end cameras. Price points are going up. The X-Pro1 is not an inexpensive system for what it is.
All I can say is that the available evidence seems to support the case that there is a market for higher end compact bodies that can host rangefinder glass. If so that will push the makers to deliver bodies that will do a proper job of it. Sony has been following the haphazard approach; Fujifilm looks to be a little more serious. Ricoh clearly is more serious about it, being the only one of the three to intentionally design a camera unit with M lens support at its core.
As for technology, aren't we there yet?
I'm using the GXR merely as an example of what can be done given today's technology. We'll have to assume based on Ricoh's pricing for the M module that it wasn't technically all that demanding for Ricoh to take a
commonly produced Sony 12.3 megapixel sensor, found in many contemporary cameras in the past few years, and adapt it such that it could properly support close back focal distance rangefinder lenses. The camera is entirely successful in this regard. To me that seems like a very good outcome especially for their first go at it, even if they did have some clues on how to proceed based on Leica's example.
Extrapolating that success leads to less certain ground to be sure, but a first success (Leica's own M8) could be (and in Leica's case, was) a stepping stone for a next step? I fail to see why that wouldn't be the case.
I'm not suggesting that you can simply take the GXR body + M mount + EVF costs ($349 + $649 + $200 = $1198) and add another $500 or so to approximate what Ricoh might have looked for at retail for a camera that actually was a rangefinder. Maybe a little more, but the Ricoh and Zeiss Ikon camera examples do suggest you could produce a ~ $2,000 retail rangefinder with a crop sensor. Probably no one will do this because, at one point in the past, they figured there was no market for this.
Could "they" be wrong? There seem to be plenty of former film shooters (I am one... processed my last dozen rolls over Christmas after 35 years of photography and darkroom work) who are excited about the possibilities of using their rangefinder (and SLR) lenses on compact digital cameras of all sorts, including the M9 but clearly also there is strong interest in mounting these lenses on compact crop cameras.
Will there be a $3,000 full frame rangefinder not made by Leica? Maybe never, but perhaps a less emphatic forecaster put it a different way: maybe not until the next evolutionary step is made by one or more vendors.
The next evolutionary step for Ricoh or some other company is to produce a full frame $3,000 EVF based body that properly supports M glass and other short back focal length lenses. The technology exists today. The only question mark for a vendor is whether demand is there for such a body.
Will Leica make it or will someone else?
I've said all that can be said in support of my thesis - that there is a market, and that there is technology available to produce a $3,000 M lens compatible full frame camera. Or $4,000 if it must be a rangefinder.
If there was a choice of both, I'm truly unsure as to which I'd pick. I like a rangefinder for certain reasons, but an electronic finder camera does open up some doors too. It would not be an easy decision for me.
