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ricoh invention

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Interesting but I am not sure I would want to carry what amounts to an expensive set of sensor/lens combinations that will take up a lot more room and probably cost more than a straight lens.

There are also assumptions that this will be an APS-C sensor but time will tell and I think I prefer the current 4/3rd options with interchangeable lens options due to cost, size, weight and flexibility.
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The two lens/sensors that are going to be released first are a ccd for the zoom and a cmos for the prime.

I can't really imagine how it will be having a totally different type of sensor each time you change lenses, but its kind of cool when you think about it. Every time you get a new lens it will literally be like getting a whole new camera.

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http://www.flickr.com/photos/memoki/
 
Neat. Imagine being able to have a fast prime coupled to a large sensor for low light social shots.. and switching to a small sensor / superzoom combo for good light outdoor photography in a small package... uber cool.
 
It'll be cool only if that total package is smaller than a M43rds camera body with the 14-140 or (45-200) and 20 prime.
 
Interesting concept, some implications:
  • software and hardware in basic module have to be really thought out, since they may
have to support lenses and sensors that are not yet designed! (user interface has to be easily configurable/upgradable)
  • it sure won't be cheap camera, but you really can't get any smaller
  • as I understand, no need to fear dust etc.
  • possible different sensors (Foveon?) and lenses in the future - obviously wide angle comes to mind
  • I wonder whether it will have quiet shutter with both lenses
 
you said it
this will prove very expensive

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ʎǝlıɹ

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czato said:
  • possible different sensors (Foveon?) and lenses in the future - obviously wide angle comes to mind
Click to expand...
I wonder if there's even any particular need to use APS-C size in every module. Want to market a superzoom? OK, here's a module with a 1/2" sensor and a nice portable 12x zoom lens. (Edit: it seems that the different modules do actually use different sensor sizes...)

Anyway, despite being an intriguing concept there's no way this will have any serious mainstream appeal.

I always expected anything Ricoh came up with to be a niche product, but bolting the lens and sensor together almost demands the coining of a new word for a market segment even smaller than a niche.
 
I can't wait to see the superzoom module with a decent size sensor...

It seems more 'toy' than 'tool' to me from a first impression.

I'll hand it to Ricoh for thinking out of the box, but it seems they have thought themselves too far out with this one. I'd be happy to be proven wrong however.
 
I'm really interested to find out more.

One thing I wonder about that is whether/how switching sensors will effect the image insofar as maintaining a consistency of quality... While I realize that quality will vary pixel-wise with a sensor change, will the "feel" of the different sensor output be consistent? Basically, I wonder if switching the lens & sensor will be somewhat like switching a camera's film as well as the lens, rather than just the lens. Though I imagine they've addressed this... Maybe I've missed it.

-- LC3
 
" Be open minded, but not so open that your brains fall out! "
Button Pusher said:
I'll hand it to Ricoh for thinking out of the box, but it seems they have thought themselves too far out with this one. I'd be happy to be proven wrong however.
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I also feel they may have gone a bit too far. Cool concept, but just a bit too funky to catch on widely.

Really, if they wanted to go modular, they could (?should?) have done lens + mount & sensor + back. After all, Red has shown the way at the high end.
 
Bad, bad idea. Rather than protecting your investment in expensive glass it protects your investment in cheap backs - what's the point of that?

I have 40 year old lenses that I can use on a Hassleblad with a digital back, if I could afford one. That's a sensible system design, but this? This is wrong headed.

Kevin
 
KCampbell said:
Bad, bad idea. Rather than protecting your investment in expensive glass it protects your investment in cheap backs - what's the point of that?

I have 40 year old lenses that I can use on a Hassleblad with a digital back, if I could afford one. That's a sensible system design, but this? This is wrong headed.
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. . . There really is no point to coupling the lens to the sensor as you say.
 
Tim in upstate NY said:
. . . There really is no point to coupling the lens to the sensor as you say.
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Well - they could claim better dust proofing than even Oly ;)

But yeah, I agree. Dumb system. Everything but the lens (and sometimes even the technology in the lens) is prone to change. Bundling any of that with the lens makes no sense. If they split the sensor off into one more module, so that you could upgrade the small sensor for the 28-70 without having to get a new 28-70, that might make more sense. But the back is expensive and who knows what electronics it has that will become obsolete; chained to slow memory cards or outdated LCD technology ... weird. Just weird.
  • Dennis
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Gallery at http://kingofthebeasts.smugmug.com
 
I would not be interested in this myself, for similar reasons as others have mentioned, but I think the idea is that this system will allow for tiny superzoom lenses (thanks to small sensors being coupled with them), and very high quality primes (with larger sensors). Think, compact cameras with 10x zoom lenses are available in sizes dramatically smaller than m4/3rds because of their smaller sensors. If someone wants a superzoom for the Ricoh for use in good lighting conditions, they can get a tiny lens/small sensor combo that will make it very lightweight. On the contrary if image quality is the number one concern, they can get a big sensor prime lens.

I agree that it's a niche market and I also think the system is overpriced, but it is certainly a neat idea nonetheless.
 
But it got its own limitations. How big a lens/sensor module can it be built? Also won't it defeat the purpose of getting better PQ? using a smaller sensor and a great lens, the PQ will turn out better than one with a bigger sensor?

---- What can't me measured cannot be managed ---
 
If Ricoh goes bonkers making innovative lens/sensor modules, maybe this camera could be more interesting than it first appears.......

Say, perhaps they make a module with a square APS-C sized sensor and a portrait lens. Which could be switched out with a module possesing a dedicated High Dynamic Range B & W sensor. Shift and tilt lens module maybe? Or Lensbaby type specialty lenses modules?

It seems that there would be a slew of possibilities that this design might open itself to.

The designers have gone a bit not normal with this camera-would they be willing to make it weird and wonderful? Like a Widelux, or Fuji 6X17 for instance....
 
woodyu388 said:
I would not be interested in this myself, for similar reasons as others have mentioned, but I think the idea is that this system will allow for tiny superzoom lenses (thanks to small sensors being coupled with them), and very high quality primes (with larger sensors). Think, compact cameras with 10x zoom lenses are available in sizes dramatically smaller than m4/3rds because of their smaller sensors.
Click to expand...
I agree that that's probably the idea behind the concept and as a concept it sounds good, but in practice, it's going to be cost prohibitive, and you could as easily buy an LX3 and a GF1/20 combo instead of the GRX & equivalent lens units. It's not apples:applies, but it's never going to be. APS-C versus 4/3, macro versus non-macro, f/2.5 versus f/1.7, compact versus not-too-compact.

Then, in 4 years when you want to upgrade, with the GRX lens unit, you get a new lens & sensor; with the LX3, you get a new lens, sensor, LCD, battery, etc.
woodyu388 said:
If someone wants a superzoom for the Ricoh for use in good lighting conditions, they can get a tiny lens/small sensor combo that will make it very lightweight. On the contrary if image quality is the number one concern, they can get a big sensor prime lens.
Click to expand...
Yes, I'm just not sure it offers much that we don't have today, and if what it does offer is worth the price to any/many people.
woodyu388 said:
I agree that it's a niche market and I also think the system is overpriced, but it is certainly a neat idea nonetheless.
Click to expand...
I agree.
  • Dennis
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Gallery at http://kingofthebeasts.smugmug.com
 
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