Ricoh officially launched the new GXR A12 M-mount module. You can see a very first preview at DPreview (Click here). As you know it has a 12 Megapixel APS-C sensor. To bad, would have loved to see a fullframe sensor on it. The Ricoh GXR A12 will be available in September, priced at $649. A very intruiging feature is the electronic shutter option that works from 1/8000th to 1 second. It makes the camea extremely silent! And you can create your own user-defined distortion, vignetting and corner color correction, recordable for multiple lenses.
More news abou the Ricoh module at:
Amateur Photographer
Photographyblog
Photoscala
16 Responses
I believe that, contrary to your post, the electronic shutter works UP TO 1/8000. DPreview’s specs state that:
“1/8000th – 1s in electronic shutter mode”
Corrected. Didn’t see that the first time…strange. ANyway good news than!
As the Camera has no rangefinder I don’t see the advantage against a mFT or NEX body with adapter. And the GXR module alone has the same price like the whole body.
Maybe with FF plus some kind of digital-rangefinder-emulator it would be interesting…
It has better tools for focus assisting than the mFT cameras.
e.g: “Focus Assist Mode 1 highlights high contrast edges. These suddenly glimmer as you sweep through the focus range, making it easy to see when you’ve reached (or passed) perfect focus.”
More here: http://www.dpreview.com/previews/ricohgxrmounta12/page3.asp
There are advantages over other cameras:
– The probably biggest news in the press release and another first in digital cameras as far as I am aware are the two shutter methods. A newly developed focal plane shutter (1/4000 sec. to 180 sec.) and electronic shutter (1/8000 sec. to 1 sec.). This is big news in my view and the ability to either use a physical or electronic shutter makes this module unique and very versatile.
– Ricoh is using a custom sensor with very light AA filter and micro lenses optimized for M lenses so it should produce a very good image quality even with wideangle M lenses, this usually poses a problem on the RD1 and also my GF1.
– The MF implementation was a big concern since Ricoh announced the module because it was not very well implemented in their other modules (as you can read in my review of the GXR A12 28mm module). Here Ricoh has again listened to the complaints and feedback and implemented a sort of peaking function which works great on the Sony NEX cameras and enhanced the normal magnification assist so I am very happy to see this being implemented. MF should work very well with this and be even easier than using a RF patch.
– Another great feature is being able to not only to add the lens data in the EXIF information but also read this easy from an SD card. Additionally it can save individual correction and adjustments for the lens.
I never understand all of this bs about 35mm sensor . The GXR, like cameras of similar size is supposed to be a more compact system for body AND lenses and therefore rely on APS size sensor
The quality of APS size sensors available makes that request for so called FF sensors almost irrelevant and based on nothing solid
For anyone paying attention , it is clear that sensor size of compact systems go towards APS sized OR SMALLER sensor
The fact that there is NO alias filter is going provide much better quality than in the two existing modules.
It is worth noticing also that Ricoh developed, along with the excellent user interface of the GXR already in place , VERY elegant and effective solutions for manual checking of the MF . BRAVO
We want FF sensor simply because lenses we can use are made for 35mm film and keep the field of view with a FF sensor. with 1.6 crop factor a 35mm is like a 50mm. Not good news for landscape lover 🙁
For once, as Gabriel said, there is a scarcity of short-flange distance (ie, short and compact, aka ‘rangefinder’) APS-C lenses (essentially zero though for the longer focal lengths there would not be much difference between existing FF ‘rangefinder’ lenses and APS-C versions).
Well, we have all the Samsung NX and Sony E-mount lenses, but the Sony lenses so far are nothing to write home about (although the zooms are ok) and the Samsung lenses are also still quite few (especially outside the zooms and zooms and compact hardly go well together). Moreover, Ricoh might likely not be allowed to use their mounts anyway.
Secondly, we want FF EVILs because we want FF without the size and bulk of (D)SLR lenses and hopefully also noticeably cheaper (and more compact carries the somewhat unreasonable hope of cheaper with it).
If you think about it, ricoh basically produced 85% of an m8 for $650
There’s even a 1/8000 shutter in there.
And there’s no IR lens filters needed
I dont see how the M8 will hold in the used market.
***wait for it, wait for it***
September 9/2011 announcement:
leica m9.2 comes out
$9,000
now with an aluminum body!!
and Sanddisk SD card fix
M9 price:
$8000
whoowhiee!
The M8 has a rangefinder. The Ricoh does not. You buy an M8 because it’s a digital rangefinder.
m8 has a rangefinder.
FF is the only way using Leica M lenses. Actually, what we need is a cheap version M9.
best thing since sliced bread,
they will ship truckloads of this module, this will definitely revive the gxr system, and pull it even in a favourable position..among the competition.
What I like a particularly
sensor with NO aa filter, (same as leica M9, Pentax 645 MF)
vignetting / pinhole correction tools
great MF assist modes
great ricoh built quality in a small package
best external control options in this size of bodys (not even the E-P3 or nex-7 did this right..)
affordable price
a real, made for leica-M mount focal-plane shutter, (not just adapter lenses on existing designs… m4/3, nex…
if this thing is a succes they should bring a fullframe module for next photokina, this would be perfection..
what ricoh also needs is and updated high res. VF-3 (MUST)