Ricoh Very High End Ricoh Cameras Coming

This "news" piece reeks of unreliable source...... First they say that there are new high end cameras coming and then..... "the source added that Ricoh is set to eventually disappear as a camera brand."

Perhaps Ricoh is helping to develop new high end Pentax cameras and they will fold the Ricoh nameplate.....need more info. But more high end cameras is ALWAYS cool with me. Trickle down of technology benefits all.
 
Cool!

I don't really care if they have a Pentax label, or a Ricoh brand, but count me in for any of the following:

  • Updated GXR body and A16 prime(s)
  • Fixed lens version of GXR/GRD with 16 mpx APS-C
  • APS-C based CSC (if they go lenses instead of modules)
 
This "news" piece reeks of unreliable source...... First they say that there are new high end cameras coming and then..... "the source added that Ricoh is set to eventually disappear as a camera brand."

Perhaps Ricoh is helping to develop new high end Pentax cameras and they will fold the Ricoh nameplate.....need more info. But more high end cameras is ALWAYS cool with me. Trickle down of technology benefits all.

Luke's spot-on. This sounds at most like an unguarded, speculative conversation over a coffee in a dealership with a loose-lipped rep... I'm a big fan of FBDM (Fact Based Decision Making) and regard this sort of column-filling puff as fit only for the bottom of the budgie's cage. Shame, AP used to be a reliable magazine...
 
Here we are months later and first hand reports (as well as the global Ricoh and Pentax websites) show absolutely nothing new coming from Ricoh.

Maybe the article is/was correct.
 
Lets be clear on this:
"Unofficial Source" - uninformed gossip = "Ricoh brand will disappear"
"Official Source" - Ricoh company = "Ricoh camera brand will continue - products made to market (demand?)"
"Official Source" - Ricoh = "We have made no new product announcements"

It seems quite clear to me = the status quo as is generally understood.

We have made no new product announcements <> the Ricoh camera brand will disappear
 
Something GRD related might be coming at the end of the month during the 7th GR Blog meetup: リコー公å¼￾ブãƒ*ã‚° GR BLOG | Ricoh Japan

Nothing GXR related is planned or hinted at right now though. Given the success of the M mount I expect to see something new by next year though.

Sorry that my Japanese is not quite up to scratch, I seem to remember a few hints of a "smaller" replaceable lensed camera from Ricoh some time ago. Could this be a GRD "body" with Q-mount? Add a couple of "GR" lenses and compatibility to the existing Q mount lenses on offer and we have an interesting product.

Making yet another mount system seems "crazy" and there seems no other way to go other than to trim down the existing GXR body to "almost" GRD size and retain the existing GXR mount rails and compatibility. It might just be possible by discarding the flash, hot shoe and top row of buttons on the existing GXR body and reducing the top of the camera over the lcd to nothing much more than a cover - maybe the hot shoe could be retained but there could be no evf plug.
By doing this it might be possible to create "a camera" not much bigger than the present GRD body and one that fitted into the GXR-range. Add a Q mount module and those GR lenses and we are off and running ...
Of course this would also accept all the existing GXR modules including the M mount module, all aps-c sensors as well. Pity about the flash ...
 
Honestly, the last thing I would want to see as an extension to the GXR system would be a *smaller* body. For what it does, and particularly with M, R or Nikon lenses attached via the M module, the body is already at the limit of practical hand-holding. I would rather see a slightly (20% or thereabouts) larger body with better battery life and a well executed EVF. The GXR has a dedicated and happy following among Leica users like me for whom the full frame Ms are either extravagances or not cost-justifiable (the M8 is too old, too flaky and too compromised to be worthy of serious consideration). I know people who have tried NEX, Fuji and other platforms for their M lenses who have gone back to Leica or transitioned to Ricoh. What worries me in the folding of Pentax into Ricoh (or vice-versa depending on your viewpoint) is that the distinctiveness of the GXR in particular will be diluted into something more likely to appeal to the "Soccer Mom" market.

Sent from another Galaxy
 
Bill - I couldn't agree with you more. Do we need to start up a lobby site - KeepGXRSerious.com ? It is one serious compact and needs to stay that way.

It also deserves to stay alive.

To your list I'd add improving he shot to shot buffer and reducing overall lag. A full frame sensor module would be icing on the cake for M lens users.

(Note the gratuitous nod to this site!)
 
This thread started 5 months ago based on the quote of a dubious "person close to Pentax". And what did we see coming? Nothing!

Wolfgang
 
If this rumor comes and goes in late October without anything new then, well, I really will give up. We could see 2012 come and go without a single Ricoh announcement. Hope that does not happen.
 
Well, luckily for GXR owners, it's already a great camera and even if it never gets updated or re-invented or new modules, it will continue to take great photos as long as they exist.

The current GXR will never be obsolete.
 
Well, luckily for GXR owners, it's already a great camera and even if it never gets updated or re-invented or new modules, it will continue to take great photos as long as they exist.

The current GXR will never be obsolete.

It's not so much that as it is simply getting a pulse out of Ricoh. We know Pentax has been busy, but we know nothing about Ricoh. Let's hope they show signs of life on the 27th.
 
It's not so much that as it is simply getting a pulse out of Ricoh. We know Pentax has been busy, but we know nothing about Ricoh. Let's hope they show signs of life on the 27th.

I think the Pentax buyout has been more work and probably way more disruptive for Ricoh than they thought and they have simply released what was already finished from Pentax before starting to merge the two companies. None of the Pentax cameras has anything from Ricoh in there as far as I can judge.

My guess is we will see the real Pentax Ricoh products by next year and then the future (or lack of one) of the GXR should also be clearer.
 
I also would suggest that the only thing worse than "no news" is news of a product such as the Sigma DP1 that took forever to bring to market. The best we have from Ricoh is that they intend to keep making new cameras to the market.

If they announced a product and showed it as a mock up box with nothing inside then in a matter of months it would go from "no news is boring" to "where is it, we wan't it".

I think the advice that the present GXR and GRD are great cameras and we are happy with them is good. One day we will wake up and there will have been an announcement, then we can change gear, put in our pre-orders and speculate on the details. Currently we can only speculate on speculations, I think we would be better served by cultivating our prize cabbages and taking pictures of them for posterity.

Taking pictures of cabbages is about as productive as worrying over Ricoh's demise as a digital camera manufacturer just because they are not sharing their corporate plan with us all.
 
The best we have from Ricoh is that they intend to keep making new cameras to the market.

Do we have that assurance? Specifically the Ricoh GXR and other like-minded cameras which show Ricoh's touch?

I've seen press releases announcing consumer cameras (like GRD and GXR) being folded in under the Pentax Ricoh Imaging Company (PRI, AKA Pentax). I've seen press releases announcing Pentax sales and marketing in the Americas (where I live) would take over sales and marketing activities for Ricoh cameras like the GRD and GXR. I've not seen any fruits of that switch in responsibility, as the sales and marketing efforts surrounding Ricoh GRD and GXR cameras in the Americas appears to be about what it was before - none to nil.

I emphasized sales and marketing activities in the paragraph before with the intention of pointing out that I've not seen any commitment from Ricoh or PRI AKA Pentax to continue development and manufacturing of GRD and GXR cameras.

Sales and marketing are unimportant to me if development and manufacturing doesn't take place.

Last comment: I don't spend any time thinking about the demise or life of Ricoh GRD and GXR cameras other than what is required for me to type a response. Life goes on, I continue to use my GXR.

But... I'm not planning on buying any more GXR components at all until the situation is clear, and I do represent one small part of the potential market for GXR components and perhaps a larger part of that market who are similarly sitting on their hands, unsure if Ricoh GXR and other nice related products will continue to evolve, be made, and therefore have a decent support lifespan.

Instead, I think I'll buy a Sony RX1.
 
AP is usually better than this. Pretty awful report.

Cristian, I hope you're right. Please, GRD with RX100 sensor!
 
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