I never really saw the GXR as a system to buy into. I saw the GXR with the 28mm lens as the best available low light street camera in my favorite focal length. I bought it as a one off and was very happy with it. In retrospect I shouldn't have because now I've got the X-Pro with the 18 and 35 and don't know when I'd use the GXR again - a classic mis-judgement on my part. I'll always have the GRD3 for when I just gotta have the snap focus function, but even that is something that I'm finding less overwhelmingly better than other options than I originally thought. Any m43 cam with the Olympus 12mm essentially has snap focus too (with a manual focus ring that even easier to change "snap" distances on) - just a slightly different implimentation. And the manual focus on the X-Pro, while probably not great for precision focus, is more than good enough to quickly get in and out of zone focus mode for bouts of street shooting interspersed with scenic and other more contemplative shooting. I like the Ricoh interface a lot, but I never saw it as the ONLY good one, just A very good one.
So I'm gonna sell the GXR and X100 and maybe epl3 - I've already sold the X10. If I can get enough and do sell the epl3, I'll get the EM5. And I'll just be down to the X-Pro for the best IQ and best low light camera I've yet tried (at least in a form factor I'm willing to use) and m43 for more versatility and faster reflexes, which also come in handy. A LOT. Based on how much I like the EPL3 and my impressions after handling the EM5 at a shop a couple of days ago, I'll probably use the EM5 the bulk of the time as my street camera, as I do the EPL3 now. The GXR did exactly what I wanted it to do - I just anticipated it was gonna do it for a year or two, not just a few months. But that's my fault - not the camera's - I'm just an idiot about forecasting my own actions. I should learn. Hell, if I was smart, I'd just double down on m43 and skip the X-Pro, but I'm not smart - I love shiny objects that work in a certain way and the X-Pro has that in spades. And I seem to need SOME variety. And the images are gorgeous, which I never care about but Fuji manages to make me care somehow (did with the X100 and the X-Pro too). But even if I'm not THAT smart, I am gonna consolodate down to two cameras and a bunch of lenses and probably a compact to keep around - the GRD3 has already lost just about all its value and I just like it for those rare occasions. I sort of doubt I'll buy more Fuji lenses. I've already got my favorite focal length in the 18 and the ultimate low light lens in the 35 (a focal length I don't generally use BUT for very low light). For more versatility, I've already got the whole damn spectrum covered in m43 glass and their bodies and sensors are getting really really good and are only gonna get better.
But the whole lensor thing never made sense to me as a full system, just maybe one or two special purpose cameras if they met your needs. I don't see it as planned obsolescence as much as the technology is just exploding right now. When I compare the EM5 to the m43 cameras that were available two years ago when I first got back into this, they're not even in the same universe. Every single thing about the new camera blows the doors off of the EP2 or GF1 that were pretty much state of the art at the time. Nex didn't exist yet. The GXR may have, barely, but the 28 wasn't around. The EM5 also betters the GXR in about every way - its as good or better in low light now (didn't see that coming so quickly), has a great EVF, has insanely fast AF, has highly useful snap focus with one lens, has fast write speeds, and of course has a whole variety of lenses. Its not quite as quiet, but I've never found that to be a problem in actual use. I don't see Ricoh moving quickly enough to keep up, even if I DID see it as a viable full system. I sort of hope they hang in there, because I like people and companies that are willing to try it a whole different way. But I'm not going along for the ride. I'm one of those people Don talked about, moving away from GXR rather than moving toward it. The only question is how big a loss I take for my short dalliance with it.
I'm a gear-head - I know it. I'm not a measurebater, but I love gadgets. But I also like them because of their usefulness and I USE the hell out of them. And the GXR is very useable but not uniquely so, and its not competing in some other areas...
-Ray