The zoom module would appear to meet the definition of "plugging a gap", referring to a comment made by a Ricoh UK marketing fellow earlier this fall.
I'd hoped they had more going on, like a body and EVF refresh or a full frame M mount module...
On the other hand, I've been trying to convince myself that I shouldn't buy a GXR right now until the announcement was made in case I should be waiting for a significant upgrade and if this is it, I can ask and answer the question, "why wait?"
The zoom lens might be interesting, it supposedly sports the Sony 16MP sensor... ...which is what I would have loved to have in the GXR M Mount. Perhaps they will also release a new M Mount further down the line? I don't really find mine lacking though and it definitely will see me through.
My only reservation towards the zoom lens is that it is not designated GR - which might indicate a slower zoom lens. With a 16MP sensor. Makes for an expensive kit lens...
That would not be my cup of tea. Well, let's just see what gives.
I am hoping they will update the EVF with the Sony type OLED, why not, considering they already buy their sensors?
After using the NEX5N and the GXR for a while the only thing that is speaking for the NEX5N is the EVF and the Hawk's adapter - the latter no thanks to Sony. I also realized that the A12 50mm macro module is an awesome lensor. It does everything right. Not the fastest AF on the market though, cough, cough, but it is improved with the firmware update so it is ok. Ricoh's fly-by-wire (edit MF is working astonishingly well. Better than say, a Contax G to NEX adapter...
With the A12 50 macro module (which focuses down to 7cm) I feel it takes care of most close up shots and does decent macro (1:2) so having it does definitely compensate for the Hawk's adapter. The A12 28mm focuses pretty close too. Ugly as the M mount module is it does a terrific job. Considering the price for the M module (cheap, I think) I can see myself upgrading if they release an improved version.
I am starting to feel the honeymoon for the NEX5N is nearly over. I might even source up a used EVF for the GXR to have as a stop gap solution.
IQ of the NEX5N is great. EVF is best in class. Shooting pleasure? Nah, not really. Not for me.
Michael, I will probably spend a month or month and a half in Canada next summer so if you haven't decided by then you can play with mine. I am looking at revisiting Banff and Jasper. I have some unfinished photo business there.
If the new zoom lens is a solid f2.5 or 2.8 it might be the first zoom in my possession for ... dog knows how long. I'd be proper pissed if they decide on releasing a lot of new goodies next fall, just about when I am back from a month of shooting. but hey life's still good huh?
Hey, I'll be in the Banff area next summer myself. We are trying to arrange a family reunion on the western side of the Rockies (my wife's family is on the eastern side, in and around Calgary) and then will move on to do some hiking and what not.
I'm more or less still on the honeymoon but the bloom on the rose is slowly wilting. I like being able to adapt any lens and particularly like the Hawk adapter and how it makes any M lens that much more useful. That's one bit of kit which is well worth the dollars spent. I would miss that on the GXR and a A12 50mm lensor is more than three times the cost of the Hawk, although you get AF and another lens as part of the bargain so even a straight financial comparison isn't wholly lopsided.
Except for a few test shots I've not used the 18-55mm at all, which means I've been spending all of my time with the camera shooting manual focus lenses. I've concluded that I like the ZM glass I have and will probably buy one or two more; I like the focus feel and location of the aperture ring, and even like the added weight. Maybe it isn't just the heft it adds - perhaps the electronic first curtain shutter helps more - but hand-holding at slow shutter speeds seems infinitely more do-able than on the X100. I found that latter camera too light and somehow out of balance and often had problems with camera motion blur when shooting at shutter speeds I can get away with on the NEX with ease.
I'm finding manual focus on the 5N is... workable. I wish I didn't have to drop into magnified view as often as I have to, which generally means anytime there is time to magnify, I do. It definitely helps to confirm. So I wonder if I'd like Ricoh's implementation better or if it would be more of the same?
Note to Sony (and Ricoh too?), there should be a way to program a button to toggle Peaking off/on, or maybe allow the half-shutter press to turn off peaking (user configurable of course). Sometimes Peaking gets in the way of composition (think lots of bare tree stems...).
At sensitivity at or under ISO 400, if asked to compare the IQ of the NEX-5N + M glass to the A12 M Mount lensor, what would you say? I am not troubled by more noise at higher sensitivity.
Michael: you can toggle the peaking on/off on the GXR with half press on the shutter button. That's how I do it. Works swell.
As for IQ between the two I'd say it is a draw. I honestly think the GXR M files are nicer and easier to work with, but they don't differ all too much in the end. The sensor heritage is evident. The resolution difference is too small to be bothered by. If the NEX5N had drastically better imaging I would not have held on to the GXR as hard as I do. I find that the GXR M output resembles film in the very best way and that the outcome is "predictable" and the noise is quite grain like. The A12/50 lensor is a bit expensive, yes. However I have realized it is a damn fine lens, with a matched AA-filter, great performance wide open, near and far so any which way I put it it makes sense. Maybe, prices will drop on the A12/50 over time. With the maturity of todays technology in sensors I think that the A12/50 never will be totally obsolete.
Hmm... f3.5 down to f5.5 on the APS-C zoom? If that is a fact I will pass on it, definitely. Unless it turns out to be in the same league as the A12/50 - then it would make sense as a landscaping lens. But let's see what the price tag is first...
I have come to the conclusion that I will sell off the NEX5N, EVF , Hawk's and a couple of lenses. I will keep the widest and the longest ZM for the GXR M module and ditch the rest. Even though I find that the NEX5N surpasses the GXR in some aspects I think it is all too fiddly for me to run two very different cameras at the same time. The GXR will get my by for a very long time and I feel that it was an investment that has paid off over time and that I still find the camera very useful and gratifying in every way.
Quick rumor mill addition: some source claims that Sony will cease (or have already ceased) production of the 12MP APS-C sensors used in the GXR modules. I am guessing Ricoh will have to resort to using the 16MP sensor for the next modules. Who knows, maybe they smoke the same pipe I do and will re-release the M module with the 16MP sensor - or later on with APS-H size and a new body. And while they are at it the new EVF.
Well, I've been at it for some two years with the GXR; first with the A12/50 knowing they were working on a 28mm... ...then it came. By then rumors about a M module surfaced and a year and a half later it came. I have been very patient. I am getting a little more antsy now as there are so many great options for them to improve the existing GXR line. Just wish I could crash a Ricohrporate meeting ninja style then shout a wha-zaaaap and slap some sense into them to get things done. Ra * pi * dly * (imagine the crack of a whip at every *)
If I buy a A12/M or A12/50 you can be sure they'll introduce the new sensor module the very next week.
Thanks for letting me know about the half-press peaking toggle, that's a smart way of handling a manual focus manual aperture lens setup. Wish Sony would allow that as an option.
Ok if IQ is a wash more or less, what about M lens performance where it gets tougher - on the edges or corners... do you note any difference worth noting?
I'm not wholly unhappy with the 5N; chances are if the 7 were in my hands without smearing or objectionable colour casts I would not be having this debate. But the 5N I don't really trust as a day in day out camera. It feels too dainty so I'm still hovering. Maybe, almost hopefully, Michael Reichmann will settle the matter so I can kill my 7 order.
Michael; we could work it out like this: you buy MY old A12 lensors and I get the new ones - the A16:s they introduce the very next week.
I can't see any major problems with edges or corners with either camera.
A friend fondled the NEX7 at a camera fair here in Sweden the other week. He was a bit disappointed with the feel, fit and finish of it. Also, he prefers the external EVF for the ability to shift its position. In his opinion he would prefer the NEX5N with EVF over the NEX7.
For me it seems like the NEX7 will not be able to handle wide angle lenses as well as the NEX5N - I hope to be prove wrong on that though. I agree that the NEX5N does not feel like a day in day out camera. The ON/OFF button feels like it is going to snap off after six months or so.
After some minor tinkering the output is quite similar between the two:
First one with the 40/2 M-Rokkor on NEX5N at f2:
Then the Ricoh A12/50 (a 33mm) at f2.5:
Third one with the ZM50 on GXR M mount at f2:
You can argue that they are three different lenses on three different cameras, first one is the NEX5N, then it is the A12 with custom AA filter and a permanent lens and the third one is yet another lens on a similar yet different, ZM50/2 with no AA-filter.
Handheld shots so similar but not exactly same position when shot.
As for the A12/50 I don't have that many shots on the web from it, mostly pure documentary stuff. Generally I shoot it wide open, another documentary shot from a speaker evaluation last year:
Agree with you about the on-off switch... I'm forever slowing myself down when using it. As well the OK pad feels surprisingly... cheap, as if a hard press could dent it.
I'd hoped that the 7 being all magnesium, supposedly, would have a much more solid feel but perhaps that's because the designers are working hard to reduce weight. Slap a ZM something or other on front and even a 5n feels more substantial even if it doesn't make the body more so.
It is understandable why someone would eschew the 7 for the 5N + EVF. Certainly the external EVF is flexible given the swing range - I was unprepared for how much I've been using both the tilt in the EVF and the swing in the LCD.
Unfortunately with the EVF mounted it seems that you need to use the on-off switch because the camera can so easily avoid going in standby although I've not quite pinned down why that is. Could be the eye sensor being triggered when holding the camera and moving about.
Thanks for the photos. I think they (and others you've posted) tell me don't worry, be happy. (Nice speakers! Edit: And cat! Again!)
I appreciate your SWC too. As of yesterday I'm officially medium format free, well Rollei-free anyway, except for a film insert or two and some lens hoods I have yet to sell off. The only MF film cameras I have kicking around now are ancient Zeiss folders in various stages of working order. When I used the Rollei a lot I loved all the automation but I'm passed that now. There is probably some Zen flow thing to winding film that I'm missing, or maybe it is the realization that I never worried about what the next model coming around the bend was when I was only shooting film.
Maybe that's the ticket; think of the lack of efficient buffering in the GXR as a digital equivalent to analogue winding by hand.
By the way, your friend is hopefully not needing much in the way of flash capabilities... this is something else that drives me batty about the NEX line up, even the 7 to some degree although at least it has a hot shoe even if it is the proprietary Sony/Minolta type. The 5N not having a hot shoe makes it a non-started for a long term do-a-lot-of-things camera in my bag.
Well, he is aware of the flash limitations. He is very happy with the macro capabilities with flash he has with the Sony A900 and Sony flash. He has done some impressive macros with that setup so I think a NEX5N would primarily be a smaller alternative for miscellaneous stuff.
Regarding film: sometimes I miss it, sometimes I don't.
Sam(Sosua); Same with my friend, which is one of the reasons he prefers the external EVF.
I think it is worth noting he was not impressed by the build quality of the NEX7.
If I have the external EVF in folded position my right nostril touches the left corner of the camera. So, I will need to bring a handkerchief, always.
Uh oh, I found a GXR and Mount A12 at an honest to goodness retailer in the U.S., which means I can get warranty service even though I'm a dastardly Canadian.
It is done. Order pulled and will ship overnight to my address just across the border. Will I embrace the GXR or go running back to the NEX with my tail between my legs... we'll find out the answer to this not-so-exciting news story... soon!
Sosua wrote:
One thing to think about with the in-built vs external EVF thinking - I'm left eye dominant, so I prefer the external on the 5N.
It does however make pulling it out of the bag a little more....snaggy.
I wish the 5N was a bit larger though.
Me too, although it should be mentioned that eye dominance is pretty easily switchable. I've switched back and forth a couple of times over the years. It wouldn't be the end of the world for me to switch back to right eye.
My bigger issue is the lack of a tilt. I shoot with my EVF tilted most of the time.
MF is working astonishingly well. Better than say, a Contax G to NEX adapter... 
but hey 
