I suppose one advantage can be the cost of upgrading bodies? But then you in a few years your favourite lens is stuck with this ancient sensor... Bah, I still cant see the point of this system.
I suppose one advantage can be the cost of upgrading bodies? But then you in a few years your favourite lens is stuck with this ancient sensor... Bah, I still cant see the point of this system.
Exactly. Or you can't mix that smokin' new 2347310432/60p sensor with the 10-400 2.8 because they don't make that specific combo. Just seems like a terrible idea from the get-go. More expensive, less choices.
On top of all that, what if you want to carry more than one lens? Now not only do you have to carry another lens, but a lens with a sensor glued on the back! Of course some will be small, but I think that I would rather carry any reasonable micro 4/3rds lens over a lens + square/awkward shaped chunk of weirdness.
Spyro P. wrote:
I suppose one advantage can be the cost of upgrading bodies? But then you in a few years your favourite lens is stuck with this ancient sensor... Bah, I still cant see the point of this system.
After going through the specs again I still can't see the point.
Why get a big APS-C sensor if the ONLY lens you can use is a 50mm macro?
And when you want another lens you have to take the sensor that comes with it? Sorry, but that just doesn't make any sense to me.
It is a very interesting concept in my view. People are paying 2000$ for a Leica fixed lens APS-C compact. This one if you consider it as a fixed lens would cost quite less. Many people, me included, would like to have such a fixed lens smaller than a DSLR camera to carry all the time. As such it is not bad. This doesn't mean that I'm ready to buy one though. I am sure whatever Canon, Sony and Nikon will inevitably offer in the near future is going to be outstanding.
Jorgen Udvang wrote:
Very cool travel camera. I would like to see a telephoto lens and a WA though.
Yes because all those table-shaped lens+sensor units take up WAY less space than just plain lenses would..
The only space saving which this camera might offer is if you were going to carry two bodies/all-in-one cameras at the same time to cover different focal ranges.
Damn. I'm surprised Ricoh beat Fuji to the release of a lens/sensor unit. I was expecting Fuji to announce theirs next year but maybe they'll do it early.
With the Fuji you'll be able to use lenses and sensors designed for Infrared light and another unit designed for black and white with monochrome sensors and no AA.
For the awesomeness of having a rather large compact with 24-70 equiv zoom and a tiny CCD sensor, you get to spend $1,000! Awesome! Then if you want the 50mm APS-C...add another $830. (Body $550, 24-70 equiv: $440).
Or, I could stick with my m4/3 body for large sensor stuff, and if I wanted a compact zoom camera, I'd get a Canon S90 for $430, with a faster lens, same size sensor in a smaller package. Then, when I buy lenses for m4/3, I don't have to pay $400 for the sensor each time.
Looks like ripoff city and a solution to an invented problem.
Now, if the sensor and lens were interchangeable, separately, that would be cool, as you could then just upgrade the sensor in your camera as technology improved.
I am not sure about the dust issue. Dust usually doesn't enter a lens system from the front, but from the sides, and in theory it is still possible that you could get dust on the sensor that way, although less likely than from swapping lenses. I would wait for Ricoh's official spec and see if the lens is sealed.
Jman13 wrote:
Now, if the sensor and lens were interchangeable, separately, that would be cool, as you could then just upgrade the sensor in your camera as technology improved.
But that would be bad for business! Then the purpose of the system would be ... to save you money!
+1 on the zoom. As DPR says, its basically the same camera as the Ricoh GX200 when you use the zoom module, only bigger and more expensive...
I just noticed something interestin in the specs - you can control the flash output manually in full steps down to 1/64. Very nice. Ricoh definitely listens to photographers, no doubt about that.
I really hope that they succede with this system. It DOES have potential, they just need to work really fast in bringing out a wide range of attractive lens + sensor combinations...
