Fatherly Films: New Camera Concept

Hey!

So first just a little update,

Finished 2 shoots, one over the weekend, one last Friday, they both went very well, and the one that was last Friday I spoke

about in my last post. It's a

joint shoot and website. For more i

nfo on the convergence of medias check out my last post. I also did a little shoot for fun on Sunday (shoots for fun is what it should always be, the commercial shoots should always be for fun also) consisting of surfers surfing in water that must have been about 2 or 3 degrees Celsius. I'll talk about that next time, but today a new concept for a camera was announced that may (I say may 'cause it could be a complete blunder also) change the way camera's are produced in the future.

We all know how SLR's and DSLR's work, how the

interchangeable lenses work and how the Micro 4/3 system works. For those of you who do you can skip ahead to the next paragraph. An SLR stands for Single-Lens-Reflex camera, a DSLR stands for Digital-Single-Lens-Reflex. It is the same as an SLR, but with a sensor in the place of film, and quite a few other changes, yet the concept is the same. They use a semi-automatic mirror system that moves allowing the photographer to usually see exactly what is being capture by the film/sensor. They usually have an interchangeable lens system, mean

ing you can switch lenses, from telephoto's to wide-angles, to primes, what have you. Yet there have been a very few significantly altering concepts from the SLR with the exception of the invention of digital. A variant on the DSLR concept is the Four Thirds system. The 4/3 system was designed solely for digital use. And most lenses were

designed computerized, and tailored to meet the requirements of the digital sensor. The sensor is physically smaller than that of most DSLRs, resulting in that lenses can be smaller in size.

Today Ricoh anounced it's first digital system. Scroll to the bottom for pictures. Coined the GRX. It has interchangeable lenses, yet in a completely different concept of that of the 4/3 system or normal DSLRs. The GXR offers interchangeable slide mount "lens units". These "units" consist of the gla

ss (lens) and the sensor. This allows the photographer to s

witch from an APS-C size sensor (the sensor size of most CMOS sensors) to a CCD sensor. Being able to switch from a 12mp CMOS to a 10mp CCD allows for constant switching resulting in hypothetically a do-it-all camera.

"The new GXR is an interchangeable unit camera system in which lenses are changed by using a slide-in mount system to attach camera units to the body. The lens, image sensor, and image processing engine are integrated into the camera units so the body itself does not contain an image sensor." (Dpreview)

This can change the way photography (and video for that matter) is looked at. This is similar to the RED system, which i

s where everything is interchangeable, yet this takes REDs concept to a whole new level.

Yet the initial price creates hesitation for me. I am looking for a compact point & shoot to keep in my pocket at all times (the iPhone is amazing, yet I would like RAW files, for more on the camera that is always with you check out www.chasejarvis.com) and the Canon G11 is to big and doesn't accomplish what I would like it for. The body is $549 and the "kit" lens will be $440. Hence a total system will cost nearly $1, 000. Panasonic makes a "competit

or" to this, the Lumix DMC-GF1 with a zoom and a 20mm prime is $1, 300. Yet the Ricoh allows for multiple cameras to be carried in "one" camera. The 2 announced "units" are a 50mm equivalent (due to the crop factor) on an APS-C sensor that would do 24fps video at 720p. The other unit is the 24-72mm equivalent lens with a 10mp CCD sensor, that's capable of ISO 100-3, 200, VGA movies, and the big seller for me? 5fps RAW.

Yet the after market for this will be small. They may not be able to make the sensors that go with the lenses, unless Ricoh p

rovides a generic CCD or APS-C sensor.

If the glass is good Ricoh has a buyer here, with the 1D and a 100-400mm on my shoulder at an event and I want to snap a picture for a friend for (insert your choice of social network) I would pull out the Ricoh. And the crop sensor increases DOF (Depth-Of-Field). Glass wise, Ricoh is known for great glass, and they do make the highest end RAW compact (supposedly).

As long as the body is solid, and weatherproof (may be a bit to much to ask in a size this compact, it IS the size of a point & shoot) they may have a very good product here, this results in me not having to upgrade camera every second year (which I will do anyway, but not compact) and the "interchangeable sensor/lens" would result in no, or very little dust getting on the sensor.

I would like to see the price go down though, but right now it is also a great alternative to a Rebel (which is how I got started) or another "starter" camera. It is a great introduction to SLRs.

Now if they drop that into video cameras...

Thanks

for

listening and be sure to hit up Ricoh, also CNET and dpreview have some great previews and opinions on it!